Reflections on Learning

Here is an excerpt from an electronic forum on anchor charts created on Tackk that includes comments from 3rd-grade teacher Lacy Prahm, special education teacher Kelly Carlile, course facilitator Jennifer Stoner, and administrators Cheryl Chaney and Nuri Gonzalez.

Lacy Prahm: “I think anchor charts are key in the classroom. They can serve as tracks of learning while also used as guides to refer to throughout units of learning. I have to admit, though, that my new obsession is ladders. … Ladders have helped me tighten up those key points or strategies. I try to also model looking back at the charts to help me as I think aloud — therefore my students can see the importance of our anchor charts. When creating an anchor chart, I try to engage the students by sharing the markers with them, and also I really like the idea of leaving an anchor chart up for the kids to finish in their free time.”

Jennifer Stoner: “Lacy, you are right when you said that the ladders help tighten up those key points or strategies. That is a great way to put it. We feel like the kids are using them almost more than the traditional anchor charts.”

Kelly Carlile: “I used to organize my charts into Google Docs so I’d remember them for the next year, but I find that each year is different and needs are different as well, so I simply make the charts for the year, take them down at the end and create charts that are the most applicable with my new groups next year.”

Jennifer Stoner: “Kelly, the Google Docs idea is awesome. We would have never thought of that. It is good to still re-create your charts each year, but it is super helpful to have a reference to look back at. Thanks for the idea.”

Cheryl Chaney: “The learning and sharing of ideas/information is so amazing. I see anchor charts in classrooms, but the information for usage, ideas for ladders, and pictures/videos for reference really support our own learning of this topic.”

Nuri Gonzalez: “What a wonderful collection of knowledge. All of the links have very valuable information. … I agree that keeping them short and simple is your best bet. I always added visuals/icons to support ELLs.”