21st Century Cohort 4.0 (#BVSD21cc)

Earlier this year, I applied for and was accepted to join an amazing group of educators - the BVSD 21st Century Cohort.  I am excited for what the next three years will bring for our group!  Even though we have just begun our journey, there are certain aspects of this professional development that have stood out to me so far:

• Toolkit - one of the most exciting things, initially, is that we each were able to choose a toolkit from a catalog of different tech tools (Chromebooks, iPads, robots, cameras, etc).  These tools are ours to use as we see fit throughout our time in the Cohort and beyond (if we stay in the district).  As fun as it is to get new tools, the more meaningful thing is the support it shows for our growth and development.  Having resources to enable us to implement some of our techy dreams is amazing!
• Freedom to play and explore - our catalog of tools had several things that I had never played with before.  Building time into our professional development days to explore and play with the different options was crucial in making decisions about what would be the most helpful in my classroom!  After we received the tools, we were given more time to play, share, and see what we could come up with through an EdCamp-style PD complete with playgrounds for all of our new "toys".

  "It's a robot party!" Thanks Beth #BVSD21cc Exploring Dash&Dot and Ollie w/ @Ms_A_Yeh @mdeckstein @MsKellyAnderson pic.twitter.com/QGI6zGQVlN

  — BVSD EdTech (@BVSDEdTech) February 16, 2017

• Attitude of a Learner - in our cohort, we are told over and over again that we are not supposed to have everything figured out or be experts right away.  This takes so much pressure off!  Especially in this first year, our goal is to learn, to grow, and to push ourselves.  Many of the assignments we get are designed to introduce us to new tools (or increase our familiarity with old ones) by asking us to create something, much as our students might in the classroom.  Our leaders have done a great job modeling the attitude of a learner, as well, by trying new things right alongside us!
• Time - this is a big one.  As teachers, we never feel like we have enough time.  Trying a new program or incorporating a new tech tool sounds awesome, but it takes time to plan!  And with conferences, grades being due, and other looming deadlines, it is hard to make the time to do that.  I have really appreciated that at each of our PD sessions, time is built in to explore new ideas, but also do decompress and synthesize what we have just learned.  This helps me get even more out of it than if the day was jam-packed with new information, because I have a minute to process what this could mean for me and my class, making it much more likely for me to implement it in the future!
• Relationships - I was talking with a friend who was a part of Cohort 2.0, and she talked so much about the relationships that she developed as a part of the cohort.  After the first day, I wasn't quite feeling that yet, but the more we get into this, the more I see a bond starting to grow.  Being with a group of people who are not afraid to try new things, imagine different ideas, and share our experiences & knowledge is invigorating!  Sometimes, in education, innovative ideas garner resistance from people who are happy with the way things have always been.  Both the in-person PD and the connections on Twitter & social media have been encouraging simply because I'm around other people who share a similar vision of extending our classrooms beyond where they currently are.  I know this will continue as we begin mentor groups and have more opportunities to collaborate and share our learning!

All of this has been so great for me as a teacher, but it has also been helpful as I prepare for a future in educational leadership.  Thinking about what aspects of the PD have been most meaningful to me gives me insight into what I might design in the future as PD for my staff.  The learning never ends!

I am so thankful to be a part of Cohort 4.0, and can't wait to see where the next three years take us!

Trimester Check-Ins

As we start our third and final trimester of the school year, I always like to check in with students to refocus our energy to finish the year strong!  It also gives me great feedback for future planning.  I've been really happy with the questions I've asked, so I wanted to share them here:

-What has your favorite part of (class name) been this year?
-What has your least favorite part of (class name) been this year?
-What has been the hardest thing about (class name) this year?
-What do you wish was different about (class name)?
-What is one SPECIFIC thing you want to get better at in 3rd trimester?
-What is your plan to get better at the thing you mentioned?
-What can (teacher name) do to help you have a better experience in (class name)?

The majority of the responses I get are very encouraging and thoughtful.  I find out how students are feeling, like the girl who told me that she feels like she learns music slower than everyone else.  That is not what I see in the classroom, but it is important for me to know that she is feeling that way.  I find out where they are struggling, like the boy who told me he was so confused about what a certain musical symbol meant.  That was an easy thing to address in class, but it may not have come up for a couple of weeks if I didn't know it was bugging him!  I also find out what they want/need from me, like the student who wanted more frequent feedback on her position in class.  I may not be able to do that every time, but I can file away the knowledge that this kid is craving more feedback!  I also find out what they like the most, and can try to implement more of that in my classes!

