Desktop Learning Adventures

The first day of school is the start of something good! Fresh faces ready to learn.  New school supplies just itching to find their new homes in desks and cupboards. A clean start for everyone! We only get one chance to make a first impression, and it's my best opportunity to get an unguarded glimpse of who they are. That's why, over the years, I've developed a strategy that helps me get to know my next new class quickly. Let them sit wherever they'd like. Yep, that's it... I like grouping desks in pods of 4 - 6, depending on how many students I have. To give everyone an even shot at choosing their seats, I have them gather around the perimeter of the room, and then tell them they may sit wherever they choose. As they quietly jockey for position, moving toward their friends, they're cautiously optimistic.  When I say go and they lay claim to their new territory, they're convinced 6th grade is going to be alright! I do this for a couple of reasons....

I love the sounds and smells of a new school year. Desks are clean, supplies are fresh and the pencil sharpener actually works!  Kids may be slightly uncertain about what's to come, but are ready for a new adventure. My back-to-school feelings of Utopia are tempered with the need to cram as much information about, well - everything into them, as soon as possible, so we can get on with the business of learning and having fun.  (Yes, learning and having fun are a perfect pairing, like ice-cream and cones.) We all know those first few days set the tone for the entire year.  Establishing classroom procedures, delivering expectations that may or may not become rules, and instilling that all-important self-actualization that, yes, they can do this, involves a lot of talking. Because of this information dump, I tended lose my voice at the start of every. single. year.  Breaking the habit of talking my 6th graders into a voice-induced stupor has always been difficu...

"Our brains are Velcro for bad news and Teflon for good news."   Hanson & Mendius (2009) My sister-in-law sent this quote to me today.  It was completely timely, since one of my favorite resources got zinged in feedback yesterday. After the initial sting and a lot of grumbling to myself (OK, so some of it was out loud) about this person clearly not understanding the underlying lesson and how clever I was in making this, I decided to look at it from another point of view to see what I could do to improve the product. I changed my thought. Changing our thoughts  can really turn bad news or a negative view around to something productive. It removes us from being a victim to being empowered, moving forward to a more productive mindset. I've used this strategy often- on the tennis court, on the golf course, in the classroom, with friends and family, and trying to figure out why the stupid html code isn't working... Negative self-talk slows us down. I...