I have 5+ tabs open. That can signal the many tasks I’ve started that are still pending or present as an exercise for attention.
I’ve said it before: I don’t believe in multitasking. If I have more than five tabs open, and they’re not all related to the one thing I’m doing, I need to do some cleaning.
As I stared at my many tabs, a tale of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” began playing in my head. I started working on progress reports; then I got a case of everything-you’re-not-doing headache that made me doubt whether I had taken my blood pressure meds or not, which led me to my nightstand. I got my purple pill case and saw the two pills for Thursday. Oh no! Thursdays are my posting days!
I rushed back to the desk while ignoring the unmade bed and began typing this short story no one really asked for.
What am I writing about in today’s post?
Assessments?
Ugh.
Not a good day for that.
*Scrolls through the drafts posts*
*Sighs in despair*
All the drafts I have lined up require a better state of mind, not a busy 5-tabs-open and my-baby-is-sick-again mind.
Do I use too many hyphens?
Focus, Ana.
Maybe that’s what I need to do. Write short. Something quick and to the point. Not at all like these lines you’re reading.
Let’s see.
What is something from my daily teaching life I could quickly reflect on?
Charts!
Really, anchor charts.
Let’s see if the George thing works again:
The Goldilocks – Not Too Many, Not Too Little
I’ve gone from creating too many charts to finding a more efficient way to channel content for students on a blank piece of paper.
Before, I could think of a chart for almost every lesson, which was insane, assuming writing units can include up to 20 lessons. Last year, I started grouping concrete strategies and connecting them on a wall. Instead of one vs. twenty, we had five linked charts for a realistic fiction writing unit.
Everything I decided to add to the wall needed to pass the test of three questions: Do I know the way students will use this tool? Did I demonstrate to support transfer? Is it a tool they can go back to throughout the unit? If the answer was yes, it went up with some examples of how to use it.
I’ve only done charts this way once; I should really get back to that approach.
The What and the How
Anything I turn into a chart must scream its purpose. Not necessarily in bright colors (although using a color palette makes it much more fun) but with obvious step-by-step actions.
I try to apply this principle to charts across subjects, which I’ve found quite helpful in Math. Students who see a chart should notice the how-to of something specific. What am I trying to do? How am I supposed to do that? What does each step of that strategy look like? How does my work compare to this sample?
If none of those questions have a clear answer when looking at the chart, then it’s a waste of space, materials, and students’ time.
Dust the walls
I see now what George means. I say this more than I do it in my classroom.
What does a functional, color-coded, pretty chart do to a wall? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. If students don’t go up there, it means nothing. I can count (on one hand) the students I’ve had who would go up to the wall on their own. That reflects me as a teacher, not the others who just ignore the wall.
My job is to keep the wall alive with them and for them. Not with “writers, it’s on the wall!” announcements and a pinch of annoyance, but with intentional invitations and engaging add-ons that would truly turn the wall into the third teacher in the room.
There, three things helped again.
Reflecting on this random and short writing experience, I can say that the moment’s spontaneity feels very Liz Gilbert. However, I also want to give myself credit for showing up and ignoring the other open tabs that seem to be tapping their fingers very loudly.
Also, thanks, Elena, for choosing to rest so Mama could do this one thing that has totally turned the day for her 🙂
Start with a Story 