Exploring with DoodleBots

Jennine came to me today to suggest that I write a post for our blog focusing on an activity we took part in about a week ago. Right now, we are studying Electricity and Magnetism as well as Mechanisms Using Electricity for Science and I spent a nice portion of my CIF on some new technology for this unit. The one item I have had on my bucket list since I attended ATLE last November are the maker kits from Logics Academy.

Logics Academy makes these amazing kits for students to explore and problem solve.

The Doodle-Bot (which is pictured above) is a battery operated bot with a motor and a bag of items. All the items are of use in some way but there are no instructions given so the students have to problem solve and use trial and error in order to make the bot work. 

Students were so engaged in this activity which ties in quite a few objectives from our science curriculum. Teamwork was not a problem as the students willingly shared and took turns to work to build this strange creature. One student immediately knew the one mystery piece was a motor and if he connected it to a battery they could get it to work. And they did. The motor bounced on the table for quite some time before they realized they needed to attach it to the bot. Once students began to figure out how each component worked or fit, they began to figure out different ways to use the bot. 

Students were able to set up circle battles, races and doodle competitions with each other during the next class. This was great activity that was hands on and really pushed students to think outside of the box. 

I can't wait for the next Maker Kit we break into. It's the Bumper Bot! And students again will have to create him from the pieces given and create a maze that allows Bumper Bot to show what he is capable of. As a teacher I am so thrilled when I see my students engage in an activity like this. It brings the concepts that we teach (which can be a little dry) come to life right in front of them. And even though it was noisy in the room, there was not one student who was not on task for the time we spent on this. 

If you are interested in coming in to watch the students, let me know and I'll give you some days and times. 

Click the link to see some of the DoodleBots in action. :) Doodle Bots

TQS 2 k)The purposes of student assessment. They know how to assess the range of learning objectives by selecting and developing a variety of classroom and large scale assessment techniques and instruments. They know how to analyze the results of classroom and large scale assessment instruments...and how to use the results for the ultimate benefit of students.

There´s no question that improving reading fluency and comprehension is an urgent need at our school. 

Melissa, Phil, and myself are posting this month on a measure we are taking in our class to improve student reading with the aim of bringing all of our students to grade level in reading.

Phonemic Awareness Assessment and Grouping Based on Specific Student Needs

Lana Laine talked to us at the beginning of the year about the gaps that struggling readers often have with their phonemic awareness. Sure enough, when I started getting the class to produce rhymes, some simply couldn´t! With regular practice, I saw a notable improvement, but it wasn´t until a conversation with Jessica after the literacy convention she attended, that things really clicked.

Jessica talked about a school where  literacy achievement had syrocketed and a huge aspect of that was continual assessment and targeted, small-group teaching based on the results. This has been missing from my literacy instruction. I have some global ideas of the problems my students are having, but I haven´t been assessing specific skills enough that I can actually correct them! 

As a result, I administered a Phonemic Awareness Screening to my class and the results were quite surprising. Many students had problems with skills I´ve never even THOUGHT to teach! I organized the class by areas of need on stickies and have created small groupings to target those skills. I am also doing fun little phonemic quizzes on washroom trips to give everyone practice. 

This week, I am planning to do a reading running record with everyone on a book at their Fountas & Pinnell level so that I can get data on both fluency issues and comprehension skills for other targeted lessons.  I am optimistic that I can become so much more successful in improving my students´s reading if my instruction is done with greater intention.

Erin

Mrs W's Best Practice for 3C

Hi my name is Melissa and I am a first time blogger 😕please excuse my newness.

As Erin mentioned we have chose to write about struggling readers. At first I knew exactly what I wanted to write and upon some conversations and reflections this week I have added to it.

As a lower elementary teacher and working with the younger kids the past few years I still go back to the R+ program. By no means is it the greatest program, but I am sure it has had many adaptations over the years. When I look at where my students are in their reading I can see the lack of phonemic awareness (which touches on Erins topic as well). It seems that most times I analyze problem areas I am almost always lead back to this same problem. I have been able to work with students individually or as a group with R+ to teach these skills.

Through some reflections this year being in a new grade I have thought about why the kids are where they are at. We are all amazing teachers, we all have our strengths; sometimes strengths we didn't realize. Sometimes these are easier for other to see, especially in our setting. It is interesting to look at my class this year and see which kids came from the previous teachers. I have been thinking about how if I was to go back to Grade 1 or Grade 2 and do it over I would be able to improve what I was doing based on what I see from the kids a year further. We often sit with our grade level partners and discuss what going on and where to go from this point and something I think we can start to practice is talking to other grade levels (not in September) and having them point out the class strengths they notice and areas of weakness. Something that would not take very long as I am sure we thinking about it anyway, and can be very different to each person you speak with. It may not even be academic but something else that changes the daily routine. I am sure there are grade 2 and 3 teachers that can look at my classes in the past and say wow, she really needs to up her game on _____ topic or she did a great job teaching this unit. I am sure this concept has been discussed but not always implemented. It is something I will be doing from now on to better myself and my class!
I hope I did not bore you to death and ramble on.

