Hi all. Back to school is in full swing for me with students returning Monday which is not a moment too soon. I'm not going to lie to you...I love my colleagues! Seriously, I work with some really great people, but there comes a time, and I am sure most teachers can relate, when you have had too much adult interaction and are really just ready for a room full of students. Well, I am at that point. It helps that I teach great kids and we have some great conversations throughout the course of our work.
So, I thought before life got crazy again...we all know it might be weeks before I blog again after school actually starts...I would update on how my personal summertime goals went (TBH...not as well as hoped!)
My goals were:
1. Update AP vocabulary list. (I thought about it...a lot, but never really changed it. Maybe that means it is good the way it is!)
2. Organize Google Drive .(DONE!!)
3. Redesign Graphic Organizers to be digital friendly. (So, I accomplished this with one, but honestly, this is hard for me and I actually think it is good for students to write ideas on paper before tackling the task on a computer!)
4. Make test for summer reading assignment. (Done, but only because they are taking it next week and I had no choice.)
5. Shuffle scope and sequence for PAP. (Done in theory and on big-picture calendar, but this is going to be a WIP this year.)
6. Read Outliers. (I am about halfway finished. I honestly read many other books which will be useful and beneficial in class, but this is the one I really wanted to finish and it kept getting pushed to the side...I'm disappointed in myself!)
7. Create a B2S Technology Presentation to use to get students up to date on the tech I use in my room from day one. (Done! And I am so excited about this. I think it is really going to save me time throughout the year.)
8. Organize and structure The Great Gatsby unit to introduce my PAP students to AP level work at the end of the year. (Not done, but honestly we are doing this in April and May. If one had to be procrastinated on, at least I chose the right one!)
9 and 10. Attend trainings. (Boy did I ever. I spent a week at year 2 of Laying the Foundation and several weeks in Austin preparing for my dual enrollment course. I also presented at our first ever Techpalooza Technology Fair.)
It is going to be a great year!!!
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Saturday, June 4, 2016
Summertime Goals
Oh my gosh you guys, we made it. Another year of teaching under our belts. I don't know about you, but I need a break more than I need oxygen right now (yes my ELA friends...I know this is hyperbolic!!)
If you are anything like me, you have grand plans! I hope you have much fun in the sun time planned and lots of quality family time too. Most people don't believe it, but teachers are sometimes more neglectful of their families than others. We spend so much time nurturing between the hours of eight and five that we just don't have anything left for those we actually live with and have the duty of nurturing without compensation.
That being said, now is the time to organize your back to school plan for next year. I know you literally want to throw darts at me right now for daring to say those three words...BACK TO SCHOOL! It's only the beginning of June you say. Let me catch my breath you say. Get thee behind me Satan you say. But I'm serious! I firmly believe that having a solid plan now will make your summer more carefree and make back to school a little more tolerable. So here is my challenge:
1. Right now, write down ten things you want to get done professionally before you go back to work in August. Does your curriculum need revised? Are there anchor charts you have been meaning to get done and have just never gotten around to? Is there a website or digital tool you keep meaning to check out? Whatever your ten things might be, write them down. Seriously, do it now!
2. Now, do one thing on your list each week between now and back to school. Set aside time to make it happen. Wake up early one day each week while the kids are still asleep. Make yourself a nice cup of coffee and knock it out. Or, send the kids to the park with dad or grandma and use that time to be productive.
3. After you complete each item, reward yourself. Get a pedicure. Go see a movie you have been wanting to see. Download that frivolous romance novel you have been wanting to read.
Having a week or two at work before students return to the classroom doesn't mean every second should be filled with you working like a madman (or woman). This year you will not be that teacher who is at the school until 8:00 at night the week before school starts. You will be the one leaving at 4:00 because you did a little bit each week during the summer. And, because you have been thinking about work a little each week, the transition from yoga pants to work clothes, from Netflix to the classroom, might not be quite as painful!
If you are anything like me, you have grand plans! I hope you have much fun in the sun time planned and lots of quality family time too. Most people don't believe it, but teachers are sometimes more neglectful of their families than others. We spend so much time nurturing between the hours of eight and five that we just don't have anything left for those we actually live with and have the duty of nurturing without compensation.
That being said, now is the time to organize your back to school plan for next year. I know you literally want to throw darts at me right now for daring to say those three words...BACK TO SCHOOL! It's only the beginning of June you say. Let me catch my breath you say. Get thee behind me Satan you say. But I'm serious! I firmly believe that having a solid plan now will make your summer more carefree and make back to school a little more tolerable. So here is my challenge:
1. Right now, write down ten things you want to get done professionally before you go back to work in August. Does your curriculum need revised? Are there anchor charts you have been meaning to get done and have just never gotten around to? Is there a website or digital tool you keep meaning to check out? Whatever your ten things might be, write them down. Seriously, do it now!
