Today I had the opportunity to attend Heartland AEA's Instructional Coaching Network. One of the facilitators had us share our "Sparkle" or positive moments that have happened in our coaching role this year. She stressed the importance of identifying three positive things that happen each day. I've decided to take her suggestion to heart and spend a few minutes at the each school day reflecting on the day's "Sparkle" moments. Doing this will allow me to end the day on a good note, while keeping from becoming bogged down by challenges that come with being a first year Instructional Coach. 


Three positive events of the day: 

1. Collaborating with fellow elementary Instructional Coaches
2. Setting personal Instructional Coaching goals for December
3. Gaining a deeper understanding of state literacy initatives

What were your "Sparkle" moments? 

Over the past few weeks I've been reading articles, books, and tweets relating Carol Dweck's work on the Growth Mindset. Growth Mindset revolves around the belief that your intelligence can be developed and honed through hard work. Meaning, you're never finished learning and there's always room for improvement. 

Throughout my reading, former teachers and colleagues have come to mind. I have been blessed to have been mentored and encouraged by educators who without realizing it embodied the Growth Mindset. Whether it was my third grade teacher Mrs. Hendrickson, who told us to never give up; a college professor who constantly reminded us "If you don't know where you're going, any path will lead you there;" or colleagues throughout my six years of teaching who have allowed me to explore technology integration, action research, and instructional strategies I heard about at conferences and through my Twitter PLN, I have been able to continually grow and embrace challenges. 

While it is important that I maintain and model a Growth Mindset, it is critical I pass this belief onto the students in my building. Although I'm no longer in the classroom as a teacher, as an Instructional Coach I still have a direct impact on the teaching and learning that occurs. With this in mind,I need to make sure when I'm modeling lessons and interacting with students during observations that I show I'm not always an "expert", encourage challenge, and overall promote having a Growth Mindset. I'm still working through how this will look in my position, but the first thing I plan to implement is daily motivating messages to transform a student's educational experience. I believe this will be a good first step in promoting a Growth Mindset to our students. 
 

What do video game creation and function writing have in common? Well, five amazing fourth graders would tell you there's quite a bit! A few weeks ago I was looking through the upcoming English Language Arts unit, and noticed fourth grade would be learning about functional writing. Recently I learned about PixelPress Floors, a free video game drawing/creation app, and decided to talk to our amazing Special Education teacher to see if he'd be interested in using PixelPress Floors with his students. I figured if students created their own video game, they could write step-by-step directions on how to play or create the game (functional writing), create advertisements to pique interest and gain players, and problem solve throughout the experience. The teacher expanded on this idea and will be having the students present their games to classes in our building (speaking and presenting skills).

Today I went in and introduced students the five students to PixelPress, demonstrated how to draw the different components, shared the overall purpose, and set the students loose to create! As they realized what they'd be getting to do, one student exclaimed "You're a Christmas miracle!" To begin, I showed students a level I created ahead of time, and then created another floor as they watched. Next, they were given a copy of the Floors Sketch Guide, and told to explore the app. During the exploration time, the teacher and I encouraged students to problem solve and work together, and explained that they will be writing about their video games, creating advertisements, and presenting their games to their class. 

I've co-taught, modeled lessons, and observed learning in their classroom before, and was blown away at the level of engagement the students showed. They were on task the entire time, helping each other problem solve technical issues, shared ideas, and didn't want the class time to end and head back to their classroom. I look forward to spending more time in their classroom over the next few weeks, watching the video games come together, and the writings developed. 

If you're looking for a motivating way to get students creating, writing, problem solving, and working together, I encourage you to give PixelPress try. While I am using it with fourth graders in English Language Arts, I believe it can be used at other grade levels and subject areas. If you've used PixelPress, I'd love to hear your experience!

Lesson Quick Facts: 
Grade Level: 4th grade Special Education

Content Area: English Language Arts

Technology Tool(s) Used: PixelPress Floors app

Tips: 

• Explore the app and create a sample level prior to instruction
• Provide a copy of the Floors Sketch Guide to each student
• I also found it was easier to use a stylus when drawing in the app.