Grade 4 Best practices

For our Grade 4 Best Practices, we've decided on this TQS Standard:

2. h) the importance of respecting students’ human dignity. They know how to establish, with different students, professional relationships that are characterized by mutual respect, trust, and harmony

Since the beginning of this year, many staff (ourselves included) have noticed an attitude of disrespect among our students. We have found ourselves needing many more tools this year to help us handle these challenging situations. We both reflected on things that we do in the classroom and things we would like to do more of. The articles below highlight some key points that we find important and helpful to maintain a positive classroom environment.

How to Get Difficult students to listen

Why you shouldn't have to convince difficult students to behave

Below are some additional practices that we have been implementing this year:

1) Consistency: One of the most important things we can do to is to be consistent with our classroom rules. When challenging behavior is a constant problem it is tempting to sometimes ignore the behavior but there should always be consequences for ignoring the classroom rules.

2) Reset: It is essential to start each day anew. by mentally removing stressful thoughts of the previous day or week. Recharging at home with an activity that gets your mind off the chaos of your day and focusing on something you really enjoy is helpful. This may be difficult to do, but important not just to promote harmony in ourselves as professional teachers, but for the students as well.

3) Calm: It is important to remain calm when you dole out consequences. If a student acts up in class, calmly remind them of their consequence, and continue on with your lesson. This also allows students to know they don't have the leverage or power to get a rise out of you and ruin your day  (some students have learned over time to be very good at this). Try postponing a one-on-one discussion until you are in a calm state of mind where you are not going to lose your temper.

4) Positivity: Focus on encouragement and praise as much as you can. Making sure the child knows they matter to the classroom. Have little chats with your kids as they are coming in or doing work. Make sure it's not about the work itself but about them so they can feel they matter and are noticed. Minimize negative interactions and maximize the positive ones.

5) Community: As teachers, we need to remind ourselves that we do not work in isolation. We have a community of team members that include other teachers, EAs, support staff, and administrators.
As much as we'd like to have strong connections with ALL of our students, sometimes they feel a stronger bond with other adults in the school. These connections should be fostered and encouraged by the classroom teacher if they are beneficial to the student. Ask your challenging student who they feel is a trusted adult in the school. Look for opportunities for the child to engage with that adult role model. This can be something as simple as letting them eat lunch one day a week with the trusted adult.

Google Form- Self graded quizzes

In the past, you could use Google Forms to give students quizzes, but you needed to use an external add-on called Flubaroo to grade it. At the end of last year, Google updated their forms, so you can now turn them into a quiz and have it automatically graded and give feedback to students without a third party tool. I don't know about anyone else, but I always like finding tricks that will save me time from marking!Another reason I appreciate using Google forms for quizzes is that it allows students to use an add-on that will read them the questions (Select and Speak is the one we use)- great for accessibility for our lower level readers! 

Here is a quick overview of how to create a quiz using forms:

When you have your form open (In Drive--> New--> Google Form), you will want to go to settings (the little gear icon in the top right-hand corner). Then you will want to click where it says "Quizzes", and then slide the little bar that says "make this a quiz". There are also a few settings here you can change as well. I like to allow my students to see their grades after they finish so they can see their mistakes and read the answer feedback on the questions they may have gotten incorrect.  

Next, you will start to type up a question. Once you have it entered, you will click where it says "Answer Key"

 Then it will flip your question over, and you can select the correct answer, and give it a point total. You can also add answer feedback. 

Once students begin to submit, you will be able to get their responses by clicking on the responses button on the top of your form 

You can then choose to view it in a spreadsheet or see the visual created by forms. **You will have to mark long answer questions by yourself**

Also, one extension for Chrome that I have loved this year is called 'NIMBUS SCREENSHOT AND VIDEO RECORDER". It is what I used to capture and annotate all my images. If you are looking for a tool to take screenshots, Nimbus has a lot of useful features and is really user-friendly. 

Math Opener--Splat!

One of the starters we learned about at the Dr. Nicki Newton's Guided Math PD was called Splat! created by Steve Wyborney.  It can be used at all levels.  It links with many number concepts and can be used to build equations, etc.  

