What worked for me on the first week of school you might ask? Why my Class Course Guide, of course! Last year I ditched a traditional syllabus and begin using a one page course guide. I had two motives behind making the switch. A) How many parents and students actually read it beyond my reading it to the students in class? B) I wanted something that students could tape in the interactive notebooks that we'd use all year and refer to it when they had any questions about the class.
With those two things in mind I made the plunge and ditched that old, long, boring, traditional syllabus. This nifty little one pager (a little term I stole from the great @EdTechLove) packs a ton of useful information in a fun little delivery format. I feel that this one page Course Guide can take the place of a syllabus because it give important information about the class without all the boring, yet important, stuff that many don't even bother reading.
Included are 10 sections outlining the class policies, supply list, assignment policy, how to receive extra help, our class in social media, Schoology (our LMS), our team webpage, and goals for the year. Since this is printed on a full sheet of paper and must fit in a standard composition notebook, there's even a handy little flap when you fold it for the student's and parent's signature. I always tell my students to fold on the dotted and cut on the solid when we do foldables in hopes that no one will cut their course guide but it sometimes still happen. Not students has cut their yet (knock on wood!) and I know one does.
In addition to the 2 goals I have for students I ask that students choose a goal that we will re-evaluate each quarter. I ask that students choose a goal then explain how they plan to achieve that goal. For example, most students would write get good grades or maintain an A in math. I'd always ask them how they plan to maintain this grade. Students usually said things like study more, not procrastinate, or do homework as soon as they got home so that they would not forget. I told them that my goal was to not procrastinate because man am I the biggest procrastinator in the world. When I was a student, my best work and highest grades were a result of my procrastination but I'm learning that the stress from procrastination is never worth it.
After going over the course guide with my students, I touched on the grading scale and some other things that are in the syllabus and posted in the classroom before allowing the students to complete a team scavenger hunt using the course guide. I gave the teams 15 minutes to answer 10 questions that could be answered directly from the course guide. I gave each person a job and had one person to write their number on the board once the team finished so I could keep up with the order in which each team finished. I walked around and checked the questions as the teams finished. I circled questions that were answered incorrectly and told students to go back and check their answers.
It seemed as if students thoroughly enjoyed this activity. I figured I should come up with something high energy for the students to do after going the course guide for a majority of the hour long class period. Students worked well with their teams and the first 5 teams who answered all questions correctly received a treat. All in all this was a very successful execution of a syllabus and team building activity that worked for me, LaDonna!
I used this Winter Break for resting and reflecting. Even though I spent more time resting and doing nothing I did take some time to reflect on myself as a teacher and myself in general. I was inspired to blog about my goals after reading @historicalipad's New Year's Resolution Post Saturday.
Goal #1
Save more and spend less. I received a harsh wake up call when we relocated to Colorado and I am just now really adjusting almost 3 years later. I currently save a little each month but it is nothing compared to how much money I feel I waste and have nothing to show for it. I am really bad about "wanting it now" and instant gratification. I feel that I am quick to spend without weighing my options. My family eats out way too much and there are several things that I feel we can go without. We recently purchased a home and we have a list of wants that will actually benefit us in the future when it comes time to put our house on the market. Goal #1 will eventually open other doors for my family.
Goal #2
Workout consistently. I currently workout but I'm not consistent at all. Some weeks I workout 3-4 times and then I go weeks without lifting a finger. My goal is to workout 3-4 times a week. I am more consistent with a partner but I have to learn how to motivate myself to workout alone. I'm excited to now have an At Home Gym but I need to utilize it more consistently. Our gym is still a work in progress but I'm proud of the what we have so far and I have enough for a full workout. I always feel better and have more energy when I workout so with accomplishing goal #2 I have nothing to lose.
Goal #3
I would like to blog and upload to my TpT store weekly. I've been trying to figure out a schedule that will work for me but I have not been able to find that magical formula yet. I currently purchased a planner and have been researching formats to help me plan out my life. I really like passion planners and bullet journals but have not decided which is going to work for me. Goal #3 will eventually help me to build my platform and reach more fellow educators so that I can do the many other things I'd like to eventually do in the near future.
