Trust

Trust seems to be a huge factor in the happiness and success of relationships in people’s life. I think it is really important to show people you trust them especially if you see and work with them a lot. If you give a little then most people will prove they are also trustworthy. When working on a team it is important to build that trust and collaborate to make everyone’s job easier. I also think it is important to show students you trust them and allow them the opportunity to play out that trust and show you what they can do. I think people are inspired when you show them you trust them. They want to show you they are good also. As I look back on many times I have been worried I noticed the Universe has made things ok. I think I need to trust the Universe a little more because I tend to worry a lot more than I probably should because usually things tend to work out for the best, even if I can’t see it right away.

Triumphs and Troubles

Triumph: This past week one of my student's parents nominated me for a teacher award. It was really nice to hear how appreciated I was to her. She is a parent that hasn't had the best relationship with the school before but we connected early in the year and gained trust. Her daughter has a lot of trouble in school so since she has made a good connection she has been very supportive when it comes to dealing with behavior issues.



Trouble: This past week I was very sick. I had to miss two days. I feel like I have been gone a lot, mostly for trainings this year. It has been hard to be gone because I know my students don't get a whole lot out of a day when I am gone.

Technology Integration

Our students have become 21st century learners and have the world at their fingertips. As a teacher of those students it is my job to meet their needs by integrating the technology they will be using the rest of their lives. Technology should be use in the classroom because this is the place where students can safely make mistakes, learn how to effectively use technology to meet goals and to gain information. Technology can be used for collaboration, publication and so many other things.
 Through my experience in grad school, I was able to learn and try new technology tools in my classroom. Some have been very effective and I will continue to use them, and others didn't work for me this year. After I complete the program I will continue to implement new technology into my classroom. Something I have just started to play with is a flipped classroom structure. I'm hoping this structure will work for some of my lessons and I will continue to use it in the future. Learning about the SAMR model has helped me analyze technology and its effectiveness in the classroom. I will continue to use this model to choose tools that will be beneficial to my students.
I hope to continue to learn about new technology tools in different ways. An easy way to learn more is to observe and talk with other teachers. Through discussion in my building, watching blogs and following teachers on social media, I will have plenty of outlets for learning. I will also continue to use freetech4teachers.com since it is easy to use and has relevant information.

Tech Tool -Feb

This week I created a review assignment with Kahoot. This is a game like website where students answer questions that are up on the screen as fast as they can. They are awarded points for accuracy and speed. I created a game for our social studies unit on the New England Colonies. I included some facts we learned and new vocabulary we learned. Students played the game as a review for our test. Once I create the game students only need another device to get to the website and put in their game name. They loved the game and I didn't find too many that struggled with the speed.

Tech Tools- Feb 3-7

This week we were asked to try out Haiku Deck. After watching the tutorial I had a few ideas on how to implement this tool. I did not have time this week to have my students create one so I created one to show the students. I used the Haiku Deck to show pictures and short phrases about early American Colonial life. Based on the Haiku Deck they had to describe what life was like in Colonial times. I also made them explain their thinking and use examples from the Deck to "prove" their thinking. We are working on generalizations and inferencing so it fit perfectly with this skill.
I also used a new tech tool this week with one of my students. I saw on our tech spreadsheet an app called Dragon Dictation. This app allows you to talk into the microphone and the app types every word that you say. This is perfect for my students who is on an IEP for writing. Instead of writing his whole narrative story I had him speak into this app so it helps him write the rest of this story. He felt so much relief after I showed him this tool and was actually excited about a writing assignment for once this year. I haven't decided if I am going to have him write it out on paper after using the app or not but this will help him spell when he does have to write it out.

Persistence

Over the past few weeks I have definitely been challenged to stay persistent. It seems the busiest time of the year fell on these last few weeks. At school I had trainings, observations and meetings, oh yeah and teaching! Every moment that I wasn't doing those things I seemed to be doing grad work or making lists of all the things that need to get done. I've felt...OVERWHELMED! With persistence in mind I changed my outlook on a few of those things I was overwhelmed with. The think that kept me motivated was seeing the end in sight. I had a goal (either getting through observations, or grad work) and I knew that goal would be reached soon. I kept telling myself I can do this for a little while. I made my lists and stuck to my schedule- I used my snow days very purposefully and was able to get a lot accomplished and I was able to set smaller goals. I am so thankful to surround myself with people who understand and are positive because that has helped me stay positive as well. I will keep making my schedules and lists (because they keep me sane) and I know I will stay persistent with whatever comes at me next. Because I've been focused on this I didn't see myself getting too bogged down in the negative. I let myself think that for maybe a moment but then told myself to change my attitude. If I felt like I've hit my breaking point for the day I just went to bed (sometimes at 7:30) and started over the next day. Positive thinking will get me through!

Triumphs and Troubles

Triumph:
Over our 2 snow days off I made it a point to contact parents since it has been a while since I've sent them anything. I emailed or made contact with every parent in my classes. The response I got was great. They were very appreciative of the emails and update. One parent even sent an email to the principal telling them how appreciative they were with the contacts I've made. I will definitely keep up the parent contacts on a regular basis.

Trouble:
It seems to be that Sunday rolls around and I have at least 2 hours of grading to be done. It's been hard keeping up with grading on a timely manner this year even though that has been a goal of mine from day 1. Sometimes we correct things in class but I can't always do that. I want to give feedback and having 52 kids in math it's been hard to do that in a timely way.

Tech Tool

With the unexpected two days off of school I was able to play around with some tech tools I've been wanting to try. I signed up for a website called showbie (www.showbie.com). This website is like a dropbox where I can send my students attachments and they don't have to sign up with an email. It works like this: I signed up with my email and I create classes. Each class has a class code that I give to my students. They go to the website and put their name and the code and they can access what I've posted. I can post assignments and attach pdf, keynotes etc. The students can access whatever I post and then upload their work right to the folder.

I forsee myself posting articles or other pdfs and having students access it through showbie. Then they can open the pdf in adobe reader or noteability and write over it, take notes etc. Then they can turn in whatever they wrote on the pdf to showbie. With our copy budge limited I think this would be a great tool to share articles/files with my students. I also think they will be able to access and annotate more files than they were able to before. I signed myself up as a student as well just to practice and it was very simple to use. We have shared Ipads in 5th grade but I don't think that will be a problem since they have to login each time anyways. I am excited to try this new tool and I think my students will be able to access more learning tools.

Triumphs and Troubles

Triumph: Back to school for two days before another 2 days off from the cold was a success. The students were so well behaved and ready to work. It was great seeing them and I could tell they were ready to be back also. Although we needed to take a few more brain breaks than usual, we got a lot done those two days we were back. Hopefully the great behavior continues after 2 snow/cold days off!


Trouble: We are starting an intensive reading program during our WIN time. We are going to be grouping students by ability and picking a theme to create a unit around. I chose to focus on the Olympics. Although I am finding a lot of good supplemental articles and books it has been really hard to find an anchor text I could use for book groups. I was hoping to find 1-2 chapter books that were fiction that were Olympic or sports themed. I think I settled on a couple but I have to see if they are good read. Any ideas on sports related chapter books at a 5th grade level would be much appreciated!