 The phrase "scope and sequence" either makes me want to start daydreaming about literally anything else OR makes me super impassioned about creating efficient, research-based, sequential curriculum.
Being an international school teacher, I've both written and taught dozens of curricula at this point. Each time I get to a new school and am handed whatever the last teacher left behind plus the school's general structure/educational philosophy I end up wondering if there isn't a more efficient way? Most of my experience has been that, in general, teachers before me do not leave helpful documents about their lesson and unit plans. Or if they do, there isn't much sense of scope and sequence. Or if there is, there isn't scope and sequence developed for smooth transition with the levels above and below. I think the most efficient system would be to start with the widest most general view to "build the skeleton" and then work in more and more detail, leaving the classroom teacher with autonomy to make choices from within that framework. But this skeleton is sadly lacking at most schools I've worked at. Why is that? It can be as simple as what content needs to be taught in each grade or as complex as what skills/characteristics need to be mastered in each grade. I have a personal teaching objective. It is that students leave my classroom with better critical thinking, divergent thinking, and SEL practices. I also hope that they have become more adept at asking better questions. These aims can be accomplished within any framework, so I easily adapt myself to each school I staff on. And yet, it would be really lovely to be able to apply my objectives within an organized, school-wide scope and sequence! What is your experience with this? Have you ever worked at a school that has been able to ask the big questions of their curriculum and both get it in writing and get it in action?
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I am well aware that climate change and global warming are mostly caused by much larger institutions than an individual, a household, or even a neighborhood. But I also know that it feels good to make small changes in my daily life and feel more connected to the nature around me by inspecting and changes my manner of consumption. If you're looking to add some small products into your life that have less chemicals and a real sense of grounding, these are some of my personal suggestions.
PRODUCTS TO USE ON THE GO!
PRODUCTS FOR LIFE
WAYS TO DEAL WITH WASTE
WAYS TO CONSERVE/CONSUME RESPONSIBLY
Here are some poems I wrote for the joy of playing with words and the good of growth: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A ceiling fan is never enjoyed even with eye contact and happy sighs. Not ever in the same way as after the hours the power was out, the days you didn’t have one at all, and the week it groaned and clicked relentlessly. It’s not as if there is one last joyous moment before the amputation. No, what is needed is gratitude like an oracle, thankfulness with the foresight of the blind, and the imagining of things as they are not, in order to be best well with things as they are. Hold one black paper up to the sky for the smartest rainbows. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - When Water Does Not Work What to do with the paintbrushes covered in oils? And the accidentally-purchased dry clean clothes? And if the baptism doesn’t take? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It is fitting to trace my life as she cradles her beloved’s. It is finishing to cherish my moments with the same persistence of need and fox-tail of longing to, to somehow complete the beauty by looking, caging, sharing, noticing, capturing, pointing. She caught at it. The paths she walked have prints of her heels catching. My paths show smooth steps: the orange dirt bears signs of pacing. Moments are immortalized in gratitude. Life is made full in praise. And the lace of the waves is such that you couldn’t and wouldn’t set needle to it, each swirl of cloud or cream resists record. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - My most beloved cognitive error: a mouth full of strawberries, life was always sweet. Ecclesiastical knowledge windows upon windows: something to it. Have grace when you turn your back on the breeze to hold hands with the wind. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I don’t read much poetry because I don’t understand it. I only write some to try my hand at the Hemmingway truth. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling (1) If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling, well what can we say is worthwhile and weighty? If pastors are just pasters of posters of propaganda on all those old poles patched with scraps of corners and rusty stapled marks of other flyers, what will stand solid staying top-side-still in the sifter? If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling (2) If god isn’t real and prayers land on the ceiling, my quiet heart yet offers worthy pebbles: stone that does not break and gem that does not ignore. The worn-old quilt of henna hands, blue white beads, and doorway scrolls is soft and keeps life. