Balancing Act

There's not a lot about virtual teaching that beats in-person, but there are a few things. Today, as we near the end of our unit, students are predictably in one of three places on their summative assignment: behind, slightly behind or on track, and ahead. That hasn't changed at all.

In the classroom, I might group students according to their progress and move from table to table to assist and keep them on track. Any help or intervention I would be able to provide would be interspersed with classroom management, making sure that kids were doing as they should and neither distracting themselves nor the other students near them. 

Today? I popped the kids who were behind and ahead into breakout rooms, and kept the other students on the main call, which I monitored from my iPad. With the students who had a finished draft, I shared my screen and went through a slide show on revision that matched up with the checklist they would use independently. Meanwhile, the students who were behind shared their outlines with me, and I was able to interact with them both verbally and on the outline itself, making corrections or suggestions as they worked. In between, I checked in with the kids in the middle, answering questions and encouraging progress. 

Was every student focused and on task every minute? No. But their inattention didn't negatively impact the group dynamic, and by checking in with them frequently, I was able to help with their focus. At the end of the day, I felt like my three ring circus was ready for the road.

Just Ask

We recently updated our FireTV to a newer model with a few more features. Despite being aware of the privacy issues, I have found it fun and entertaining to command the device to turn on, turn off, turn up, and turn down the TV as well as to request specific programs.

This morning I was working with my students as they make the final push toward writing and revising their argument essays. "Alexa?" I asked a student in my assertive teacher voice, "Please share your outline with me."

Even as the human Alexa was complying with my request, a voice from the living room replied, "I'm sorry, I don't know how to do that." 

I laughed to myself as I was looking over Alexa's writing.

"Alexa!" I said. "This looks great! Nice work!"

"Thank you," my student and my FireTV replied in unison.

High Hopes

When I asked my students who their favorite super hero is for the chat snap this morning, I may have raised their hopes a little high. "Oh man!" one kid said as we were talking about their answers, "I can't wait to see what the lesson is!"

"Uhhhh," I hesitated, " I think you might be a little disappointed. Let me share my screen." 

The bright blue first slide of a presentation blinked across their iPads. From outline to essay: it read, How to write a flash draft. To my credit, I did use a fun font and add a cool lightning bolt graphic.

"Flash!" I said. "Get it you guys? He's a superhero!"

I'm sure I could hear the groaning even through their muted mics.

As If!

We were leaving the house to take a walk with friends this evening when I grabbed a tube of lip balm from a gift set we had recently received and liberally applied it to protect against the cold, dry air. On the way out of our complex we stopped at the home of some friends who recently got a puppy to drop off a few goodies and toys. 

Hearing the commotion caused by five women, three dogs, and a puppy, eight-year-old Elijah peeked out the door. "Hello!" he greeted us, and then raised his eyebrows at me. "Why are your lips white?"

I frowned and put my hand over my mouth. "I just put on some chapstick," I started. "Wait! Can you see it?"

"Yeah, it has zinc or something in it," Heidi said.

I rubbed my lips to get it off. "Thanks for telling me, Elijah," I huffed. "Since my friends didn't say anything!"

"We thought you knew!" someone said. "It has a cool, summer vibe-- very California!" she laughed.

Gesundheit

"You should put that on the clicker," Heidi said to our friend Sarah when her dog Beckett sneezed.

"I know!" Sarah answered, "It's one of the hardest things to teach a dog to do on command, because you have to catch them sneezing."

Just then Beckett sneezed again. Heidi whipped out her clicker and gave him a treat. When he sneezed the next time, Heidi clicked and treated him. 

"We could never teach Lucy that," I noted. "I've never even heard her sneeze."

Beckett sneezed again. Heidi clicked and treated him. Lucy was watching intently. She looked at him and looked at Heidi and sneezed!

"What?" I laughed.

Heidi clicked and treated her. 

Lucy sneezed again.

"Yay!" I cheered, but I honestly couldn't believe it. 

"She knows what the clicker is," Heidi explained, "and she wants the treats."

Since then? They have been working on the trick, and although it is still inconsistent, Lucy does, occasionally, sneeze on command.

Cottage Industry

"What are you doing?" Heidi asked as she walked into the kitchen this morning. 

I looked up from the crowded counters and stove top and took a breath. "Well, I spiraled the sweet potatoes and roasted them, then blanched the greens and chopped them. I also sliced the extra bread to freeze before it goes stale, but I toasted the heels and other small pieces to grind for breadcrumbs. And I melted some beeswax to season the canele´ molds so I can bake off the leftover batter. I think I'll put away the Christmas decorations next." I paused. "Oh, and here's your coffee and some avocado toast."

"Thanks, Babe," she said. "I'll do the dishes."

Tails or Heads?

I reported yesterday about asking a group sixth graders if they would choose heads or tails in a coin toss. The results from my first set of classes were 55% heads to 45% tails, which I found surprising because I expected closer to a 50-50 break, like the odds of a coin flip. What I also found interesting, if unexplainable, was the break down by gender: 75% of the boys chose heads and 67% of the girls chose tails.

Well, the results are in from my second group of kids. Today 57% of the students chose tails, leaving heads in the dust with just 43%. But the amazing statistic is that when both sets of data were added together? It ended up being the very 50-50 split I predicted! 

Today, only 39% of the boys chose heads, and the girls were split 50-50 heads and tails. BUT... the overall data showed that 61% of the boys chose heads and 61% of the girls chose tails! The symmetry of the numbers is a little astonishing, still mystifying, but also wonderful in its perfect balance.