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Dianna Radcliff

Teaching Upper Elementary & more

Debbie Miller’s Teaching with Intention: Chapter 1

by

Hello Friends~
I’m here joining with my bloggy friends for another book study hosted by Amanda Wilp at The Primary Gal! May I add that I’m already in love with this book!

Introduction: Welcome Reader
 

So before Chapter 1 started, the book began with Debbie Miller welcoming us, the reader. She began to explain how she left the classroom a few years back after 30 years teaching. As she walked us through the move out day, I had lots of visualizations in my head. This is the 3rd state that I have taught in {military} & each time I move, the next person comes in with a totally different arrangement. I like Debbie, think in my head on why I had things the way they were. For example, my whole group meeting area was in a position where I could display a “focus” & “purpose” for the day. My small group meeting area was faced a particular way so I could see everyone, but my kids could only face me. My center activities were placed in specific spots around the room that gave everyone a set spot with access to materials. My students’ seats were set in a collaborative setting for my class activities. Debbie brought us through her pack up day of her room arrangement & thoughts of what the room was becoming from her replacement. But to be honest, I was more connected to the next part of the story. Debbie’s husband was bringing all her teaching treasures {AKA~ supplies, resources & special items} home to her basement. Well, my husband makes trips weeks prior to our garage. Then he tells me we are having a garage sale! Ha ha! Nope! Like the classroom library of mine, he doesn’t get it. As we move & I set up shop in a new space, I think back to why I have things the way I do & how I function in that space. I liked reading this introduction because I felt a connection to this book immediately & couldn’t wait to dig deeper!!!

Part I: Defining Beliefs & Aligning Practices
 
Chapter 1 is about an experience Debbie had visiting another school for a few days & a particular classroom. I love how she describes the things she saw in the room, the sounds of the room & the feel of the room. That is how I describe rooms I love to be in, you know the rooms you don’t want to leave. As a Literacy Coach, I sometimes get caught up in observing the room & not the teacher. Debbie saw a student led classroom full of literacy. The classroom had literacy on the walls, literacy discussions, literacy, literacy, literacy. My dream classroom!!! She could read the walls, listen to the students & know exactly what content was being studied, what reading skills & strategies were being taught & practiced. Being on the other side of a classroom teacher currently, this is how my brain works when I enter a classroom. Are the kids running it & themselves? Can I not ask any questions & know exactly what the teacher has taught the kids by hearing them & seeing their work or anchor charts? To me this is the true act of the “connection of teaching to learning” that helps students grow as scholars. This happens when the teaching becomes an independent practice that needs no prompting to be used in & out of text. This is what everyone wants to see, feel & hear when entering a classroom. This is what a true learning environment is. Lastly, this my friends is what you will see when you meet a kid in a brand new school year who naturally is doing things with independent text. This is the “connection of teaching & learning” that a teacher strives for success at before a student leaves at the end of the school year.
Then as I finished reading this chapter I stared at my living room & kitchen. How does my house sound, feel & look?!?! My goal was to be clean {I literally do my floors daily} but also open, visual, calming, relaxed, organized, accessible, safe & a combination of my husband, toddler & dogs. Is it because I’m a teacher I have feelings towards my home set up? It wasn’t for looks {although I always end up with a color scheme}, it was for all the reasons above. I choose functionality of growing as a family & it being a loved spot. Do I do this because of my “teacher brain” I wondered?
Either way, school or home. The way a space looks, sounds & feels describes the “functionality” of it. It describes the “focus” & “purpose” of what has, is & will happen in that space.
So as a combination of my background as a classroom teacher & a literacy coach, how do I think an ideal classroom should be…
Look:
I like a space that is print rich. I want to see a classroom library with easy access for students. There are some reading spots where students can get comfortable & into a book without realizing what else is going on around them. I love anchor charts that were created with students. This is a visual spot students can revisit to practice a skill or strategy with text on their own. It shows exactly what the “focus” & “purpose” has been in a classroom. I love organization, the student’s brain works in patterns for learning. It also works in patterns for routines of where to get things, where to put things away & so on. I like to see cooperative group areas where students work together. I also love to see a specific small group meeting area where students meet with the teacher as a small group or an individual.
Sound:
First I want to say that you have to always remember, students & adults you will always hear a “sidebar” in any room {unless everyone is in trouble!} This happens because something has sparked a thought somewhere else. It’s not always a bad thing; it is just something that needs re-direction. At the elementary level, they are little. They all do this!
I like to hear cooperative groups working together & the words they are using when expressing thoughts. I like to hear small group instruction, shared reading, guided groups, scaffolding & most of all “think a-louds” because I am a HUGE believer in this. Partially because I’m a HUGE believer in modeling, which is what think a-louds do. You have to model critical thinking skills, you have to show, not tell those young minds how to scaffold their own thoughts. This will definitely down the road lead to the sounds of students doing this within discussion with peers.
Feel:
To just describe it: welcoming, cheerful, bright, loving, open & calm plus so much more. Everyone knows how their insides feel when you walk into an awful classroom. Learning will not occur if the safe & happy feeling is not there when the kids come walking in. Most importantly, the feel of the classroom come from the soul of the teacher.
Your turn… How does your ideal classroom look, sound & feel?