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We climbed the nooked stairs up to the terraced top. There in the corner were two boys with smiles and guitars. Coming out of their chests were long pieces of red yarn. As they played a neighborhood tune, the large party to their left picked up a piece and held it loosely as they sang along for good times. The rest of the strings remained on the floor. I picked one up and plugged it to my heart. Oh the connection was good: tin cans formed and the vibrations began to flow like a looping hand, back and forth. My red strand was a quiet, small, brave thing to do. but what (joy)! Why were the other lines left on the unfeeling ground? I picked up more and fixed them in. The smiles increased, the warmth glowed, the music took off with the night. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - mothers sigh for sitting on counters and kitchen floors wives, for long drives and the freedom to be careless with their selves and the others sigh for sighs of wanting a body reclaimed they wait to wish for time alone eager for the struggles of a future un-had yet enjoying the always-ripening-and-spoiling avocadoes that sit undisturbed on their cool, clean counters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Running, mostly walking in the sudden thick wetness. Swollen hair in tubes, snake tails in mud, fibers expanded, held around the wine bottle that is life and sweat running through and also forming up all sky, all ground, connected in permanent rain structures. The form molded in white plastic and flip-upside-down-able, puddles to clouds: modern columns, mist to surface: lined points to spin around This world sensibly keeps the clouds’ lighting to ease the hollow plastic into Comfort and Depth. But really, it’s a large red rain jacket on warm skin and bare feet slipping by the front door. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From where they swim in the depths below to points where wings segment the wind, all these creatures high and low know we each, together, have sinned. Yet let us not forget to tell of trails light and bolstered, even unpinned. And may we remember just as well How goodness can be twinned: Eyes must open to receive sight Touch the earth to know heaven - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I left home to taste what was good, and to test for good what was home. I changed zipcode and standards, clothing and cultures. I swallowed ice cream for breakfast, forbidden bottles for lunch. Even so – even the distance and difference being full – I hadn’t left. Home is where the mind is; mine still bound by such only ways. Eventually, I suppose I did leave. Because now I know I have no interest in my spot at the lunch table. But what if the odds are bizarrely in my favor and home is where the heart actually is? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - the rubbish parade marches the town every day useless news-crumbles roll down rusted cement alleys empty gray-sand wet-spotted streets the rubbish parade is all flash and bright uniforms: great glowingly eggy sunset-cream with blood stripes boots: all crisp, deep knockware (as if that were necessary) the rubbish parade marches right, and right, and right, and right a caravan of gleaming trash in wagons, saturated recycles on trays the alone-one audience of a girl doesn’t even like them she says she doesn’t care to watch as her cheers bounce askew off the tinways there she is see her as they pass by? there she is. every time. well, most times one time she was muted by glory-brightness on a different street, of course she has seen other streets you know better streets streets with pink slender ones filing by and others with wide-eyed brown boys dancing through but there she is, right there, do you see her? she’s there and they’re there the rubbish parade dins on and her wooing is the flat eye-shine; the reflected stale march - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The meals she liked best had to be forced, though the poison was gulped in seconds (and thirds.) One portion of posture practice with mind-numbing nothingness, but that Blessed Woman ate no food when the mouse was around! What a waste of non-empty that would be. She sharpened herself by measuring back to back with the giant. It’s not all rot and spoil. God help the pleasure-seeking vortex of a girl. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  Fredrick Backman, Colum McCann, Amor Towles, and Kristin Hannah were my favorite authors this year. 2021 was the year of stories that shook me and moved me. In retrospect, it seems I've been specifically opening myself up to stories of suffering (while then specifically reaching for lighter, more heart-warming tales for balance.) Curious to see what 2022 holds for my literature selections! If you've read any of the books below and want to chat about your experience, please reach out. Blessings on your own books and the resulting explorations and musings they bring.
