Kristina Haag, T&L

You walk into a 1^st grade classroom and the room is abuzz with kids working at literacy centers. A teacher is seated with a handful of kids doing guided reading. The rest of the kids are in small groups doing a variety of activities – sight word bingo, building words with magnetic letters, reading with partners, choosing writing prompts to guide their writing.

At first glance, you may think, wow, these kids are learning so much about reading! And you’re right.  But what if I told you RWS isn’t all about reading? It’s about much more. It’s a time where kids can work on skills that will increase their reading and math achievement, AND help them develop friendships, relationships, and eventually pursue a fulfilling career and care for a family. But, you may say, these kids are 6. They’re playing Bingo with sight words. What does that have to do with a family or career? A lot, according to science. Because by playing this game, kids are developing executive functioning skills, and research tells us that strong executive functioning skills are linked to positive long term outcomes.

What is executive functioning?  Executive functioning is what happens in our brain to help us make plans, focus, remember directions, and handle multiple tasks simultaneously. It is the skills we use every day to schedule our time, cook a meal, pay our bills, and help our kids and families. Executive functioning is broken up into three types of brain function:

–        Working memory: helps us remember info over a short period of time

–        Self control: helps us set priorities and resist impulsive responses.

–        Mental flexibility: helps us sustain or shift attention as needed in different settings

Researchers say, “Strong executive function skills are the crucial building blocks for the early development of both cognitive and social capabilities.” (Center of the Developing Child, Harvard University). But we’re not born with these skills. It’s up to the adults in our lives to help us develop them, especially in early childhood. Science shows that kids can experience a dramatic growth in these skills from ages 3-5 and then steady development throughout elementary school.

So what can we do? There are many ways to support kids with these skills, but let’s zoom in on reader’s workshop. RWS is a prime opportunity to design activities for kids that will support them in develop their working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control. Here are a few ideas…

Helping All Kids Succeed!  As you see every day in your classrooms, kids have different levels of executive functioning skills. So it’s important to think carefully about how to provide scaffolding for kids as they move toward independence. Here are some quick tips for scaffolding:

–        Give clear, explicit verbal directions

–        Post a clear, explicit visual anchor that explains the steps/rules for the game or activity (include pictures for little kids!)

–        Have kids practice the center with adult support (you can use RML to roll it out!)

–        Ensure the center content is at the right level of challenge (not too hard or too easy)

–        Give kids daily feedback on their work and participation

During the first half of the school year, you’ve built strong relationships and a solid foundation of engagement in reader’s workshop. I can’t wait to see what you do next! And the next time you’re at the copier, or laminator, or cutting out what feels like the millionth picture or word card of your career, remember all of this work you’re putting in now is helping kids develop as readers and people.

More Resources! For more ideas for activities, songs, and games that build executive functioning skills, check out these resources!

Executive Function & Self-Regulation

Activities Guide: Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence

Dominique Cheatham, KURA

Have you ever sat down and wondered what kind of learner that you are? Do you work better with your hands? Do you need to see things happen? Or can you hear something just once, and you have it down pat? It’s always interesting to think about how brains work, especially the ever-growing of our little ones. While we all know, not one style of teaching is going to work with every style of learner, sometimes it can be hard to reach all learners. It can also be hard to fit all those different learning styles into one lesson. This is hard, but not impossible. This possibility comes within a very special time of the day, centers! Someone who I’ve come to know as someone a center expert, is Ms. Cre Howard, and she is here to tell the importance and the effectiveness that centers hold. 

Why are centers important in Kindergarten?

Centers are important to teach in different modalities, scholars have an opportunity to get a lot of practice, at-bats, and time to problem-solve. You can meet scholars’ specific needs, because you have the chance to differentiate in smaller groups.  Also, if you strategically put scholars in groups based on skills, you have a chance to do some reciprocal teaching. I think it’s a great opportunity for scholars to learn kinesthetically, apply their knowledge in a fun way, and it’s also engaging. 

What is a way you use different modalities in centers? 

I like to use a lot of movement, whether that means they are coloring, jumping to words, or building with playdoh. Centers don’t have to be paper and pencil, you can use blocks, letters, spinners and games; studies have shown that scholars learn a lot through play. 

Can you give an example of a center or centers that use different modalities? 

Yes! They can read CVC words on paper or index card, and then they make the word using play-doh. Another way is we’ve used Easter eggs, where on one side is a diagraph and the other side is a chunk. For example one side is ch, and the other side is -ick, they put it together read the word, and they are able to write it and draw a picture, so it also holds them accountable for their learning. You can also have a listening center that reads books to scholars. 

How often do you use centers? What subjects? 

Every single day. We spiral skills, so you may see one group working on sneaky-e and another group working on rhyming. A lot of these skills build upon each other, so we cycle through different stations and centers every single say. We use centers in writing, phonics, math, really all day. Its just an opportunity for scholars to practice learning independently and to meet them where they are as learners in a really fun way. 

