Using Chalk Talk to Set Distance Learning Norms

From Hybrid to Distance

After roughly 10 weeks of teaching fourth graders in the hybrid model (half the class in-person, two days a week), our county has superseded the COVID infection rates that make it safe to continue in-person teaching and learning. So, we're shifting to distance learning, which will mean new routines, new procedures and new norms.

Essential Agreement

Just like at the beginning of the year when we collaboratively created our classroom norms, we needed to collectively develop agreements about how we would behave in our new online setting.

At the beginning of the year, we agreed to be empathetic, responsible, helpful and trustworthy.

Chalk Talk

During our last days of in-person learning, we used the thinking routine "Chalk Talk" from Making Thinking Visible (Ritchhart, Church and Morrison) to get our thinking out on paper about how we will continue to honor our essential agreement in our new distance learning setting. This routine worked particularly well as the two cohorts of students contributed their ideas on two different days. I enjoy this routine because it is a silent conversation; it gives time and space for students to think, contribute their own ideas and respond / react to others.

To facilitate Chalk Talk, follow the directions from the book Making Thinking Visible:

Looking at the topic or question written on the chart paper:

• What ideas come to mind when you consider this idea, question or problem?
• What connections can you make to others' responses?
• What questions arise as you think about the ideas and consider the responses and comments of others?

The following four charts represent my class's collective thinking about how they will be on Zooms so that we can continue to learn, think and grow.

Respond in a happy, clear voice
Mute yourself when others are talking
Think about other people's feelings
Golden rule
Use the blue hand
Have a nice and loud voice when you talk
Don't blurt
Listen to other people
Wait to talk. It could hurt someone's feelings if you don't.

Make sure you don't do funny business on Zoom
Do not unmute when its not your turn
Listen when someone is talking
Stay muted unless called on
No backgrounds
Do your best
Try your hardest
Keep your head in front of the camera
Be in a quiet place
Be on time
Do what the teacher says
Use the buttons instead of talking
Come prepared

Listen
Sit still
Raise your blue hand button
Do your best to not screw off
Don't do funny business
Remind people to grab something if they forgot it
Help kids that are stuck
Don't interrupt and talk nice
Help others
Only unmute if you're allowed to

Do all assignments
Be on time
If the teacher asks you to do something, you do it
Don't play with the buttons
Do not unmute yourself if someone else is speaking
Don't do funny business
Be ready before the call
Always be nice and just unmute yourself if someone says you can talk
Be prepared
Don't lie
Be prepared

Making students' thinking visible helps me as a teacher because it allows me to respond appropriately. and in a timely manner. Using the thinking routine "Chalk Talk" to set distance learning norms gives students voice in this process and helps me best understand their thinking as we shift from hybrid to distance learning.

Organizing a Representative Classroom Library During a Global Pandemic

The classroom library is the staple of any elementary teacher's classroom. Making sure that students can access interesting texts at their level is an essential component of our pedagogical approach. We want students to improve their thinking and reading skills, but more importantly, we wish that they develop an intrinsic and deep love of reading.

Selecting and organizing the books is a fun and exciting task, but can be a bit overwhelming as there are many factors to consider. I am aware that these factors have been discussed at length by experts with more education and experience than I have. Nevertheless, I'm interested in sharing what was going through my head as I rebuilt my classroom library in preparation for heading back into the classroom this fall.

• REPRESENTATIVE: The books in our classroom's library should both reflect the perspectives and experiences of the students in my class AND give students the opportunity to learn about and from others' experiences and perspectives different from their own.
• ORGANIZATION: The collection should be organized in a way that makes using (finding books and checking them out & in) the library easy.
• SAFETY: There needs to be a system in place so that books can be borrowed and shared safely during this (hopefully) very unique time of COVID-19.

Windows and Mirrors

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection, we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.” Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop

Dr. Bishop's words help remind me to include books in my library in which students can see themselves and also books that help them see the world from different perspectives. This is one way they can build empathy for others.

In recent years, I have finally woken up to the reality that my book collection lacks diverse characters, voices, authors and illustrators. Statistics show my collection is representative of all available children's literature. Luckily, publishers are taking note and the availability of books that are more representative of the children we teach is increasing.

To identify and purchase diverse books, We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is a phenomenal resource. Specifically, I'd encourage you to check out:

• Their OurStory book-finding app (available through any browser or as an Android app)
• Walter Award winners and honoree
• Resources for Race, Equity, Anti-Racism, and Inclusion

"Classroom Library Organization Made Easy!"