When looking at Steve Wyborney's blog, he has many different activities to use in the classroom.  It will be fun to experiment with them.  The link to his blog and to the Splat! activities are below.

Steve Wyborney's Blog

Splat!

Guided Math

On Monday, several of us had an opportunity to go see Dr. Nicki Newton present about Guided Math.  This was a phenomenal PD opportunity and what we learned will definitely change my practice in math.

Below is a link to Dr. Nicki's blog.  I would encourage you to check out her math running records, games and various videos about work stations, etc.  Over time, as we try different elements of her program, we will try to share specific activities and ways to implement guided math in your classroom.

Dr. Nicki Newton's Math Blog

Google Updates

Google has some new and notable updates that I thought would be helpful to share :) 

Google Sheets now has add-ons! 

Docs have had this feature for a long time, but Slides just updated to have them this past week. If anyone has ever used Peardeck (which allows you to add fun interactive questions to your presentations), it now has an add-on. It makes utilizing this engaging tool super simple! I would highly recommend checking it out. It also ties nicely into the idea of exit tickets we discussed at our PLC meeting the other day at lunch. There is a whole post I wrote on Pear Deck on the blog if you want to read more about it.  Another add-on that seems like it has good potential is Unsplash photos (Free stock photos to use as backgrounds), or the noun project (free icons to add to your presentations). Since its a new feature, there is only a limited number created right now, but I'm sure there will be more to come!

Digital Tools to Engage Learners

Here is some Monday morning Tech inspiration :) 

This morning as I was driving to work listening to my Monday podcast from Google Teacher Tribe (Kasey Bell & Matt Miller), they were speaking about practical  & engaging ways to use Google drawing in the classrooms. I love Google drawings for things like graphic organizers, digital posters, etc. It is nice because the students can interact with them, they can be saved as an image and inserted into Google Slides (think background you can't move for story maps or other graphic organizers that kids can add text over top), and it is a tool that is really easy to navigate and use. By editing the page size, you can make them printable as well on a regular sheet of paper. Below is a link to a really good list of ways to use Google Drawings in the classroom if anyone is looking for some inspiration: 

Google Drawing Manifesto

Also, the same author (Matt Miller) wrote a really great e-book called "The Digital Pirate: Adding Techno-Wizadry to Teaching with Passion and Engagement" which has some really amazing ideas for integrating different tech tools meaningfully in the classroom. I have attached the link below to that as well.

The Digital Pirate

Best Practices

My best practice focuses on 2 of the TQ Standards, i) there are many approaches to teaching and learning and l) the importance of engaging parents, purposefully and meaningfully, in all aspects of teaching and learning.

I know this is nothing new to any teacher in Ashmont but maybe I use it in a different way than you. Hopefully, you will find something useful.  I have created a Google Classroom for each unit taught in Gr. 2.  Each classroom includes teacher- created presentations using the various resources we utilize, videos and links to games that are at, below and above grade level,  that support the curriculum.  As we begin a new unit, we join another classroom.  The entire unit’s information is available from the beginning of the unit.  

             

Each student and family has access to the classrooms at school and home.  I encourage students to involve their families during learning by showing families what we are learning but also what is coming up.  This gives those students who need pre-teaching / awareness of what’s coming up and gives students and families a chance to go back and review what was already learned.  

Over the last three years, I have noticed an increase of willingness to participate in activities and discussions.  Conversations often include things like, “I saw that in Google Classroom,”  “I watched that at home last night.”  Also, I’ve had students write comments on the links in classrooms.  I’ve received notices from students who’ve commented on certain links on how they enjoyed a video or game in the evening and weekends. :)

Best Practices?

So when I heard grade two would be the first for presenting their best practices this year I was worried as I have barely had three weeks to have any practices let alone any best practices.   Deana pointed out I could use any teaching best practices experiences but… with the rush of the new year and getting used to a new grade I can’t think of anything right now it seems.   So I am going to add two things to this blog.  The first is what I spoke about for my best practices last year… the idea of professional development and different ways teachers can develop themselves without the traditional forms of PD. The second is simply plan that I have for Grade 2 and I hope it turns out well!

Professional Development

I am always interested to find out about new ideas or best practices in education.  As a result, I have found a few different ways to do this…

Educational Journals come in a variety of specialties and I am sure you can find different ones to appeal to your area of focus or interest.  

Two of the journals I have subscribed to include The Reading Teacher and Teaching Children Mathematics.  These are an extra expense but I find the information interesting and informative.  From these journals, I have found a few good lessons I can use as is or ones I can adjust to make work for me and my classroom.  I like the fact that they provide professional information with articles that have been peer-reviewed and usually have quality research behind them.  