As Ms. Howard said, centers should be a time for independent learning, in a fun and engaging way! Whether they are cutting and pasting, using play-doh or listening to a story, centers bring the different learning styles into the classroom, meeting scholars exactly where they are. Below you find a few examples of my favorite centers. 

Anna Proctor, SPARK Academy

One of our favorite centers this year is our sight word centers. With the importance of sight words for kindergarten readers, we spend a lot of time planning and executing these centers. Listed below are just a few games, ideas, or hacks for centers! 

Sensory bins:

Kids love to play with anything and everything…. Which is why sight word sensory bins are a crowd pleaser. It’s even a teacher pleaser because all it is classroom manipulatives, rice, and sight words! Students love using a magnifying glass to search for the sight words within the rice and manipulatives. Once they find one, they have to read it and record it!

CAPS:

We always struggled with not having enough foam letters for each student to spell out sight words or CVC words. A super quick fix to that was collecting water bottle caps. We used a sharpie to write out one letter per cap. After hounding people to their bottle caps, we were able to have enough (if not, more) for each student! These are super kid friendly and at no cost☺ 

Roll & Record HACK!!

Tired of hearing dropping dice throughout your Reader’s Workshop block……. We have a quick fix……. Put a die in a dressing contain! Kids are amazed…..teachers are happy☺ Everyone can focus!

Emily Greider, KLSP

Centers is truly the best part of our day! Our second grade team has done a lot of work and thinking around how to keep centers feeling fresh and exciting in a way that’s sustainable for teachers. 

Pinterest is a happy place for most of us and we find a lot of simple ideas there. About every two weeks, my co-teacher and I switch out our sight word centers to include new activities. We’ve used beads on pipe cleaners, magnet letters, playdoh, and alphabet stamps as ways to give our kids opportunities to experience their sight words in a hands-on way. We also use simple, holiday-inspired, writing sheets in plastic protectors as opportunities to practice spelling and writing. These small and simple idea help centers feel exciting for our kids.

In the writing center, we include the week’s read aloud books so kids have an extra chance to interact with the texts and to use them as inspiration for their writing. Our class was especially excited about the chance to write book reviews and recommendations on our favorite Helen Lester books. 

We also use a fun incentive in our classroom during centers time. After each rotation, teachers choose a “bookworm” (a gummy worm) based on a positive behavior that we noticed. We recognize children for staying focused on their center, getting to work right away, completing neat work, and for any other thing we notice! This keeps our students engaged and excited because they know they have many chances to earn the bookworm each day. 

I think the key to keeping centers alive in classrooms are small, but fun changes every few weeks. I think teachers often feel overwhelmed thinking that they need to overhaul centers each week, but I truly believe that small changes can make a world of difference. 

Ritu Pablay, T&L

It is already 2020! This month can feel like a bit of a blur – everyone is tired, but excited to be back! There is something about coming back refreshed in the new year that inspires us to reflect on the first half of the year and to look to the future with renewed excitement.

We have spent a lot of time getting to know our students and are in the midst of adapting our teaching to meet their needs and interests. Coming back from break feeling refreshed and renewed is the best time to keep this momentum going. The first few days back after a long break are important for setting the tone for the second half of the year. The goal is to keep students invested, motivated and enthusiastic about what’s to come. Encouraging students to look back and move forward can be a great way to start the new year. Using the new year as an opportunity for reflection and goal setting gives everyone a chance to hit the reset button. 

Creating goals engages students and encourages them to take ownership of their learning. It is also a great time to help students set personal goals – this can be anything from making new friends to going to sleep on time. By doing this, kids can learn how to monitor their own progress and make decisions that will help them reach their goals.

There is so much to accomplish in the coming weeks and it is exciting to be back in the swing of things! With our fresh mindset and our goal setting in place, we are ready to tackle all of the learning coming our way!

Kevin Polanco, Seek Academy

You made it! 2019 has come to an end and all of us teachers are feeling renewed, invigorated and ready to start the new year off on a positive note. A common saying that we’ve all heard is “new year, new me!” But is that true for us teachers? In fact, it may not be. Often as teachers, we focus on trying to re-invent the wheel after long breaks, we rearrange seats, we come up with fun classroom brain breaks, and maybe even change what the classroom looks like by adding new themes. Fresh starts are important for many reasons, but just as important, is using the new year as a time to revisit the basics. By taking ourselves back to the beginning of year we can refocus on what we thought was important in the first few weeks of school. 

During those first few weeks we wanted to make sure that our routines and systems were tight, and that students knew what to expect during the school day. Revisiting classroom expectations doesn’t have to be boring or nagging! Get creative! One way you can do this is to have students write or draw kids following classroom expectations. This is powerful because students must think reflectively to come up with concrete pictures or thoughtful writing.

Another fun way is to let students work in small groups and act out different scenarios of people following classroom expectations. You can also have a group act out not following expectations and have the class help them do things correctly. As silly as role play might sound, it really does work!