#oneword2017
With all of my goals I was able to come up my own personal #oneword2017 which is consistency. With consistency I will be able to #slay the goals I have for myself in 2017. I find that when I do get off track it is because of a lack of consistency. I am looking to come up with a routine that will not take away from my family or sleep. Looking back at 2016, family time and sleep usually suffered the most when I was working on something extra or work related.
What are some of your goals? Did you write down resolutions for 2017? Do you have an #oneword2017? I'd love to hear from you. Leave your comments below.
I would like to start by telling you all how much I love projects that make connections with real world concepts. I had so much fun planning this project as well as working on this with my students.
This project was created as a cross curricular End-of-Unit project with my ELA teaching partner, English Middle School Mania. Students completed this project after reading Around the World in 80 Days and after completing a unit about rates, ratios, proportions, and converting decimals, fractions, and percents.
This project requires students to make decisions that required the use of math skills. The students created a budget, found the percent of a number, used proportions, and found unit rates and ratios.
This project includes the following:
Planning Packet
Slides Presentation for Students to complete
Tic Tac Toe Board for options for final products
A rubric for grading of the final project
Aligned to the Common Core Math Standards with options to connect to Common Core ELA Standard
Students presented their final products gallery style and allowed the presentees to complete a short survey about their presentation. Students received useful feedback they were able to reflect on for future projects. Students were also given the opportunity to reflect on what they did well and what they could have done better.
My ELA teaching partner and I would like to do a cross curricular project each quarter for the remainder of the school year. I'm excited about what we'll come up with and the things that our students will create.
Students' Presenting and Parts of Presentations
Student mapped her trip with a map in her Slides Presentation.
Explanation of choice of Rental Car.
Student reflecting on what was hard.
Student's final budget and explanation.
Student's choice of final presentation using the Tic Tac Toe Board.
What I learned
We have ability based classes and we accounted for our Advanced students without considering our Supported students. I learned that we must have accommodations for them before even beginning the project. I assumed that the students would be able to handle the workload with me working with them as a class step by step. That did not work and I ended up throwing out many parts for my Supported students.
I should have created a checkpoint calendar. I find that when I have created checkpoint calendars in the past students are more organized when working. Students also know what I expect and when I expect it. I also have an idea of the quality of work and can stop students who are off track to help to get back on track. This time around I assigned task for the day and as homework but I still had students working on what they wanted to and when I checked in for participation points some students did not receive those easy points.
I hope you check out my project on TpT. Thank you for stoping by!
2016 is coming to a quick end. This year seemed to have passed quickly, and I'd like to take a moment to reflect on 5 highlights of the year. Thanks to Daisy Designs to hosting this blog link-up.
Getting serious about my TpT store and it paying off. I've had an account for a very long time and I've posted things as a seller from time to time but I've never been too serious about it. I will say that my ELA teaching partner, Andi, inspired me to do better. With the encouragement of others and my inner, "You got this voice" my work has paid off tremendously. With my military husband and my struggle to find a job that I liked during our first relocation. I feel that my TpT store will come in handing when it's time for us to pick up and move again.
Collaborating with one of my closest friends and creating a blog together. I feel that 2017 has many great things in store of the both of us. Check it out.
Having friends visit for my husbands birthday and again for Thanksgiving meant a lot to me this year. You've been her for 2 going on 3 years and this was a first. Being so far from home makes it hard for friends or family to come and visit us. I really cherished that time with them.
Finally being able to go home, to Arkansas. I've haven't been home since we moved to Colorado from Louisiana in 2014. I hit the road with my 4 year old and 7 year old for a road trip to Arkansas this summer. I was able to see my brothers that I haven't seen in ages, spend time with cousins, and spend lots of time with my aging granny.
We bought a house! My husband is a US Airman and we've only ever rented homes. We planned to buy when he was on is way to retirement in our home state of Arkansas. We finally took the plunge and decided to look for a home to buy here in Colorado. It was one of the biggest, scariest, and best decisions we've made this year. I am proud to be a homeowner.
Thanks tofor hosting this link up. Don't forget to check out here post.
