Olympics 2018

I have always loved watching the Olympics, both summer and winter and have always tried to incorporate the Olympics into my classroom during the Winter Olympics.  I thought everyone would be really excited, but honestly this group I have this year doesn't seem to impressed.  Most of them told me that they have not watched any of the Olympics and some even told me they didn't even realize they were on right now.  Why is this I wonder?  Could it be that the kids are more into their electronics?  Could it be that many households only using streaming devices such as Roku or the Amazon firestick to watch TV?  I'm not sure, but I will make it my mission over the next two weeks to get these kids pumped up about the Olympics!!!!  

Reading: So today, we started with a BrainPop video  and then we read a Winter Games- Close Reading Passage from TeachersPayTeachers.  This resource is awesome because it exposes the students to nonfiction reading and it can be used digitally with Google Classroom.  

Math: Another cool resource I found is 2018 Winter Olympics by the Numbers.  Each image in the Olympic slide show is accompanied with a numerical fact. Teachers, this is where you can get creative.  You can have students of every grade level work with these numbers based on your standards.  I plan to have my students write the numbers in expanded form using multiplication in my lesson.  

Science:  Ever wonder the science behind some of your favorite Olympic Events?  NBC Learn has teamed up with the National Science Foundation to produce a 16-part video series that explores the science behind individual Olympic Events.  I can't wait to share some of these with my students!  The curling one is my favorite!  Click here to check them all out!  

The video below shows my students doing the Kagan Structure - Quiz Quiz Trade.  During Flex Groups I had them read a passage about the host city, Pyeongchang and then I used some common core question stem cards. Of course I played the Olympic Fanfare and Theme while they mixed around the room finding their next partner.  

iPad Apps for Education

What are you favorite apps for education? 

My son and daughter both got an iPad for Christmas this past year and I am trying to encourage them to use it for something other that YouTube Kids.  I think there is probably some benefit to them watching toy reviews, I get annoyed that they would rather watch other people open and play with toys than play with the toys they have.  The only benefit I have found from them watching those type videos is that is keeps them entertained and it does increase their vocabulary and spark interest in their own creative play.  However, I would like them to use their iPads to help reinforce math, reading, science, and spanish.  I want them to use their iPad's to create their own videos/projects.  I mean, they are only 3 and 6, but I am a firm believer in the #kiderscan and #preKcan movements. 

Right now we are using ...

ABCmouse

PBS-Science and Play

Educreations

Duolingo (for Spanish) 

LetterSchool

I also need some technology time management ideas.  My daughter who has learned how to read has figured out how to change and set the timer on the youtube kids app.  Before we would limit her to 15-30 minutes at a time.  She used to give it up just fine when the timer when off, because she understood that time was up. Now, we still try to limit her time, but she will not just hand it over when we tell her it's been 15 minutes.  I end up just taking it away and making her cry.  I love technology, but I do believe there at their young age their needs to be a balance.  I don't want her to be glued to a screen all evening. 

  

Testing

It's benchmark week.  I know this is a touchy subject in public education, but as a teacher I wanted to express my thoughts about what I like and dislike about standardized testing.
My students took a science benchmark on Friday, ELA today, and they will take Math on Wednesday.

What I like about benchmarks/EOG's:
1. When the content of the test aligns with what I have been teaching.
2. Watching my students use the strategies I have taught them.
3.  Getting the results back and feeling successful.
4.  Setting goals with my students.
5.  Strengthening the confidence in my students.

What I dislike about benchmarks/EOGS:
1.  The stress it puts on teachers and students.
2.  Poorly written questions.
3.  The length of most of them.  (The NC Check-In's that we have switched to this year and the perfect length in my opinion.
4.  How much emphasis is placed on the test.  I always tell my students that the test does not define them or determine their success or failure in my class.   
5.  When students who know the material test poorly.

Just my thoughts, I realize that testing is just part of it and I will continue to do what is best for my students.

Epic Academy

I am so excited to be invited to be an Community Manager/Mentor for Epic Academy.  You might be thinking "Epic what?"  Epic Academy is an online, self-paced professional development opportunity for teachers in our district.  I have been an active member of the Epic community for about a year now.  During that time, I have been able to earn CEU's for the online training and I have participated in.  I have earned 14 badges (which are listed below), 19 achievements, and 3 rewards.  Epic Academy is broken down into bite-sized learning, called Quests.  When a user completes a Quest series, they earn a digital badge.  You also, get an actual badge to proudly display on your EPIC EDUCATOR banner. (see pic below)  I am so excited to be asked to be a mentor for new users because I am very passionate about the program and I want support other teachers as they begin their journey on EPIC. 

My Badges:
Google Docs
Pinterest
Twitter
Youtube
Google Sheets
Digital Formative Assessment
SAMR
Game Based Learning
Google Slides
Coding
Skype
Google Apps
Google Forms

Today was one of those rare days when I got the opportunity to step out of my classroom as visit 3 amazing 5th grade teachers in our county.  I really appreciate the opportunity to learn from others and I thoroughly enjoyed visiting each of their classrooms.  Here is a brief reflection of my time in each classroom I visited today.

My teamie and I, have a goal for our students to exceed expected growth this year in Math.  We have a record of high proficiency, but have struggled with growth.  We are looking to make some changes to the way we teach math this year and we really enjoyed learning from our colleagues today.

The first teacher we visited used a different approach to math word problems.  It was something I had never seen or even thought about doing, but I plan to give it a try.  She intentionally would not display or print the problem for the students to see, but instead she required them to listen to her read the problem.  She would read it more than one time, but it required the students to really listen to what the question was asking.  She also required them to draw a picture or model to prove their answer.  I was really impressed that all of her students seemed very comfortable with the models.  It made me think about my own class and I have to say, my students would not have been able to produce the models like these kids did today.  Some of them could do it, but others would struggle to come up with a model to prove their answer.

The other two teachers we visited were from the same school and pretty much taught the same lesson, but they each had their own unique teaching style.  We really enjoyed the high level of questioning in one room and the classroom management strategies in the other room.

All in all it was a great day and I look forward to implementing some of these strategies with my own students and hope that it makes a difference.