Weekly chat for excited 1st grade teachers who love to learn and share ideas. Participants are interested in a variety of topics including literacy, math, technology, play, inquiry, and being the best educators they can be!
A1: Empowering students to own their own learning means they are invested. They are learning something they are interested in, curious about or a problem they want to solve. #1stchat
A1: Empowering students means they don't want to stop their learning about the topic or problem. They focus on it when they have any free moments. #1stchat
A1: to me it means allowing Ss and giving them opportunities to guide their learning by choosing topics they are learning about and methods of delivering their learning . #1stchat
A1: to me it means allowing Ss and giving them opportunities to guide their learning by choosing topics they are learning about and methods of delivering their learning . #1stchat
Wow! I wish I only had 14 students in my class. I currently have 20 on my roster for next year and that number will surely go up. I had 24 in my class last year. I think it is so beneficial to have smaller classes sizes! #1stchat
This is where go slow to go fast comes in. We have to directly teach certain skills, I also allow them time to just play and try to figure things out as well. I do teach one thing at a time in the beginning #1stchat
A2: I did not know that. I did figure out last year about how many hours a day they are learning. It really helped me focus my time. and know that every minute counts. It also helped me realize not to cram things into every minute. #1stchat
A2: I never figured out the minutes. What is interesting is we always question how to fit everything in. Time does seem to be an issue for all teachers. #1stchat I think we need to spend our time wisely. Make every moment count.
Yes. This is a goal for me this year. To be so structured that my students have opportunities to explore while learning the standards I am required to teach. #1stchat
Empowering students to own their learning means being the facilitator of the classroom but not being the only source of information. It is important for students to be able to be accountable for their learning and to have the opportunity to be creative. #1stchat
Also it was great when I would make a mistake later in the year and one sweet girl would look at me and say "it's okay Mrs. Hansen everyone makes mistakes." It helped me roll with it much easier. #1stchat
A2 Last year we decided to track the number of minutes we spent reading with students in order to tighten up in areas where time was being wasted. It was eye-opening. #1stchat
A2 Last year we decided to track the number of minutes we spent reading with students in order to tighten up in areas where time was being wasted. It was eye-opening. #1stchat
Our team became very protective of our literacy time/block. Anything that was considered to have minimal impact on student learning was eliminated. #1stchat
Yes! But they are little so they need to move too. I’m considering doing mini lessons and coming to the carpet in between each round of centers. #1stchat
A3: We need to train students to prepare them to make decisions. We need to let them take steps of independence, allow them mistakes and reflect on the process. We need to step back. #empowerbook#1stchat
I totally agree that a lot of time is lost in transitions. This is something that I try to work on really hard at the beginning of the year so that the students understand that this time needs to be quick and so there is a proceure for evereything. #1stchat
In reply to
@mmhole17, @csmithsmarties, @valruckes
Q3: This sounds silly, but giving them practice making decisions and being leaders. Traditionally education has been teacher centered instead of student centered. They need to give them room to try and support to handle when they fail. #1stchat
That’s easier to allow students to be creative. We have a reading curriculum. The past few years we have been given more freedom in teaching reading. There were a few years that the curriculum was expected to be followed exactly. #1stchat
I’m working on making a procedure / sub binder so everything is written down for me to remember. I forget to teach the procedure for some things and then pay for it later. #1stchat
A3 we can give them a lot of choices, ways to share their voice, keep them rtalking about their learning and allowing them time to reflect, adjust, and try again #1stchat
A3 Last year I really focused on students setting weekly goals for themselves. By the end of the year they were very invested in their learning #1stchat
Not read aloud time. Reading/literacy was protected and other areas like cute projects and low impact learning activities were no longer done. #1stchat
Not read aloud time. Reading/literacy was protected and other areas like cute projects and low impact learning activities were no longer done. #1stchat
Being intentional for me goes back to planning. If I don’t plan well and know what I want the kids to know in the end, I get lost in the cutesy. #1stchat
Really getting to know our Ss will help with allowing them to express themselves in a way that matters to them, maybe art, a book, tech apps, a song, etc. #1stchat
Being intentional for me goes back to planning. If I don’t plan well and know what I want the kids to know in the end, I get lost in the cutesy. #1stchat
Q4: How can you empower your students to learn more about what they are interested in while still teaching them the skills they need based on standards? #1stchat
Q4: How can you empower your students to learn more about what they are interested in while still teaching them the skills they need based on standards? #1stchat
At our level start with providing choices. Ss will learn to make descisions. Gradually give students opportunities to practice taking risks in their learning process. #1stchat
As I’m moving to kdg next years, I’ve spent time getting to know the standards as well, it all has to start their with then end goal in mind, there’s so many ways to get their though- involve the kiddos #1stchat
A4: By creating broad topics of study and giving them choices around perimeters. This is always where I get a little stuck. I am interested in what others are thinking. #1stchat
