Adventures from Camp Mommy

I have been a teacher longer than I have been a mother, and until I had kids I worked every summer (camp, learning centers etc).   Once I had a child, it made more sense to stay home with said child rather than work, where I would then have to pay for summer camp or babysitters.

Fast forward 11 years, and I now have 3 children, ages 11, 6 and 4 and I can't remember the last time I worked at anything over the summer but what my kids like to call "Camp Mommy".  Last summer my oldest went to a sleepaway camp for 2 weeks and the little guys did about a week or so of camps (gymnastics and the such), and the few summers before that my oldest would go to day camps for a few weeks a summer, but this summer we have NO CAMP AT ALL!

So begins the adventures of a summer of a true, total "Camp Mommy" experience.  Now, I am not here to brag or gloat about how I am keeping my kid's minds totally occupied all summer so they do not get "summer brain drain" or whatever you call it, or to post about the schedule we are keeping, in fact it is just the opposite.

We wake with no alarms, we lounge around until noon (granted the two older girls have had swim team practice in the mornings, which interrupts our lounging), but once they are done our day begins. Since my summer break officially began three weeks ago, we have visited Zoo Atlanta, gone to the movies (Inside Out of course), went bowling (Stars and Strikes Kids Bowl Free for the summer is awesome!), went roller skating (what a workout!), visited the High Museum of Art (Mo Willems exhibit our main focus), and have gone to the pool (multiple times a day!)  We have played countless board games, jumped through the sprinkler, competed in building challenges, read a few books, had playdates and sleepovers, watched movies (kids all got hit by a stomach bug and there was more of this last week than I would like to admit - probably not our best moments this summer), we  have cooked meals, baked treats together, gone to a real live bookstore, and have just HUNG OUT.

Do I want some time to myself when I am on vacation for the summer? Of course I do, and I try to carve out time to exercise and to read on my own curled up in my bed, hopefully even falling asleep into a nap.  I have even found time to write a blog post.  Do I want to make sure my kids don't suffer from "summer brain drain" as so many articles and posts warn me about?  Of course I do - but without a lot of thought and scheduling, I have done the exact opposite. A lot of what we are doing is in fact FEEDING their brains, not letting them be drained.  They are experiencing life and figuring out how to get along with each other and in all this they are practicing all the 21st century skills we educators are so concerned about these days.  But most of all, they are HAVING FUN!!!

Overall, I couldn't be happier with hanging out with my kids all summer considering the alternative, which includes shlepping them back and forth to camps all day (probably more than one since they are all different ages), and then mostly just filling in the time until they return.  I wouldn't trade "days off" for the memories we are making together for anything in the whole world.  Because I know one of these days (probably not to far in the future), "Camp Mommy" will be a thing of the past.

And the summer isn't even half over yet - so there is still more adventure to come and I can't wait!

Rediscovering Learning Styles

My daughter is 10 years old and is in fifth grade.  I taught 5th grade for almost 10 years.  So naturally, you would think that I would know how to help her succeed right? This is easier said then done.  After many attempts at assisting my child in studying for tests, and not seeing A+ results, I felt like I had failed.  Keeping in mind that the only real mistake is the one from which I do not learn (see my first blog post), I tried to figure out what the mistake was.  What was my daughter not doing when she studied?  What could I do to help her?  How could we fix this "mistake" and boost her confidence for her to succeed on future tests.  Then suddenly, I had a revelation and realized I needed a blast from my past!

Old School Inventory

Learning styles!  I spent the entire first month of school every year I taught fifth grade helping students figure out their personal learning styles and then we brainstormed ways they could study based on the way they learn best.  Why had I not thought of this earlier when my own daughter first entered fifth grade?  I immediately ran to my old teaching materials (see pic to the right) and found what I needed, but also quickly realized that these materials were outdated (clearly). Thank goodness we are now in the 21st century!  With pretty much the click of a button I tried a few different sites and I came up with what I needed: 

ONLINE LEARNING STYLES INVENTORY

I took the test myself first, to find out what I already knew; I am visual.  Then, I had my daughter do the same.  Her results yielded that she was equally tactile and auditory (40% each).  We had an amazing conversation about how my learning style was different from hers, and if I continued to dictate her study habits, it wouldn't benefit her because my strategies were not the ones that helped her learn best. Instead, we looked up tips for studying for the different learning styles.  The next thing I knew, she was up in her room making up songs and cheers about the Lusitania and how it led to World War I and the difference between nationalism, militarism, and imperialism.

PowerPoint Table of Contents Slide

Not only did she learn the material from her study guide - she did it independently.  We didn't fight. We didn't cry (and I say "we" because often times it really was both of us crying over studying).  And now suddenly there was less of a "we" learning the material, and a motivation for her to learn and succeed for herself.  In addition to the songs she made, she created a PowerPoint Presentation with the sample essay questions, linking each question to a different slide and then back to the slide of question - modern day flash cards!  

Needless to say, she did very well on the test (not an A+), but she made a huge improvement from how she did prior.  I was so proud of her accomplishment, but realized that most importantly, she was proud of herself and her confidence in her ability to retain information soared!  

Reflecting on this experience reminds me that by remembering what worked for me in the past, will help in the present, and motivates me for the future  I am excited to see what else I can rediscover and modify it for the 21st century!

The Only Real Mistake

The only real mistake is the one from which do not learn.  

My All Time Favorite Poster

This is what my all time favorite poster said that hung in my classroom year after year.  Yet, learning from failure and making mistakes is seen as a new, #futureready, concept.  How is it then that I had this poster for so many years and I referred my students to it hundreds of times?  Does that mean I was #futureready before this was even a thing?  

I am currently a Media and Instructional Technology Specialist.  I began my career as an educator the same as everyone else.  I went to college to "study teaching", took a test, and got certified to teach.  I student and assistant taught with outstanding forward thinking teachers in New York.  I taught 3rd grade for a few years at a Yeshiva in Brooklyn straight out of college.  Then, I moved to Atlanta where I found the Epstein School, which has become my second home for the past 16 years.  Here I taught first 5th grade, then 2nd, then back to 5th for year until I transitioned into the Digital Learning Department and have been there ever since.   There I work primarily with students and teachers in our ECP and Kindergarten to integrate Media and Technology skills.  I am also a part of a team of people who are pushing the school forward with the use of a Blended Learning model.

My transition to this department was a classic case of "failing forward".  While I knew it was time to exit classroom teaching and follow a new path and renew my passion for teaching and learning, at the time, I was conflicted about the change and scared about what lay ahead of me in a new role. I get asked all the time by my old students: "Don't you miss being a teacher?" I always answer the same way, "I am still a teacher and always will be",   In fact, I often feel more like a teacher now than I ever was.  Today, I am able to facilitate learning in ways I couldn't never do when I was in the classroom, stifled by rigid objectives and time limits.  Now I am able to constantly explore, try new things, inspire children with books I read aloud, as well as help them find their own passion for reading, and encourage kids to question and create.  And yes, I have more room to fail, make mistakes, and ultimately learn from them.

So, when I think about where I am today, and I think of the #futureready ideas like learning from our mistakes, I am constantly reminded that these are not just thoughts of the future for me, they are actually thoughts from my past.  Join me on my adventures in this blog as I reflect on my own teaching and learning, as a teacher who is ready for the future BECAUSE of her past!