2. Now, do one thing on your list each week between now and back to school. Set aside time to make it happen. Wake up early one day each week while the kids are still asleep. Make yourself a nice cup of coffee and knock it out. Or, send the kids to the park with dad or grandma and use that time to be productive.
3. After you complete each item, reward yourself. Get a pedicure. Go see a movie you have been wanting to see. Download that frivolous romance novel you have been wanting to read.
Having a week or two at work before students return to the classroom doesn't mean every second should be filled with you working like a madman (or woman). This year you will not be that teacher who is at the school until 8:00 at night the week before school starts. You will be the one leaving at 4:00 because you did a little bit each week during the summer. And, because you have been thinking about work a little each week, the transition from yoga pants to work clothes, from Netflix to the classroom, might not be quite as painful!
Monday, May 2, 2016
Google Classroom Update: Poll Your Students
Last month's update to Google Classroom included a new feature I am super excited about, the ability to poll students. The "Create Question" option has been here for a while now, but it has only allowed for short answer responses. That is no longer the case!!! Here is what is new:
Click "Create Question."
Click "Create Question."
You will see a new option to select "Multiple Choice."
From here, play with it and use it as you will. I already have grand plans for using it to complete multiple choice questions one at the time to work on overall class pacing and allow for immediate feedback and discussion.
Another idea is to use it as a "Ticket Out the Door" for a quick poll of how comfortable your students are with the new material of the day. Here is an example of that.
When it comes to this option, the sky truly is the limit. I know there are other programs and options out there for something like this, but I love that it is now in my Google Classroom, something my students use every day. Hope you find this as useful as I do, and happy Monday. For my Texas friends, we only have four or five more to go!!!!!!
Friday, April 29, 2016
Practice What We Preach
Okay people, several of us have end of the year trainings coming up, and if you don't, you probably have several days coming in August during back to school. I am going to share something which has been weighing heavily on my conscience because I am probably the world's worst! I am going to broach the subject of teachers as students. We are awful ya'll!! We enter professional development with stacks of papers to grade, a fully charged phone, or the newest novel. If our students did that, we would take up the homework and gloat to the other teacher we did it. We would take up the phone and gloat to the student we did it. Or we would take up the book after having a stimulating conversation about the overarching theme (shoutout to my ELA friends!) so, I propose a new approach to professional development...practice what we preach! Here are a few tips to try before entering your next PD session:
1) Remember the key to a healthy teacher/student relationship is respect. The presenter is the teacher in this situation. Show them the respect you expect of your students. Pay attention, take notes, and only use technology when appropriate. We don't believe it when our students say, "I'm reading notes on my phone." Why should the presenter think we are when she can see the FaceBook logo reflected in our glasses?? Can you guys tell I'm speaking from first hand experience?
2) Mentally prepare. We know the purpose of the sessions ahead of time. Try to think of one thing you would like to leave the session knowing. Write it down. Ask the presenter if necessary. No matter what, leave the session knowing that one thing. I don't care if you leave a four hour long differentiation training session only knowing how to scaffold vocabulary, you know more than the guy beside you on his phone checking his fantasy team does, and you aren't making our profession look bad. (FYI, this is self directed at a past me as well. The post is seriously pot meet kettle.)
3) Be open to change. We are living in the 21st century you guys...and that makes us lucky (in my tech loving opinion!) But that also means we have to make an effort to keep up. We constantly ask to be treated like professionals and then revolt against what other professional do. I can promise you there are doctors who have had medical licenses for twenty plus years who are using technology that has been developed in the last five. Why shouldn't that same principle apply to our profession?
It's hard! We have fifteen million things going on and are required to attend meetings which take away our time to get those things done. But we have to try to rise above and make each opportunity, mandated or not, be to the benefit of our students.
1) Remember the key to a healthy teacher/student relationship is respect. The presenter is the teacher in this situation. Show them the respect you expect of your students. Pay attention, take notes, and only use technology when appropriate. We don't believe it when our students say, "I'm reading notes on my phone." Why should the presenter think we are when she can see the FaceBook logo reflected in our glasses?? Can you guys tell I'm speaking from first hand experience?
2) Mentally prepare. We know the purpose of the sessions ahead of time. Try to think of one thing you would like to leave the session knowing. Write it down. Ask the presenter if necessary. No matter what, leave the session knowing that one thing. I don't care if you leave a four hour long differentiation training session only knowing how to scaffold vocabulary, you know more than the guy beside you on his phone checking his fantasy team does, and you aren't making our profession look bad. (FYI, this is self directed at a past me as well. The post is seriously pot meet kettle.)