Finally, revisit the classroom expectations you made as a group in August. Make sure these expectations are still applicable. You might want to have a brainstorming session with your students to see if you need to make any changes or add any new expectations!

Taniah Louis, Seek Academy

Even though we are halfway through the school year, the start of a new year is the perfect opportunity for a fresh perspective on my classroom. Just like I did with my home over break, I reorganized my room and purged any resources that I no longer need. If I haven’t used it yet at this point in the year, chances are I don’t actually need it and it should go. Of course, I don’t want to throw out anything that could be useful to someone else, so I will give them away to a teacher, tutor, or student that will put them to good use. After all, one person’s trash is another ones treasure. A freshly cleaned classroom is a terrific landscape for exciting new projects.

In January, the routines and activities that we have placed can become dull and redundant to scholars so this is a great time to shake things up and try something different. I have always been interested in the idea of Project-Based Learning, and while I worry that third graders might be ready for this new idea, I also remind myself to never underestimate the power of my scholars. Even if it doesn’t turn out the way I envision, I’ll never know what can be improved if I don’t try it, and there will be many lessons for all of us to learn as we go through the initiatory process. I will start by helping the kids peak their curiosity. No limits either, because I want them to aim high and see where it takes us. I plan to integrate technology, encourage kids to blog about their challenges and successes, and incorporate other pieces of our curriculum to model a project-based learning environment, which has been a goal of mine for a long time.

Anne Lee, SPARK Academy

Raise your hand if you’ve ever created a New Years Resolution. Now raise your hand if you’ve kept your resolution longer than a month. I’m sure there’s less hands up for the second request. If you’re like me, you’ve probably broken more resolutions than we should have with every passing year. The big question is always WHY??? We all make these goals to better ourselves and you would think that we would WANT to keep them, but sometimes we don’t succeed. So I decided to change it up for the year 2020. How? Keep on reading!

2020 is a special year for me for several reasons. One being that 2019 was fairly rough for me and my family. Another is that 2020 is a very special birthday year for me. I won’t say how old I am, but you are more than welcome to guess. (Guesses that are ridiculously high will be ignored). I realized that in my soon to be ___ years, I was not quite where I wanted to be. I was content, but is that all we strive to be…content? I wanted to have a BETTER life, where I can say proudly that this is where I am currently. 

I thought about how 2020 will be and what I wanted to accomplish. After giving it a lot of thought, it got a little overwhelming. I realized that my goals would take a lot of time and effort and although I will still try for it, I still wanted the gratification of doing something for myself where I can say, “I did that”. 

Scrolling through Facebook (as I do before bed), I came across a post from my school’s social worker, Keneisha N. She had posted a challenge of #7daysofselflove where you do little things everyday for seven days for yourself and yourself only. They can be little things like: sleeping in an extra 30 minutes, taking a short nap, taking a walk, eating every bite of breakfast WHILE sitting down, or even the simple act of coloring. So many people posted towards her challenge about doing the little things in life that they love or keep them balanced. After speaking with Keneisha about her challenge, that “AH-HA” moment occurred.

I realized that this year wasn’t going to be a year of resolutions I weren’t going to keep. Most of my resolutions were never for myself, as they were things that people usually did, like going to the gym frequently (FAIL), eating healthy (FAIL), and so on. I realized that the only thing I needed to do was treat myself to what makes me happy. So I joined the #selflove challenge. However, I want to see that word “challenge” change into “habit”. Why should it be a challenge to love oneself and treat oneself right? 

So my new year of 2020 started off with me taking time every day, whether it’s 10 minutes during my prep or lunch, 30 minutes after work, or an hour on a weekend, to do something that makes me smile. At first, I thought it would be difficult to find time, but even staying in my car for an extra 10 minutes to sing along to my favorite song on repeat is enough for me. I’ve even managed to watch my favorite movies on Disney+ little by little with this challenge…I mean habit.

So let’s make 2020 the year of you. The year of care. The year of #selflove.

Welcome to our little blog. It’s about teaching – the art of it. We hope you find something here that inspires you.

As a teacher, you’re a magnet dragging through a sea of paper clips and other metal objects. Some things will stick to you, you carry them with you. Little pieces of things, lessons you’ve learned. Fragments of the teachers around you, some masters, others brand new or exactly the same as you – wondering sometimes which way is up. You’ll collect particles of moments with students, stunningly clear, and put them in the bank. You’ll apply or employ or reflect on each piece from your collection at a later date, consciously or not. They make you stronger, smarter, more effective. You’re teaching, but you’re learning all the time. And it’s exactly that – the never-endingness of teaching, and the cycle of gathering, growing, and sharing wisdom that’s so unique. It’s difficult and beautiful, and in new ways every day. So in this place, we lead with gratitude for all the people, moments, and ideas that stick to us, inspire us, and position us as perpetual learners. We celebrate the teachers who wake up every morning, just for the love of the game.