This past week was the first week of school and I survived. I was excited for school to start but I just need an extra week to actually get some rest before hitting the ground running. Teacher official started back last Wednesday but I received my students this past Tuesday. To start with, my first couple of weeks aren't typical since I teach a 1 to 1 iPad math class. When I taught a traditional class I would focus on classroom policies, procedures, and expectations the first week while slowly adding content into the mix starting day 3. This year the beginning of the year looks a little different.
This year the first week is all about class policies, procedures, and expectations. It's a lot of repetition and practicing what I expect from them. Since middle school 7th graders are learning to be more independent but still pretty much rely on teachers and parents at the beginning of the year, I hold off on giving out my Course Guide until the 3rd day of school. I know that the students are receiving tons of papers to be reviewed and signed by parents starting on the 1st day of school and I don't want my very important information to get lost in the shuffle.
I was astatic to get the opportunity to attend my second EdTechTeam's Google Apps for Education (GAFE) Summit. I faced the same challenge as the first summit when trying to decide which session to attend. Having an amazing team helped make the process easier since we were able to divide and conquer when there was too many good sessions to choose from during any given time slot.
As with my Fall experience, I left with an overwhelming amount of information to go back and implement this upcoming school year. I found myself geeky out a little more this time around. There were ideas that I attempted to implement last year but things didn't go over as smoothly as I would have liked. There were session that I attended that rectified my issues that caused so many aha and #mindblown moments. I am once again grateful to have been able to experience this epic time to grow, learn, and collaborate with fellow educators.
The Rundown Opening Keynote
The opening keynote was eloquently delivered by Holly Clark (@HollyClarkEdu) about Digital Disruption in education. Learning should be amplified by technology and textbooks should by used as reference points. She used the definition of disruption as interrupting the normal progress or activity of something with something better. Using that definition means that disrupting education is to interrupt or change the existing system and improve it.
She talked about how Netflix disrupted Blockbuster which now no longer exist and how Uber is doing the same thing to taxis. She share an amazing video that you can find here or below. When you see a need you should make adjustments otherwise someone else will and you/your methods may become obsolete.
She also talked about binge watching Netflix but we need to practice binge learning. When we as professional binge learn, we can't get enough of what we are learning (Similar to my GAFE experience; I couldn't get enough). We must create situation where our students binge learn, can't get enough of what we're doing in the classroom. We as educators must be restless learners.
What is more important the answers or the questions? Traditionally education value answers, not questions but we must create an environment that is the opposite. Now is the time to to put the importance on questions and create Chief Questioning Officers.
Her last point was about adjacent possibles. Adjacent possibles captures both the limits and the creative potential of change and innovation. With adjacent possibles in schools we must allow for student agencies which give students ownership of their learning and requires deeper thinking. We must begin by telling students the problem and asking them to solve it. She lit a spark in me like no other.
Session 1
Sara Stuhr (@mrsstuhr5th) did a great job at demonstrating how to use Twitter in the Classroom with her presentation, To the Twittersphere and Beyond. I've been wanting to use twitter in the classroom for a while now. Especially now that I am a 1:1 iPad teacher with unlimited possibilities but I've been really nervous about how the parents and administration would respond. I'm going to begin by taking baby steps. I plan to have different groups or individuals tweet daily with the hashtag #frommathrm202.
First she addressed Student Engagement. She showed that this should be put in the students' hands and they should have ownership.
Students should answer the questions: What do you want your parents to know? and What are you proud of?
Twitter in the classroom should be used to document student learning by the the student.
Students should be the force behind getting parents onboard.
Tweeting should be a student job! A differnt student can post the tweet for the day everyday.
One con was parent backlash because twitter is social media. She stressed getting media releases for each students and never posting pictures of students when the parent does not give permission.
I was not really sold on all the pieces of parent engagement. I do feel that this peice is beneficial when parents are active on social media or twitter. Ways to get the parents involved.
Set parents up and explain how to use it.
Make it apart of the school culture.
Make sure their are media releases for students' photos and always respect student privacy.
Took the place of newsletters
Twitter benefit: Parents can direct message you
Twitter can be used to building your PLN.
