The Passion Driven Classroom Second Edition Coming Soon!

Yes! I am so thrilled to announce that our publishers at Taylor and Francis are helping us publish the second edition of The Passion Driven Classroom!

First Edition still available! 

We hope to have it completed this summer and will announce the official release date soon. Some updates and new content teasers include:

1.  A Growth Mindset - Students need to know that they are valued, important, and smart, and there is more to it than just telling students how smart they are. We must build up student resiliency and show them how to work through the challenges when things get tough. Learning and working through tough work is challenging, and that is a GOOD thing!

2.  Technology tools from my co-author, Angela Maiers that liberate learners in The Passion Driven Classroom. If you can't wait, check out Angela and Mark Moran's Liberating Genius tools in their Choose2Matter movement of Passion Driven Teachers.


3.  Inspiring stories and vignettes of passion-driven learners and classrooms across America.


Check back soon! We can't wait to share more Passion Driven Learning with all of you!

Plan a Fun Classroom Library Area

From my last post, you know that I went completely deskless. I said I would post pictures, however, my room changed so I could be closer to my team (and away from the hand dryer sound going all day in my old classroom). So...I am in the stages of tweaking and planning the classroom for the upcoming school year and realize many of you will be doing the same.

This post is focused on a collection of suggestions, links and ideas for setting up your classroom library in the deskless classroom. Enjoy!

First, is this easy crate bench is from Briana at the Sun, Sand & Second Grade blog. With 2 foam pads, some zip ties, fabric and crates, this is a great option that I am considering. I am also considering rows of these for the area in the middle of my classroom in front of the Promthean Board for large group modeled/shared lessons.
Easy Crate Bench Tutorial - Click Photo

Next, is this WONDERFUL classroom website that features "book buddies!" Third graders loved my little stuffed owls and now I know how I am going to use them this upcoming school year. Students grab a "book buddy" for independent reading. Love love love this idea from Jennifer White's Blog, First Grade Blue Skies. 

Instead of these stuffed animals (they are book characters...) I will put in my owl stuffed animals to fit my owl themed classroom (O.W.L. Outstanding Wise Learners)

Check out these "21 Awesomely Creative Reading Spaces for the Classroom" on  BuzzFeed. Some of my personal favorites from the list are:

Laura Santos's Garden themed reading area! How cool! 

Schoolgirl Style's idea is very kid friendly and so colorful! Instead of plain lanterns, I have these lanterns that I converted into owls. 

The reading area in the classroom should be a place where students can actually read, is inviting, and kid-friendly. Also, the books should be easily accessible. Some of these ideas may not fit in my classroom, and I will need to think about how to adapt one of these ideas to make it work. Also, managing the space in my deskless classroom will be critical because I will need to arrange some sort of rotation so all students get a chance to sit in the reading area. 

Have fun re-imagining your own classroom library spaces! I will continue to add ideas to my pinterest board "Alternate Seating/No Desks in Passion Driven Classroom"

Going Deskless: Controlled Chaos that Works

With only 12 1/2 days left of this school year, we are winding down and I am thinking about next year and my deskless classroom. I promised photos and I will take some this week...and until then, here are some things I've learned so far about this controlled chaos that actually works.

To see photos of other classrooms that gave me inspiration, follow my Pinterest Board

Controlled Chaos is a Good Thing:
In our book, The Passion-Driven Classroom (Taylor and Francis Publishers), we address the fact that passion-driven classrooms look and sound like controlled chaos and that's ok! In fact, it is the whole point. When we give up our perceived power and control students have a framework for learning that allows them to move and learn in their own way. When you remove all of the desks, you end up with added open spaces. Some of the students are "runners" and they literally trot from place to place. Of course, we need to have a conversation about being safe and not hurting ourselves by tripping or stepping on a friend, but I have let go of demanding we must walk slowly everywhere.

Do you know why they are trotting around? I realized that they were excited about learning! They can't get to their books fast enough! They are excited about getting their supplies for their passion projects/research! They can't wait to get to be a scientist and make their observations! Of course, we have our reminders about being safe, but I've stopped caring about walking perfectly and slowly in the classroom. I find myself wondering what people are thinking as they walk by my classroom and see this, and I have to stop worrying about it.

Controlled Chaos means Students are Talking:
How cool is it to have three boys each morning gathering around a Marvel Superheroes book (their passion) talking, reading and discussing characters and motives? We have our morning daily work that they must do, however, sometimes I don't really care if they do their morning work because it pains me to stop their love of reading and the thinking conversations that occur. Again, it's giving up that power and control of "the rules" and allowing for moments when students are self-motivated learners.

This is a reminder that learning is social. Creating spaces where students can discuss and talk is evidence that they are learning. We need to talk about our thinking, challenge each other, and learn to listen as well as express ourselves. Total silence is a sign of total independent thinking times (taking a test, studying something intensely, etc).That is also ok, It's when we have too much of either silence or noise that our classrooms become uncontrolled chaos.