This avenue also helps me to address trends I see in the class.  Many students say that their least favorite part of the class is practicing.  Based on this, I am planning on having a whole-class discussion about practicing - why we do it, why it is important, and what it might look like if we didn't practice.  Getting a pulse on where the class is as a whole helps me tailor instruction to them as well.

Unlike certain other assignments, I always look forward to grading these reflections.  They give me so much useful information to help me feel like I can really reach each student!  I also have found that students are usually positive in these reflections and share what they like and appreciate about the class, which cheers me up through the long days of conferences and grades!

One note: Usually, I am all about collaboration, but I have found that I get much more individual, thoughtful responses when students do this on their own.

Do you have students reflect and/or set goals in your class? How do you incorporate their feedback into your teaching? How do you find out about their individual goals, thoughts, & needs?

Unexpected Joy

It's been a hard couple of weeks for me.
Talent show.
Conferences.
Report cards.
Illness.
Concerts.
Grad school.
All of this came crashing together to form a very tired, worn out teacher.  Every year, I have time like this (and it's often in February), where I struggle to give my best to students because I feel crushed beneath the endless to-do lists and looming deadlines.  All I want is a chance to rest, for even one day!

I really do love my job.  And I wouldn't trade it for the world.  But it's easy to lose sight of that when I'm in a funk.  I've definitely been living out the adage of "fake it till you make it," and my motto has become "Just keep smiling!"

This past week, construction began on a new wing at my school, which meant new fences and new drop off/pick up routines.  My principal's voice rang through the intercom one morning before school, asking for extra support with morning duty as we establish the new norms.  As tired as I was, I knew that I should go help.  So I grabbed my yellow vest and went outside.

I was stationed where the buses dropped off, near an entrance, so I got to welcome about 300 kids to school that day.  As I saw them hop off the bus and greeted them, a true sense of joy began to blossom.  Their smiles, their shouts of "Hi, Ms. Yeh!" and their excitement to be at school rubbed off on me and lifted my own spirits.  I went on to have the best couple of days I've had in a month, and have felt much more like myself since then.

What's great about schools is that they are full of people.  People who live together, learn together, and influence each other.  The to-do list didn't disappear in this moment, but my focus shifted to the relationships rather than the "stuff".  That's a pearl of wisdom I can hold onto to help me through my next busy, stressful time!

Who knew that 10 minutes of duty could bring such unexpected joy?

Will you accept me to your world?

In my non-teaching life, I spend time weekly with a group of students who have moved to this country as refugees.  One of them wrote the following poem for a school assignment.  I found it incredibly moving and wanted to amplify her voice!  This is shared without any edits, with her permission.

I am a girl without a past or without country. Will you accept  me to your world ? 

I wonder what will happen to my future and to world, will there be peace? Will I be able to to have my own country? 

I hear a crying from my people asking for help. Why is it silence? Maybe they were suppose to cry like that?

I see a hope that’s coming through or maybe there really is no hope for  them. 

I want to be a helper to my people. Someone who they can look up to, someone who they admire a lot. 

I pretended like everything was ok, but really I want be like any other kids who belong to their own world. 

I feel scared because people might laugh at me the way my culture is. 

I worry that someday I might not be able to have my own country back and I might be lost in world that I don’t call home.

I cry for my people because they are being chased from their home.

I dream that someday I will be able to have my own country and help my people.

I am a girl without a past or without country. Will you accept me to your world? 

Ideas for Adapting/Modifying BreakoutEDU Games

If you've experimented with BreakoutEDU, you can probably relate to one of these situations:

"I want to do this game, but my students haven't learned this one skill yet."
"I want to play this game in my class, but I don't have the right locks or supplies."
"This game looks cool, but it's too easy for my students."
"I want to run this game with my students, but this website is blocked for students in my district."

Never fear - you can iterate, modify, and adapt these games for your students!  Below are some ideas on how to do this, though this is by no means a comprehensive list - use your creativity!