Follow popular education hashtags to find other educators you may be interested in following.
Tweetdeck.twitter.com is an amazing tool to multitask on Twitter. You can follow particular hashtags, messages, mentions, and twitter activity all in one place on one page without having to click through different pages or links.
Find other educators to follow by following hashtags
Twitter Chats can be used with your students or within a professional community.
There is a question posted with a hashtag.
Individuals answer the question using the same hashtag.
Session 2
One of my favorite session by far was with Daniel Sharpe (@get_sharpe) in Digital Badging: Level Up Your Classroom Google. I tried this last year but only ended up using the leaderboard but his explanation and method simplified the entire process. The way he has it set up also put it back on to the student which I love. Not only did he sure the sheets with the attendees but he also walked us through a very quick and easy process of creating badges with Google Drawings.
How this works:
First, copy the Teacher and Students' sheets templates. You can find both using the link above.
Next, Connect your student template to the teacher template. Then share with your students. One of the most beneficial things I learned during this step works for every google drive item. To force google files to copy when downloaded, change the end of the url to /copy (everything beginning with the word edit after the forward slash)
Then you type the badge information in the teacher template. The beautiful thing about this step is that you can edit it all year and any changes made would automatically update on the student template. I love that I don't have to have all my badges on the 1st day because the students will be able to see all updates changes.
Now may favorite part about this, CREATING THE BADGES! He has a video tutorial for the process but it was so simple that I got "geek"bumps in my excitement.
After you create your badges and create unique codes for each one, you are done! Sit back and watch the magic transform your class. There is one thing that I am trying to work out. With the power in the students hands you give them the unique codes for the badges they earn. Students can share the code with peers who have not yet earned badges. I am working a formula that with change the digits to starts after entered. Fingers crossed that this will be possible.
Allow the students to reflect about why certain artifacts were chosen.
At the beginning of the year, students should reflect of learning goals for future self assesement.
She provided a planning template: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByzloTthg-EVOVNXZnl1ZmdsSDQ/view The most valuable nugget I walked away from this session with is now knowing that you can create templates for sites that are as easy as fill in the blank to allow students to have uniform portfolios while still allowing for creativity and personalizations.
Session 4
Screencast Your Way to a Flipped Classroom with Brianna Mazzella (@BriMazzella) was very help as I am continuing my effort to flip my math class. She also opened my mind to untraditional possibilities that do not normally come to mind when you think about a flipped class.
Screencastify is a wonder chrome extentsion that with make flipping you class a breeze if you plan to make your own videos. You are able to record a video of yourself, your voice over a document, site, or image, or your live desktop with yourself in a frame. I have not used my laptop for video yet but I look forward to testing it out within the next couple of days.
She also gave a list of quick tips:
Allow the students to create their own screencast.
Flipped learning looks different in different situations.
Students can view the video in class as you rotate small groups
Students can view the video at home.
Must use TAB mode to use additional tools during screencast
Alt-F - Spotlight tool
Can not use drawing tools in Desktop mode or CAM mode
Drawings will not disappear from page to page in Present mode of Slides
Alt-Z - Erase Drawings off the screen
Day 2
Opening Keynote
The opening Keynote for day 2 was amazing. Jay Atwood (@jayatwood) spark my interest with his keynote on Instructional Identity Crisis.
He began with these Four Pillars when it comes to educators teaching in the digital age.
Know what's trending
Have fun with it
Learn from someone else
Give it ago
He introduced me to The Selfie Game. Sounds interesting.
Take a selfie to match a topic or title.
We must setting SMART goals.
Growth is better than you were yesterday no matter how little the change.
Identity
As an educator you must "Unapologetically" be you
Think about who you are as a person, educator, professional
Knoe that you are shaped by your experiences
Generativity vs. stagnation
You can’t be positive and contributing if you are stagnant or confused, a lesson we can all live by.
Identity vs. role confusion
Professional learner takes:
Motivation
Strategies
We must Learn. Unlearn. Relearn. I lesson we can all learn from .Yoda
#ttwwhadi (A hashtage that had us all confused.)
Means “That’s the way we always did it!”
“But they love it!”