It's Really Not About the Desks, it's a Mindset:
Getting rid of desks while keeping a militaristic view of demanding order will not work. It is our mindset that makes it work. I believe:
1.  Students learn best when they have choice.
2.  Students learn best when they can talk.
3.  Students learn best when their teacher lets them be who they are.
4.  Students learn best when they are physically comfortable in their environment (and if it means they want a desk, then by all means put on in your classroom!
5.  I teach best when I give up my need for complete order.
6.  I teach best when I stop demanding perfectly straight lines, perfectly sitting students, and perfectly compliant students.

Basically, I have stopped wasting valuable instructional time since I have stopped demanding students to stop fidgeting, stop talking, and stop blurting. Students don't have to listen to their teacher all day long...telling them what NOT to do and they can focus on what is really important...the learning task.

I will post photos this week with descriptions of positives and challenges of each space for planning purposes next year. I really encourage all of us to invite more controlled chaos in our classroom and go deskless.

Top 11 Reasons for Why I got Rid of Student Desks This Week

I did it!...and I LOVE my principal for letting me do it. I got rid of my student desks in my third grade classroom. Our school maintenance supervisor is awesome, too, for taking them OUT with approximately 10 weeks left in the school year.  It is a work in progress and I will post some "in progress" photos next week. Check out the bottom of this post for photos of classrooms that have also gone "Deskless" that served as my inspiration. Here is one of them:

Teacher Holly Albrecht 

So why now?

First, I need explain what I am NOT doing: 

1.  I am not doing this to be "progressive." I'm not a fan of extremes. I've been a principal of a 1-1 learning environment, built a middle school and picked out all of the furniture for our new "21st Century" building, and know that there is a philosophy out there that we all need to go to extremes for the sake of being "progressive." Great teaching is just great teaching...everything else is just objects and tools. Believe me. I've been there, done that, and the best tools and prettiest buildings are not a guarantee for the best learning.

2.  I am not doing this to be perfectly organized. In fact, I am messy and will never win the golden dustpan award. It will never change. Active learning is messy and wonderful.

3.  I am not doing this to get attention. I blog to help us teach humans. It is hard, rewarding, and complicated...I am far from perfect. If I think of something that may help other teachers teach human beings I will share the good, the bad, and the ugly. If it is an epic fail, I will admit it so others don't do what I did.

Now...why AM I doing this? Here are the top reasons in no particular order (except for #11 which is the most important...)

1.  Student Engagement - Keeping attention. I was tired of students messing with stuff in their desks and it was keeping them preoccupied. I tried everything. We cleared them all out and had tubs for materials but all the clutter crept back in.

I even tried turning the desks around so the "holes" were not visible, but there was an annoying bar across the back that didn't allow for leg room. How could I create a space where the temptation to "fiddle" was controlled? "One two, Eyes on Me..." "one, two, eyes on you..." can only be stated so many times before a migraine sets in.

2.  Space confinement. No matter how many different ways we arranged our desks, they took up too much learning space. I got rid of my teacher desk before the school year and use my kidney shaped table, but even so, the student desks took up a lot of  the room. This limited options for work areas and movement.

3.  Student input I asked the students how they learned best. Sitting in a desk was not the preferred method. The look on their faces was priceless when I announced that we were going to get rid of the desks. I think they didn't believe me. Two of them brought in their grandmas to see it this morning because they were so excited...talk about a goose bump moment!

4. Thinking about my own learning preference. Most adults don't like to sit in a confined desk, why would our students? If you are lucky enough to attend educational conferences, think about how much torture it is to sit still period after period during sessions. The speaker and content may be the best thing you have ever heard, yet sitting still for extended periods of time in one place sucks out most of the excitement.

5. Student Achievement What we are doing isn't working. Our students are not performing up to their potential on assessments...both local and state. Why is that? I believe ALL kids can learn no matter what at high levels...it's just figuring out how each child "ticks" to make that happen. Could the classroom learning arrangement be crafted to spark deeper learning that will translate into results? This contradicts my point earlier about how objects and tools can't guarantee results, but it can spark better teaching and other ways of doing this if the space is different.

6. Let Students Be Who They Are! Every classroom has sitters, talkers, movers, wanderers, and standers. When I surveyed my students, "who would prefer to still have a desk?"... It was extremely interesting to see my own predictions blown away...students that I thought wanted a desk wanted to get out of the desk.

How much instructional time do we waste every single day trying to get the wanderers to stop wandering, the standers to sit, the talkers to be quiet, and the sitters to do something? A classroom with a variety of learning spaces allows students to learn the way they learn best.

7.  Safety  I'm being brutally honest...student desks can be tipped over, hide sharp objects and other goodies.When students have other learning spaces, they can't hide things we don't want them to have. Replacing desks with a couple of tables, some interesting chairs, and adding some floor space is much safer and allows the teacher some more control of what materials get in the students' hands.

8.  A Family Feel I want our classroom to feel like a family, and making the room look like a comfortable, safe place supports this goal. My goal is to mix in softer edges with the school industrial aspects.