In the past, I've organized my classroom library by level because I'm an advocate for helping students find books that are a good fit by their reading level. But I have realized recently that paying too much attention to a book's relatively arbitrary reading level is problematic for a variety of reasons.

For now, I'll stick to organizing my library like a book store, by topic, so kids can find what interests them easily. Helping students understand when a book is "just right" for them will have to be an important part to teaching them how to use the library at the beginning of the year.

Regardless of how I set it up, I knew that I wanted to utilize an app to catalog all my books, something I've never done before. After much Google searching and blog reading, I found that despite some flaws, Booksource Classroom is a fabulous app.

Pros:

• It is FREE!
• The app lets you scan books' barcodes as a way to add them quickly to your library
• The web interface has loads of features that help you audit your library (for diversity, for reading level, etc)
• Families and students can log-in independently to look at what books they have checked out and which books are available

Cons:

• The app and the web interface don't match. The app is good for adding, checking-in and checking-out books but other than those actions, you're better off sticking to the browser version.
• The app doesn't recognize about half of the barcodes that I scan. I wonder if this is because they're outdated? Are my books too old?! I've found a pretty easy work-around though: I look up the current ISBN on Amazon and then use that number to add the books on the web interface. Super slick!

Staying Safe

The pandemic has forced us to rethink the way we "do school" and interacting with our classroom library is no exception. Here are two changes I'm making to make sure my students and I continue to be safe:

• Online Browsing Only. Rather than allow students to physically go through the library in search of a book, I'll have them browse the online catalog through BookSource to find a book that interests them. That way, the only books they'll touch are the books they'll keep to read.
• Book Quarantining. The Preservation Administrators Discussion Group of the American Library Association (PADG) has shared that preliminary research suggests that the COVID-19 virus can only survive on paper/cardboard for 24 hours. To be safe, I'll set up a return system where books returned one day won't be checked back in for 3 days.

Personalized Labels

I had these stickers made at Label Value. The base price is $25 for a roll of 500. Discounts apply when you order multiple rolls. The greater the number of rolls, the greater the discount. I bought 2 and the price was knocked down to ~$20 / roll. Hopefully 1,000 labels is enough! Ha!

Favorite Books

As I scan and label books in my classroom library, I come across many books that I love dearly. 

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox is my favorite. 

Personalized Messages

As I open up the inside cover of my books to put on the labels pictured above, I find these personalized messages from people in my life who have gifted me these wonderful books. These messages are so dear to me.

"AJ" aka Aunt Judy

From 2011, when I first joined the third grade team at Kaposia Education Center.

Hidden Surprises

I know this might be an unpopular choice, but I've decided to recycle the dust jackets on the picture books that come with them. I feel like they'll end up getting damaged or lost anyway and I'd rather not deal with that. I only do this, however, if the artwork on the jacket is identical to the art on the front of the book. If that's not the case, I leave on the dust jacket.

As I was taking off this book's dust jacket the other day to see if the art below was an exact match, I discovered this hidden surprise that Yuyi Morales snuck in, and I was so tickled to have found it! Can you spot the difference?

Organizing a representative classroom library in the middle of a pandemic can be daunting, but it has been fun thinking about all the possibilities and putting it all together. It is a constant work in progress though and through continual reflection and hopefully some feedback on this post, I'll be able to continue to add to and improve upon this important staple of my pedagogical approach.

Approaches to Distance Learning: ATL in the time of COVID

The time is now

In addition to content that state and local municipalities deem "essential learning", it is fundamental that teachers guide students in developing universal skills that help them approach the learning in which they engage. Equipping students with these universal skills gives them “the ability to take on the responsibility to make informed, intelligent choices and decisions.” Although this idea of John Dewey was written over 100 years ago (ironically around the time of another pandemic), it continues to be just as relevant today.

Typically, I have thought about helping students develop these necessary skills so that someday far into the future, when they’ll need them, they’ll be ready to put these skills into practice. However, it is becoming increasingly more obvious everyday that we experience distance learning that the time that students need these skills is now.

The PYP ATLs

The International Bacchaeleature (IB) has identified five distinct categories of associated skills that help students become self-regulated learners. The IB refers to these collective skills as the Approaches to Learning. The Primary Years Programme (PYP) has identified skills and sub-skills under each of the five categorical umbrellas. The teachers with whom I work defined each of these skills in student-friendly language (to read more about how we did that, check out UPDATED* PYP Placemat).

ATL in the time of distance learning

As teachers, it is our responsibility to help students develop these lifelong learning skills not so that they can be successful adults someday, but so that they can be successful now. As students engage in distance learning, effective teachers ask:

Many of the ATL skills can be newly interpreted in the current context. Below are just a few examples of the ATL skills reinterpreted in this time of distance learning.