1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman -reading from the perspective of someone you could label as autistic -realizing how long lasting trauma from childhood is (verbal abuse/false beliefs) -be grateful for your health in your friends and family 2. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens -being close to nature and learning to take note of specifics -we are both animal and soul 3. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett -living with large secrets sounds exhausting and awful -racism is part of this country's narrative and needs to be examined 4. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann -the depth and complexity of each human life, each of our stories, how we interact 5. The Mothers by Brit Bennett - some interesting new pictures of motherhood and unpregnancy 6. Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman - people. The ever-amazing importance of people, connections, friendships. 7. The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (sexually graphic*) - the terrible burden of secrets, the need to accept people fully as they are whether in small things like idiosyncrasies or large things like gender and sexual identity (also that I miss Africa) 8. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha - how much I hate social systems based on class (but aren't they all in one form or another?) and why are people shaving their bones to look different? How has plastic surgery become so refined and accessible that it's hard to tell what public personalities have had done - beauty standards being unrealistic? 9. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins - would highly recommend to anyone, but with a warning for how intense this narrative is and how these images, these people, these thoughts will stay with you. A rush and sweeping of deep gratitude for my life, a new understanding about the specific facts of suffering and immigration. 10. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa -how important people are; shared memories are for relationships. The beauty of math. 11. my grandmother asked me to tell you she's sorry by Fredrik Backman -the power of a good story. Honestly, makes me want to raise kids on a uber complex system of fairy tales based on faith but without all the church bits 12-13. Sorcerer to the Crown and The True Queen by Zen Cho - the power of women, and trusting your intuition and making brave, difficult choices 14. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones -the intensity of our feelings and perspectives and how they keep our vision small 15-16. Parable of the Seed and Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler -how insanely good we have it now and the kinds/levels of suffering that could realistically head our way if we don't start problem-solving as a race. Not sure what to think of the Earthseed bits on God as Change. 17. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney -DO NOT RECOMMEND...best takeaway would just be that we all our so entrenched in our views of the world that it's a continual surprise to see a shared situation from another person's perspective 18. Calypso by David Sedaris 19. A Promised Land by Barack Obama 20. Memorial by Bryan Washington (explicit - don't recommend) 21. The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova 22. Anxious People by Frederik Backman 23. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 24. Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore 25. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry 26.Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 27. A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles 28. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 29-31. Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman 32. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles 33. The Pull of The Stars by Donoghue 34. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 35. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah 36. Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami 37. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris 38. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles  This blog post is dedicated to my experience with Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT.) I created my "store" a few years ago when I made an art-specific reflection sheet for students because I couldn't find anything I liked when I searched the internet for a similar form.
I didn't know anything about how TpT works but figured I would reside in a little corner of the market as I had a different style of both the look of my resources and the resources themselves than anything I'd seen online. But then after figuring out all of the account bits and uploading bits, I found out my unique Self-Reflection Sheet had to be uploaded as my Free Download. Being busy teaching, that took the wind out of my sails. So I uploaded it and left my TpT account sitting for a few years. Cue 2020 and the move to virtual learning. Again, searching the internet for resources I needed in my classroom left me empty-handed. So I started making them. And realized it might be a good time to give TpT another try. I spent a few days watching Youtube videos from prominent TpT store owners and figured out how to upload my snazzy new Online Resources and waited for the money to come rolling in. Which didn't happen. I knew to expect a slow start since I didn't have many products and wasn't willing to pay for advertising. But I didn't expect it to be that slow. I sold two or three products in as many months which was discouraging. And then seeing the cut I got after TpT took their share was disheartening. I almost quit on it again. But after a few more sales came in I decided to make a few more products and give it one last go. Here are some stats and thoughts for those of you wondering if you should start up:
Some questions for those of you out there using TpT with any success: 1. Do you pay for advertising? 2. Do you make products that you don't use in your classroom? 3. How much time does an average product take for you? 4. Are there small tricks or tips that you would be willing to share? 5. Over the years, has it been worth it to pay the membership each year? Does material that is popular now tend to stay popular (or once a material starts selling, does it usually keep selling?) Would love to hear any feedback or questions from other teachers! The things we do to supplement our salaries :) Blessings, j  Teaching online has come (and stayed) for many of us, forcing adaptation. I've found that best practice continues to shift as the learning community goes through the different phases of living with our new digital platform. Some strategies that I've been finding to create more learner engagement are below. What are strategies you've found to be helpful? If you're still teaching online, are you noticing that you're having to find new ways to teach as students are very fatigued with this system?