Yes. It is very important to know your standards. I’ve had many discussions this year with coworkers about how curriculums have skills not in the standards. #1stchat
A4: providing them choices when it comes to their learning. I started this several years ago by having flexible seating. I'm excited to focus it on academics more this year. #1stchat
A4: We can find what students are interested in by close observation. What do they choose to read about? What do they ask lots of questions about? When do they seem more engaged and in tune? Do inventories. We must know our kids. #empowerbook#1stchat
Yes. I’m hoping to do more with choice boards this year. So students will show that they have mastered a skill, but they can choose how they want to show it. #1stchat
A4: our conversations-at ISTE were all around this topic, building relationships, offering choices, less teacher talk, teach choices but involve the Ss, they will have great ideas on ways to practice skills #1stchat
Building a classroom community of we are all teachers and we are all learners and let them make decisions about books, projects, and learning opportunities #1stchat
A4: We can find what students are interested in by close observation. What do they choose to read about? What do they ask lots of questions about? When do they seem more engaged and in tune? Do inventories. We must know our kids. #empowerbook#1stchat
A4. I empower mine by asking what they want to learn next. When met with silence I suggest the 4-5 monthly themes and see what talk that generates.#1stchat
Totally agree. Personally I struggle with feeling like I’m not giving my students enough if I don’t use the curriculum resources provided by the school system. #1stchat
In reply to
@mmhole17, @Woods1stgrade, @FirstAtBat
A4 Important to show them how the learning is relevant to their lives. I had a reader who felt reading was not important to his interest in creating video games until I reminded him of the reading within games & directions on boxes. #1stchat
A4: Empowering students begins with getting to know them. Let them ask questions about the content before/during/after to help drive the learning & let them explore independently afterwards. Give them a voice; let them make choices #1stchat
A4: I like to do a wonder wall where the students post questions about a big topic (standard) and then I take those questions and build lessons! #1stchat
I’m going to take risks next year by flipping the idea of literacy stations. Instead of skill based (word work, writing, etc) I we will start with interests. (Building, drawing, coding, etc) then tie those activities back to literacy. Fingers crossed 🤞 #1stchat
In third grade, I had a student who wanted to be a truck driver. His whole family drives for a living. He didn’t want to learn elapsed time so we talked about how truckers need it to keep a log. #1stchat
A4 Important to show them how the learning is relevant to their lives. I had a reader who felt reading was not important to his interest in creating video games until I reminded him of the reading within games & directions on boxes. #1stchat
A4: I am hoping to use #TeachSDGs more this year, allow them to see real problems and see where their interest is in exploring solutions. Building empathy, seeing our Earth as important and the people in it. #1stchat#empowerbook
Good luck!! I always go back and forth on literacy stations. I’m trying student maps instead of rotations. They will go to all the centers twice in a week and each time with someone different #1stchat
I’m still on my idea of having 10-12 places (centers) that are open ended with Ss designing their day first thing in the am, it will take time to teach but I’m developing picture checklist to help them. #1stchat
A5: We can engage them and still be the one in charge of what they learn. But when we empower them, they are making the choices of what they learn.We give the power to them. It has to be a gradual release with our little minds. #1stchat#empowerbook
That’s a tough release. My fear is making sure that I find the motivation for kids who are not excited at all. And those who have interests that are so different than the ones I’m used to. #1stchat
That is where choice comes into play. Of course, they must all learn the standard, but there are so many ways to learn. I think of the "rap song". The teachers engaged them, but then released them to learn and explore in ways they wanted to. #1stchat#empowerbook
That’s a tough release. My fear is making sure that I find the motivation for kids who are not excited at all. And those who have interests that are so different than the ones I’m used to. #1stchat
I have never done it before so just curious about ideas. #1stchat I was thinking about having 5 stations - logic, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, reading....? or building. that was what I was thinking
In reply to
@csmithsmarties, @Woods1stgrade, @lekadegroot
Yes. To me that’s where procedures come in. They know the basic of how we do things, but the learning process is changing and evolving. No matter what the future holds, there are basic skills they will need. #1stchat
I had a student last year that I convinced he could be a computer engineer by the end of the year. He would tell anyone that listened that he could program computers when he got older. #1stchat
Hello #1stchat Didn’t realize you’re back to chatting. Faige in Los Angeles. Very late to the chat but will check out the tweets. Hope you’re all having a good summer.
A5 I was reminded of Inventors. Inventions are designed as a result of trying to solve a problem. First the problem----->New invention is the result. Encourage them to find the answers to problems in our world. #1stchat
Thanks @csmithsmartiesfor moderating today! Looking forward to getting together again next week! Please read ch 4-6. Have your book snaps ready too! #1stchat
I had a similar student. He loved when we did code and he loved video games. I told him he could code for video games! When he got older. He thought that might be something he would like when he got out of the army. #1stchat