I also find good professional development books and information from the ATA Library.  If you follow this link : http://library.teachers.ab.ca/Presto/home/ATADefault.aspx it will take you to the search page.  You may have to contact the ATA librarian to obtain your login information… (it’s been awhile so I don’t remember what I had to do) but once you have it you can search out materials that interest you and have the library mail it to you (home or school… you give them the address).  The materials will come in a box or padded envelope with a return label and it’s as simple as keeping the packaging and popping on the return label when you are done or it’s time to return them.  I’ve received many good books as well as DVDs that pertain to different areas of teaching.  

New Best Practice

Now!  Since I did already use that as my ‘best practice’ last year I suppose I should present something brand new and this is something that I hope to use this year.  It blends a bit of formative assessment as well as hopefully encouraging students to use metacognitive strategies to reflect on their learning.  I have created a data binder for each of my students and included inside some checklists for concepts they need to know.  At this time it includes some sight word identification checklists, some skip counting checklists, and other simple concepts.  I hope to include more as the year goes on including rubrics for projects etc.

I intend to use these with the students to help them fill in the checklists to see what they know and to (hopefully) watch their knowledge grow throughout the year.  I intend to link this to their goal setting and hopefully use these to help them plan smaller goals throughout the year.  At this time the checklists are simple and I have only used them with a few students on sight words so far. Hopefully, I will be able to have a positive update for this blog as the year goes on!  

How to post on the blog

This video is from a few years ago, but it explains how to create a new blog post on our blog. If you are posting your best practices, please label it so that we can find them all easily. Good luck! If you need any help, feel free to come see me (Jennine) or Jacob- Your amazing blog committee ;) 

Breakout EDU

There is a cool trend in education, called breakouts. It takes the principles of escape rooms and intertwines them with educational ideas to create fun and engaging student activities. Teachers design a series of challenges that students need to work together to solve using tools like locks, codes, online riddles, etc. Here is the website: http://www.breakoutedu.com/

A few weeks ago I created a breakout challenge for my students on the Iroquois Confederacy. They were really engaged, they problem solved, they collaborated, and to top it off they had fun and reviewed the topics we were learning. It is definitely something everyone should try out! There are lots of digital breakouts that don't require any physical locks. 

Planboard... Where have you been all my life?!

Ok, so anyone who knows me knows I spend an exorbitant amount of time making myself a pretty planner each year. BUT Planboard has changed my planning life. I love it! You can check it out at https://planboard.chalk.com

Here is what makes it awesome:

• It is available on computer or iOS
• It totally works with our 6 day schedule and you can color code it
• For each block, you can type, add links, add videos, link in your google docs, etc. It's amazing! And if you don't get to something, you can move your plan box to another day.
• Lets you view it daily, weekly and monthly
• Has a to-do list on the daily view
• Totally FREE!

Bead Strings for Mental Math

People have long used an abacus to do calculations.  Some time ago, Jackie Ratkovic suggested the use of beads for students to quickly do addition/subtraction.  Not every student requires a manipulative to do these operations and others prefer to use number lines, etc.  However, I have found that some kids like to be able to see the numbers using the beads.

Students have found these to be beneficial when doing Math Squares Bricks, etc. We have used them for both whole numbers and decimals. We have also been able to look at equality with fractions, decimals, etc.

To make a manipulative for using 10, it is possible to use pipe cleaners to slide the beads on.

To make them, you can use wooden or pony beads and elastic cord.  To make it less time consuming for me, students made the majority of  the bead strings one day as this became one of the math centers students circulated through. This would likely not be an option for younger students, but it is always a possibility to recruit some older students for this job.

String of 100 Beads

A basket of beads is at the front
of the room for kids to use as needed.

Vertical Number Lines

In class, we often use number lines to help students with their number sense. It helps them to understand sequence and relationships of numbers.  Recently, I tried doing number lines as a math center, but instead of putting it horizontally as I usually have, we made them vertical.  It was interesting to see how it made the kids see it in a different way.

We were working on fraction (ratio), decimal and percent. With the activity we were doing, the students were asked not only to order their numbers, but also to find equivalent numbers.  Students generally figured out to start with the benchmark of 1/2, but it was interesting to see how some numbers were placed. We were able to have some interesting discussions about reasonableness.  We also have a horizontal number line in the classroom with many of these numbers on it and students were encouraged to look at it.  It was interesting to see the challenge students had with translating it from the horizontal to the vertical.  It reminded me of how important it is to have different perspectives when doing math.

Though we used this activity with fractions, decimals and percents, clearly it can be used beyond that from anything from the numbers 1-10, to hundreds, to billions, to integers, etc.