THINKING

Forming decisions: As I learn from home, how can I stay flexible and open-minded when making a choice or learning something new?

RESEARCH

Ethical use of media/information: How can I continue to be responsible, respectful and safe in a digital classroom?

COMMUNICATION

Speaking & Listening: During virtual video chats (like Google Meet and Zoom), how can I speak clearly to share and explain my ideas in many ways and listen respectfully and responsibly to others so I can understand?

SOCIAL

Interpersonal Relationships: How can I get along with and care for others in my home as we learn? How can I get along with my family members who are now my teachers? How can I get along with my siblings with whom I might be sharing a device?

SELF-MANAGEMENT

Organization and Perseverance: What’s my plan to complete all these challenging online tasks that I have to do today without giving up?

How can teachers support students in actively engaging in their own learning?

The PYP advocates for teachers to implicitly and explicitly help students develop these Approaches to Learning so that they can actively engage in their own distance learning.

Developing ATL skills implicitly

Teachers can implicitly embed ATL learning in the culture of the distance learning classroom. As they engage with learners in online platforms and synchronous and asynchronous learning, they can model the ATLs and use the language of these skills. They can highlight the use of ATL by the children in the class and characters in storybooks.

Developing ATL skills explicitly

Teachers can also explicitly teach the Approaches to Learning through inquiry by creating specific ATL goals with students and giving them the opportunity to reflect on their own progress towards these goals.

With personalized, actionable feedback (a highly effective strategy according to Hattie's research), teachers can support students’ development of these skills one-on-one. In the shift to distance learning, teachers have the opportunity to think and rethink the ways in which they provide feedback to learners. Digital tools that educators across the globe are now utilizing offer a variety of ways to give feedback that enhances the way feedback is given and received.

Further, successful teachers monitor their students’ development of these skills and when they notice particular skills that are lacking, design specific learning experiences that will help their students fill the gap (like these diverse challenges from Parita Parekh and the team at Toddle). 

A call to action

Although distance learning has some limitations and the way we “do school’ looks different, the philosophies at the core of our teaching and learning － like equipping students with universal skills that help them become self-regulated learners －remain the same. How are you implicitly and explicitly helping your students develop the Approaches to Distance Learning so that they become successful, self-regulated learners?

Math Expressions Interactive Activities

In 2019-2020, my school first adopted the 2018 version of Math Expressions. Our rockstar teachers have been working hard to understand the different components of the program and how they all fit together to provide our students an exemplary math education.

One of the major elements of the program is Think Central, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's one-stop-shop for teaching and learning materials related to all their products, including Math Expressions. (Read more at Welcome to Think Central).

 

Many of our teachers have used Think Central and the Personal Math Trainer to varying degrees in the classroom, but now that we've entered into an unprecedented time of distance learning, our students stand to greatly benefit from the learning opportunities within Think Central.

Much of what's available in Think Central allows students to practice what they've already been taught, but the RTI Tier I and Tier II interactive activities walk students step-by-step through mathematical concepts, helping students understand each of the unit's big ideas. These activities are kid-friendly and all the instruction is narrated to students, as opposed to having them read text.

Teachers can use these interactive activities for instruction, instead of or in addition to creating original videos or slides.

The RTI Tier I and Tier II interactive activities are found in each grade level's Math Activity Center in RTI.

 

Leave a comment on this post if you have used these interactive activities. How's it going? How well do kids like it? Are they learning math?

Additionally, if you need any technical or pedagogical support using these resources, reach out. I'd love to help problem-solve with you!

Tech tips to preview and assign the Tier I & II interactive activities

Are you a visual learner? Watch the short video below that shows you how to preview and assign these interactivities in Think Central. Keep reading below to read the step-by-step instructions.

Log into Think Central

To preview the Tier I and Tier II interactive activities:

• Home
• From the carousel, select your grade level
• Math Activity Center, G# Teacher
• RTI
• Filter (on the left) by Unit & by Big Idea
• Click on any of the activities on the right.
• TIP: Each Big Idea has two interactive activities: 1 for Tier I and 1 for Tier II

To assign the Tier I and Tier II interactive activities:

• Home
• In the text box "Search for Resources", type the math unit you're teaching.
• Filter (on the left) by
• Grade Level
• Assignable (switch the toggle switch "on")
• Show additional filters > 
• Component > + More > Response to Intervention
• Media type > HTML
• Click the "Assign" button and fill in all the appropriate text boxes and hit "save".