To get better you must be willing to to change #disrupteducation
Sunk Cost Fallacy: You spend the most time on things that are important to you.
You must that old stuff go even if you’ve always done it that way
Share
Used to be "Show your work" now it’s "Share your work."
Value is not in what you own, it’s in what you share! I'm considering puting this on my wall for motivation.
http://vocaroo.com/ is a cool voice recording site for laptops and chrome books but it doesn’t work on ipads/iphones :(
Let’s Recap is a wonderful tool for all device to student to video record responses to questions, passages, or videos. I most excited to try this little gem out. Can't wait to share the outcome after I use this with my students.
Session 6
I most excited about Showcase your Style with Sites and Blogger with @cmoor4 since I have been trying to figure out smooth way to incorporate blogging into my classroom. Last year KidBlog switched from free to paid after I set my students up and I did not want to introduce my students to a new platform so I put it off for a another school year.
One of the most valuable things I learned for this session was that giving your students a global audience was as easy as tweeting a hashtag. Share your students work with #commentsforkids!
Chris described sites are more uniform for portfolios while suggesting that blogger be used as blogs to document day to day in the classroom.
Put the responsibility in the hands of the students.
GreenScreen (Google App) can be used to put any background behind your students in a photo or video.
Remember: You are not the sage on the stage. Let your students do the work (dance on the stage).
Annotate.
Is about the journey/process, not the product;
Making connections;
Commenting and collaborating;
Students can add Voice, Video, and Links;
Aides in the learning process.
Publish.
Is about sharing work,
Giving an audience,
You can take this a step farther by giving your students a global audience
Tools:
Google Drawings to create and annotate
Create badges
Vocabulary (Frayer model/Unpacking Vocab)
Bubble Map
Timelines
Announcements
Posters
Animate Images
Comment on images to make annotations
Can link images
Seesaw to create, annotate, and publish
Session 8
Data’s not so Scary with @jayatwood made me rethink the possibilities about using Sheets in the classroom. I am a data person and I have many ways for using sheets with add-ons and forms to collect data from my students that I use for planning for myself. Jay introduced me to new concept of having my students use sheets in class. I even had a conversation with my ELA half, @aadamsELA, about how she could use sheets in her class with writing and students are about to see all the statements in the sheet added via forms and collaborate or vote on their peers' responses.
bit.ly/jraDATA is a very useful spreadsheet shared with the participants to demonstrate the many uses.
We as educators much think, "How can we use the 4C's everyday?"
I love the idea of offering quiet moments of creativity during the day in every single class. Is that something you think you can do? I am working on it.
We must relinquish more control to the student
LOVE THE IDEA OF A STUDENT TECH TEAM! The Student Tech Team realy gave me geekbumps! I plan to work with @historicalipad to get this idea off the ground at our school.
Here's a fun fact:
Currently every 2 days we create as much information as had been created up until the dawn of the year 2003.
I most excited to learn about RAT: A way to think about tech integration like SAMR
Replacement: Do the same thing but using a different tool.
Amplification: Practice, above the teacher. Amplify the learning. Example: Flipped Learning
Transformation: Focuses on the students, student centered. Take risk and lead forward into the new ways and allow the students to work with it that will surprise you.
Using RAT we put the learning into the hands of the students by being innovative and allowing the students to choose. I am looking forward to implementing RAT in my class this year.
This post was a mouthful and I hope you were able take, if not many, at least one gem away from my experience at the my second GAFE Summit. Leave comments below. I'd love to here from you.
Getting the opportunity to attend the 2015 Colorado GAFE Summit was an amazing experience. I learned so many things and walked away with so many nuggets. I also met some amazing people and got a chance to make connections with individuals in my own building/district that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. There were so many highlights that it's a little overwhelming.
The GAFE Summit organized by EdTechTeam and was held in Louisville, CO October 10-11. EdTechTeam organizes global summits for education to inspire and empower educators. I must say that I felt both inspired and empowered after attending this event.
The first quandary I encountered was choosing a sequence of sessions to attend. Day 1 was not as hard as Day 2 though. After hearing presenters mention apps and add-ons I had previously never heard of, I started to re-think my 2-Day session line-up.