*Disclaimer: If you modify a game, please do not post it publicly without explicit permission from the creator, and always give credit where credit is due.  For more information, please see the BreakoutEDU Game Creator Bill of Rights.

If the game is too hard...make it easier!

• Remove a few clues/locks to make it shorter and more straightforward.
• Adjust reading comprehension levels by creating your own text for students with the same information or highlighting relevant information for them to read.
• Take away any distractors.
• Create a new math problem with functions that they know how to do that results in the same answer.
• Use stickers, icons, or words to make it clear which clue goes with which lock.
• Change the clue AND combination of a lock to make it simpler.
• Use clues that involve more concrete, physical skills (jigsaw puzzles, putting papers in order) rather than abstract clues.
• Prep your students by doing warm-ups that teach them a skill they will need to know in order to solve the breakout (such as using a cipher).
• Hide items in easier-to-find places.

If the game is too easy...make it harder!

• Add a couple of locks or another layer of clues to make it longer and more complex.  For example, rather than just finding the key, you could create another task that they need to complete before looking for the key.
• Adjust reading comprehension levels by creating your own text for students with the same information, but at a higher reading level.
• Add more distractors.
• Create a new math problem with more complex math functions that results in the same answer.
• Remove any hints that let students know which clues correspond with which lock.
• Change the clue AND combination of a lock to make it more challenging.
• Use clues that involve more abstract thinking skills and require students to put multiple clues together to solve one lock.
• Hide things in harder-to-find places

If you don't have the right locks/supplies...improvise with what you do have!

• Create simple ciphers to change one clue type to another.
• Example: If you do not have the right letters, create a key where A = Z, B = Y, etc to match the letters you have available.
• Example: If you do not have the right type of lock, create a key where up = 12, right = 3, down = 6, and left = 9 to change a directional clue to a number clue, or vice versa.
• Use the Locks app or Google Forms with validation to act as locks if you do not have the physical lock.  For more information on creating a "locked" Google Form, see this video via the breakoutedu.com/digital website.
• If you do not have invisible ink or a black light, make your own or use white crayon/colored pencil as a substitute.
• If you do not have extra lock boxes, use envelopes, pencil cases, computer bags, instrument cases (as long as the instrument is protected!), etc - anything that has two zippers will work!
• If you are missing a file, see if you can devise a way for students to get the same information they will need through a clue you create.

If a website is blocked in your district...find another way to give students the clue!

• First thing's first, you can often ask your IT department to whitelist certain sites that are automatically blocked through filters.
• If the website is unblocked for teachers, consider signing on to a few devices so students can access it (if you feel comfortable with this).
• If you cannot access the clue, print it out and hide it somewhere in the room.  If it is a jigsaw puzzle, cut it into pieces and hide the different pieces in different places!
• If there are Google files that students cannot access because they were created outside of your domain, open the document on your account and click on File-->Make a Copy. Use that link instead.  This way, the file is in your name and originates in your domain.
• If it is a digital breakout, create a new site in your name and copy the documents there.  This is a little more time-intensive than some of the other options listed above.
• Reach out to the game creator, and ask if they can send you the file(s) in another format (PDF?) that can be accessed on your network.  Many creators are happy to help!

The beauty of BreakoutEDU games is that they can be adapted to fit the needs of your specific class.  How have you modified games to fit your needs?  Please leave other ideas in the comments!

In Their Words #3: What I'm Working On

As a part of my reflection and growth as a teacher, I regularly ask students for feedback.  This series documents some of the more profound statements that students have made and my reflections on their thoughts.

It's powerful to ask for students' feedback, but if nothing ever happens after that, is it really worth it?  As a part of this exercise, my students wrote a bit about what would make class even better.  I was pleased to see that I got very few responses like, "Let us do our homework in class so we never have to take anything home," and many more that were things that were actually feasible.  As a result, I wanted to choose a few things to focus on improving in my teaching this semester.

There were three overarching themes that became my action points for improvement:

"I think it would be better if she played string instruments with each individual instrument."

I enjoy playing with and modeling for my students, but usually I end up playing on piano (because I can play more than one part at once) or singing (because I can move around the room and have my hands free).  This made me realize, though, that some learning is lost when students aren't seeing and hearing an exact model of what they are playing.  I have been much more conscious of pulling out a violin or cello to play with them lately.  I even got some nice reinforcement when a student wrote to me, saying that she has understood the parts much better since I've been playing on string instruments!