The Meet-within-the-Meet: I have been shocked at how students in even a small class will suddenly break their silence if provided a way to talk without anyone else listening. I will often have 4 or 5 students left in class with questions and they won't speak up until I make a second meet and tell them they can jump in there. And then they will one-by-one ask their questions! Creating Google Slides to go with each lesson for students to use again independently, for those with internet issues, and for those with different learning needs (whether visual learners, ELL students, or even those with processing issues.) Encouraging students to use the chat function rather than unmuting as they seem far more likely to type than to talk. Allowing students to keep their videos off. Internet issues are real. As are the many reasons you might not want teachers and peers seeing you in your bedroom at 8:00 am. I do sometimes ask for videos to be turned on for the start of class or for a discussion, but most of the time I let students decide for themselves. On a similar note, allowing students to sign off before class is over. Students' self-management doesn't change much whether they're on a muted, video-less Meet or not. (I've had students accidentally show me that they're playing games, watching movies, or texting during class!) Rather, creating an environment where students a. feel comfortable to ask questions/get feedback b. have a variety of ways to do that and c. are given time to work on their art during the day seems to be the winning combination - caveat of course is, for me, with these students, in this school community. Asking everyone to answer simple conversation questions like "What was your last meal?" or "What's a good show you've watched recently?" or "Do you normally remember your dreams? And if yes, any you want to share?" For small, speciality classes I've created a schedule where one week a month we do one-on-one workshops to make sure students are getting personal attention and can go in depth about their course elements. This only works for my IB Visual Arts classes, but it works very well. We either do 20 minute or 30 minute sessions! For art, rather than having each assignment be a new project, some assignments are small, simple, skills. This creates a "breather" for students and allows those who are newer to the subject or specific skill to practice before trying a piece. Normally, this would just be part of my art class as an opening or a warm-up, but in attempts not to overwhelm students, I'm making it a separate digital assignment. Checking in with students, by either asking or noticing how many students are behind on turning in work. "Assume good intentions," and slow the pace down if the majority of students need a break. To do this, I will either create a fun, but simple mini-lesson or will give them a bonus day to finish a more complicated assignment. Student feedback has been positive, though there are a few who want more art and more projects. Perhaps I can start offering 10 minute one-one-one workshops for those students during those classes...hmm!?  I've been teaching online for about the last calendar year now.
Back in the spring of 2020, I was teaching asynchronous elementary art lessons, leaving individual feedback for each of my hundreds of students. This year, I am teaching synchronous lessons online to middle school, high school, and IB art students. (This year I'm also teaching from a different time zone as the borders to my new school's country are closed.) Students and teachers alike are experiencing screen fatigue. But I'm not here to vent about the obvious negatives to online teaching. I am grateful to have kept work during the pandemic and to have been safe from exposure. I suppose I'm writing to find a larger perspective and ways to balance. You see, not only am I teaching to a screen, but most of the rest of my day's activities are all screen-based too:
So much of my time is spent online! And I intentionally try not to be a person who is glued to their phone. Creating balance here is important to me. I've been giving myself visual breaks (the 20-20-20 rule: look away every 20 minutes for 20 seconds to 20 ft away) and trying to correct my posture so I'm not hunching my shoulders and over-extending my neck. And I've been trying to push myself into more hands-on activities like writing "snail mail," playing board games, and going for walks between classes. But even so, my moth-self is plenty happy with all these digital flames I continue to hover around. Beyond things like staying away from scrolling Buzzfeed or Instagram (I know, I know), do any of you have suggestions for building new, small habits that help balance out our COVID-forced screen time? Also, since the students are tired of being online so much I've tried to create lessons that they can complete with minimal screen time (though they are welcome to complete pieces as digital art if they wish.) It's difficult though to find balance there: walking students through new topics in a way that they can complete the assignment independently and off-screen. During the independent work portions of the lesson, I've started encouraging them to complete their art outside or while listening to music/audiobook/podcast. But then I feel like a bad teacher to be sending them off! I stay on the Google Meet link for our entire class period and encourage them to jump back on the moment they have questions, as they've learned to do. How have you found ways to get your students learning off-screen? Are your students complaining of screen time or are they accustomed to it?  Teaching IB Visual Arts this year has been great: a whopping giant learning curve, but great.
To those of you out there just starting up with IB VA, here are the three things that got me through the panic and stress and into developing a high-quality program and accompanying resources: 1. I was able to complete my certification online during the early months of 2020. At the time, we were still in school and I was able to ask questions of my school's IB Art Teacher and look through some student work examples to get a deeper understanding of the program's requirements. Those in-person, informal discussions were SO helpful (as are our continued texts and emails.) Kudos to more experienced teachers coming alongside of rookie teachers. 2. The Facebook IB Art Teacher groups were another lifeline. I would highly suggest joining one or two of those as teachers there are so generous with their time and answers. 3. My school provided me with a subscription to InThinking and I cannot imagine having to create an IB art curriculum without that amazing resource.  My book selection this year is more varied than in years past. I think this is mostly due to two facts: 1. I finally caved and bought an e-reader and 2. COVID has changed all of our day-to-day activities and I read for differing reasons as my moods and values shifted within those changes: to escape reality, to be entertained, to try new styles of literature, etc.
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Jess Mittelman
Being a lifelong learner means seeking out experiences that promote growth and personal development. Archives
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