9.  Flexibility This was an afterthought, not something I thought of before the desks were gone:
It is difficult to get substitutes in our building, and we often split classes. I realized that I won't have to grab additional chairs for the day. They can fit right in with everybody else and we won't be crowded! If I get a new student, they just fit right in where they want to go!

10. It has Simplified Procedures Like #9, this was an afterthought. I have more instructional time at the end of the day because we are not stacking chairs or putting or taking things out of desks! It has simplified distribution of materials. Students MUST keep their things in the community areas/shelves/tubs and cannot keep them in their desks. No more hoarding. No more losing papers, books and work. Of course, somebody will lose something at some time, but it has taken away one of the obstacles to organization and student responsibility.

11. I believe in a Passion-Driven Classroom The Most Important Reason for a Deskless Classroom!
In a passion-driven classroom, students have choice and are apprentice scientists, historians, mathematicians, writers and readers. There needs to be designated, purposeful areas where our students can practice their passions.

For example, this group of students has a particular passion for life science...and it happens to be The Decorah Eagles...a live streaming video of an eagle's nest. A special area and procedure is in place to take "Science Lab Notes" about the nesting behaviors and other observations. We have a class lab notebook that rotates groups during Readers' Workshop. In order to take their best lab notes, they need to get close to the Promethean Board where the live stream video is projected.

We will see how this all works out. If it doesn't work or if I find that student learning is not improving, I will need to ask myself some more questions. If it is wildly successful, then I will share the experience and tips to make this all work. I am so blessed to have a principal that supports me in this effort and is willing to let me try for the sake of student learning!

Now for some links and photos of classrooms I found through my research. I have started a Pinterest Board if you would like to see updates of added classrooms.

This great space is from the blog,  Setting Up For Second

I cannot find the original source for this classroom. Please comment if you know or if this is your classroom so I can give it the correct credit it deserves. 

Can't is a Four Letter Word

My husband @jeffsandvold shared this story with me this week. Jeff works for a company called DISTek Integration Systems and is in charge of recruitment of new hires and other things. 

The stuff their engineers accomplish is so beyond my intellect, I can't even explain it, so click on the company logo and you can see all the cool things their engineers do every day. 

So, he is very interested in stories like the following, and he knew this one would get me all worked up about pursuing our passions. It's a story about successful senior electrical engineering student, Ashley Ksioszk, who is pursuing her passion even when someone told her "You Can't."

http://theodysseyonline.com/msoe/high-school-guidance-councilor-didnt-believe/368618


Why do we still hear stories from our friends and even our family members about teachers and other educators telling kids "You Can't..." Can't should be a four-letter word banned from every individual that works with students (unless, of course, it puts a child in danger ...ha ha, like flinging scissors around on your thumb, for example). 

When we sign up for this job to educate students, we are also signing on to be with human beings eight hours a day that have special talents, specific motivations, and dreams. Let's say the guidance counselor in this story was well-meaning. Perhaps the counselor was trying to match students with perceived and demonstrated strengths based on school performance. Counselors and teachers want to set up children for success, right? 

Success has become equated with "what may come easy" and point systems. What about passion systems? Passion trumps points every time. Think of a time when you were so into something, you were obsessed by it. You kept at it no matter how painful, difficult, or challenging...and then when you persevered and accomplished it, you were hooked. Please share this great example of a student that kept working at it when they were told "You can't."

Vocabulary Lessons on Powtoon!

Have you discovered the awesomeness of Powtoons yet? I found out about Powtoons from my Twitter friends (one reason why I love Twitter!) and it sparked my curiosity.

We are using the Nifty Thrifty Fifty (we call it Wonderful Words) by Cunningham in our Language Study block. 

Up to this point, we have been using our Flipcharts on our Promethean Boards in the ActiveView program. The purpose is to introduce these special wonderful words that can help us read and write over 300 more related words. 

Our students are loving it, but I was getting bored (and I think they were getting slightly bored) with the bulleted lists of words and lessons. Powtoons allowed me to create a more engaging video presentation that can be put RIGHT INTO MY FLIPCHART! YEY! 

If you don't have a Promethean board, no worries! They can be formatted into pdf files and Powerpoint! To see how my first videos turned out, click on the images. I hope to learn more and make them much better...these are my first shot at it:

I hope you find this useful and post links to your creations here! I love Powtoon! 

Creating a Class Website!

I finally started my class website! I believe that all teachers should have something on the web to match our digital learners. Quality teaching and learning experiences trumps any tech, however, tech is a tool in my classroom. It's like the cherry on top of the sundae. Although my new website is a work in progress, it has the basic links we use and has a clean, easy navigation for students to find things at home on their own devices. We can also use it during math and reading workshop time for listen to reading, math skill practice, and safe researching.

I used wix.com as a free website designer.

Another site I considered using was weebly, but I became too frustrated and I have no attention span. Wix was perfect and easy to use.

Some of my favorite teacher and educator websites that I hope to someday come even CLOSE to emulating are:

Deanna Jump: Mrs. Jump's Class

Alfie Kohn's Blog

Diane Ravitch's Blog

Please share any of your favorites in the comments!