"Spend equal time with all instruments. She spends most time on Violins and some time on cello/bass/viola."

Okay, true story, I tend to spend more time in rehearsal with sections that either 1) have more tricky parts or 2) are struggling more with their music.  Often, that ends up being my violins.  This comment made me reflect on how I am paying attention to each section in rehearsal and giving them something to work on, even if it is basic notes for my violins and dynamics or bow distribution for my other sections.  I have also tried to be more explicit with my students about my thinking during rehearsal - saying something like, "Cellos, you have whole notes here, so do we need to go over this?  No?  Okay, I'm going to work with violins for a minute."  Even if it does not change the fact that I am working with one section more, hopefully it will help my other groups feel less neglected if I check in with them.

"I think that it would be great if she had something some of the class could do while she's working on specific parts with a different section."

Many of the comments along these lines suggested having a computer program or activity that students could work on while I am working with another section.  Music teachers - if you have ever used anything like this, I would love to hear about it!  My struggle is that, often, I am only working with a specific section for 1-2 minutes at a time, and the transition between different activities would take too long.  What I can do, however, is make sure I give students something to do such as pizz, finger, air-bow, or look ahead to a different section.  I have tried to be more conscious of this in our first few weeks back!

Feedback is important, and I want to be continually improving on my craft.  None of these suggestions were brand new ideas to me - rather, they were reminders of strategies that I can use during class.  Hearing what the students want has helped focus my planning and thinking during class.  And as I have been making changes, I have been explicit with the students about hearing what they said in their surveys and trying to put some of that into action.  I want them to see that they have a voice in our class!  This process has been fantastic with my evaluator, as well - our conversation is so much richer when the voices of the students help drive the improvement process!  I am not advocating for students completely driving the class, but as the main consumers of our teaching, don't they deserve the chance to express their thoughts and have them heard?

I am not perfect, and am always looking for areas to improve in my teaching.  My students helped me see how to better meet their needs, and their requests have become my goals for this semester.  Do your students get the opportunity to express what would help them be more successful in class?  Do you act on their feedback?

Multi-Age BreakoutEDU

When I'm not in school, one of the things I do is spend some time hanging out with/supporting some incredible families who have also become good friends.  They also happen to have come to the USA as refugees.  I always plan some kind of fun activity for our annual Christmas party, and I knew that this year, I wanted them to experience a BreakoutEDU game.

My audience was about 16 kids, ranging from preschool-12th grade, including one who is deaf.  After looking through the different holiday options, I settled on Reindeer Games.  I know it's on the easier side, but this group has never experienced a breakout before, and while their English language skills are developing, I did not want to use something that required a lot of inferring things based on language.  I also tried to stay away from anything that required a lot of background knowledge, since the background knowledge they have built up is quite different than what many American students would know.

Solving the final clue

In the setup, I used two boxes and put similar locks on each one (I have enough extra locks to do this).  I divided the kids into three teams, each with a variety of ages, and set them free!

This game ended up being just the right difficulty for them - they had to work hard and overcome the urge to give up a few times, but it wasn't so frustrating that they couldn't do it.  Kids of all ages were able to contribute in different ways.  One of the most fun things, though, was watching the parents get in on the action!  They have had very different life experiences, and many have not experienced formal education, especially in regards to the English language.  It didn't stop them from pointing out things to the students and shining those black lights all around the room!  It was fun to see them interact with their kids to solve a puzzle and experience something new alongside their students!


I wish I had taken a video of when they got the boxes open - the cheers and screams were amazing!  I usually don't put prizes in the box at school, but for this Christmas party, I had their party favors (some fun holiday gear/photo booth items) in there.  Once again, the adults were just as excited as the kids were.

Most of us made it into this picture!

These families are so special to me, and I'm glad I was able to share my recent educational obsession with them.  I was nervous about how it would go at first, but it ended up being a rousing success.  I had several of my team members comment that this was the best Christmas activity they have seen, because it required them to think, work together, and engage while having a blast!  

My encouragement to you: don't be afraid to think outside the box or try games with multi-age groups or parents.  It's so much fun, and allows families to relate in a different way!