The Rundown
Day 1
Session 1 - Digitize My Classroom by Dean Dahl. I believe he is a Google Certified Trainer or Innovator. He talked about some awesome ideas that opened my eyes as I am on this quest to a paper-free classroom. He also talked about some awesome tools that are going change my classroom and maybe even blow my students mind once I use them in the classroom. He shared the idea of using autocrat for forms to automatically send out forms to students and/or parents. Anyone who knows my, knows that I have a form for everything and now knowing that I can set forms to send an automatic responds..."Mind BLOWN!" For instances, students would fill out a Re-test form and it was send a document to parents stating the students current test score and their plan to prepare for the re-take.
He mentioned asking parent volunteers to sign up for a Ski Trip and automatically sent out check-in information, guidelines, packing list, etc. Some other tidbits from his presentation include:
Using drive for shared folders with colleagues and students.
Session 2 - Put the Power of Learning in the Hands of the Students with SmartAMP by Kris Astle. I was starting to give up on SMART by this cloud-based resource is amazing and I am SOLD. Since I teach math in a class that thrives on collaboration, I was looking for a resource that is like Google Docs that allows students to work together on a common item but also allow them to sketch or draw on their iPad. SmartAMP is it. This is also my key to having a global classroom. SmartAMP allows you to create workspaces to be shared or to be worked on individually. Students can be in a common classroom or in classrooms across the globe.
Can be used for daily exit/entrance tickets.
You can take control of the workspace or give control to a student to control. You can set limits and guides where students go from one task to the next and you can see their progression. If students are working as a group, you can see exactly what each student contributed and their communication back and forth.
There is a live demo at Preston Middle School on Fort Collins in Colorado to showcase students working with students in Canada on a common project. Sign up for a 6 month trial here. Tell them that LaDonna sent you.
Session 3 - 5 Google Apps to Help Differentiate Instruction with TextHelp by Kay Tepera. TextHelp is a Google Extension App that is very useful in any subject area for students with Dyslexia, Autism, and English Language Learners. This is also good for struggling readers. This extension had many nifty tools such as text-to-speech, vocabulary list creator, text highlighter tool, etc. Although this is a paid resource, it is completely free for teachers using: goo.gl/kz0cSC. There is also an iPad app available.
Session 4 - Pump up Your Data with Piktochart by Amy Hitchner. Piktochart is a website that help you create infographics. Infographics tell a story with data, engage your audience, and appeal to visual learners. This session real appealed to me since I've been researching infographics for about a month now to introduce them to my students as a presentation tool. I found her presentation really easy to follow and so simplistic that I asked for permission to show her presentation to my students. I'm currently creating an infographic to share the class grades based on study habits, effort given, and taking advantage of additional opportunities.
At the end there was a demo slam. The demo slam consisted of several representatives given 3 minutes to wow us with a tool, resource, or product.
2015 Colorado GAFE Summit Demo Slam
peardeck.com
block pop ups and adds - “add a block” extension
google forms - get add ons - “save as doc” - get google form info in a more readable doc format
google extension - “save to drive”
talk into google apps - text to speech within google docs - under “Tools” menu
google extension - manages many extensions - “extensity” - Quickly enable/disable Google Chrome extensions
google extension - “chrome cast”
google extension - “black menu” - The easiest access to the Google universe
google extension - “scrible” Smarter Web reading & research. Annotate, bookmark, save, manage & share online articles. Citations, bibliographies, reports & more
google extension - “google tone” - Broadcast any URL to computers within earshot
bit.ly/defunkify - improve the look of your google web pages
In addition to the 2 goals I have for students I ask that students choose a goal that we will re-evaluate each quarter. I ask that students choose a goal then explain how they plan to achieve that goal. For example, most students would write get good grades or maintain an A in math. I'd always ask them how they plan to maintain this grade. Students usually said things like study more, not procrastinate, or do homework as soon as they got home so that they would not forget. I told them that my goal was to not procrastinate because man am I the biggest procrastinator in the world. When I was a student, my best work and highest grades were a result of my procrastination but I'm learning that the stress from procrastination is never worth it.