3) Be open to change. We are living in the 21st century you guys...and that makes us lucky (in my tech loving opinion!) But that also means we have to make an effort to keep up. We constantly ask to be treated like professionals and then revolt against what other professional do. I can promise you there are doctors who have had medical licenses for twenty plus years who are using technology that has been developed in the last five. Why shouldn't that same principle apply to our profession?
It's hard! We have fifteen million things going on and are required to attend meetings which take away our time to get those things done. But we have to try to rise above and make each opportunity, mandated or not, be to the benefit of our students.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Resources Page in Google Classroom
A few days ago, I wrote about the importance of practicing and learning. Well, guess what I learned today...about Google Classroom, something I thought I knew all there was to know about? It is possible, and easy, to create a resources page in a Google Classroom. I am 99% sure this is something most people who use Classroom regularly probably know, but since I didn't know, I thought I would share.
In Google Classroom, click the "About" tab, and there it is at the bottom of the page.
It really is so simple. And, an added bonus is when you add resources, you can add multiple resources to a category. For example, I added several vocabulary lists under the "Vocabulary" category.
For the past year and a half, I have been creating announcements with necessary handouts, but then my students have to scroll on the stream to find them. They are going to be so excited when I show them this!
In case you would like more detail, here is the link to the article that enlightened me!!
In Google Classroom, click the "About" tab, and there it is at the bottom of the page.
It really is so simple. And, an added bonus is when you add resources, you can add multiple resources to a category. For example, I added several vocabulary lists under the "Vocabulary" category.
For the past year and a half, I have been creating announcements with necessary handouts, but then my students have to scroll on the stream to find them. They are going to be so excited when I show them this!
In case you would like more detail, here is the link to the article that enlightened me!!
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Keeping It Simple
I wish I had a dollar for every time a teacher told me, "I really want to use technology and be creative, but it is so overwhelming." Seriously you guys, I wouldn't be teaching or blogging; I would be living on my private island! And honestly, technology can be daunting, especially for those of us who were born before the internet. So here are a few tips for those of you who want to move toward being a 21st century educator:
1) Try one new thing. I don't care if you attempt your hand at a Google form or just create a Twitter. Try one new thing!! And then practice and play with it. You will be amazed at how user friendly most technologies are. You will also be surprised at how many people will help and support you. I saw a Tweet the other day that made my heart happy. An older lady tweeted, "I have this Twitter now...how in the world do I #hashtag???" The responses from the younger Twitter generation made my heart happy!
2) Don't be afraid to ask for help...especially from your students. I am not kidding you when I say my students teach me something new daily if not hourly. The other day a student taught me how to copy and paste text without formatting being copied and formatted also...seriously you guys...mind blown!
3) Practice, practice, practice! Let's say you finally figure out how to create and use a Google form. Every time you begin to create a quiz or worksheet for a lesson in your room, ask yourself, "Could I do this on a Google form?" If the answer is yes, go for it! The grading time it saves you is invaluable and you become much more comfortable in your skills.
4) Be willing to give up "knowledge control." As teachers, we are proud of our knowledge and what we have to share with our students. We worked hard to learn what we know. We consider ourselves experts, and we are. However, there is no one individual in the world who knows as much about Shakespeare as the reliable internet contributors as a whole. So honestly, what is better to share with our students? Our knowledge of Shakespeare or the ability to discern reliable from nonreliable internet sources?? We are still sharing our vast knowledge with our students; we are just making them thinkers instead of memorizers.
5) Do not forget what makes you a good teacher in the first place! If the one thing you know you do exceptionally well is build solid relationships with your students, do not let your learning something new get in the way. We all entered this profession for a reason, and I promise you it wasn't our typing abilities. As my friend Cullen would say, "No matter what happens, you do you!"
1) Try one new thing. I don't care if you attempt your hand at a Google form or just create a Twitter. Try one new thing!! And then practice and play with it. You will be amazed at how user friendly most technologies are. You will also be surprised at how many people will help and support you. I saw a Tweet the other day that made my heart happy. An older lady tweeted, "I have this Twitter now...how in the world do I #hashtag???" The responses from the younger Twitter generation made my heart happy!
2) Don't be afraid to ask for help...especially from your students. I am not kidding you when I say my students teach me something new daily if not hourly. The other day a student taught me how to copy and paste text without formatting being copied and formatted also...seriously you guys...mind blown!
3) Practice, practice, practice! Let's say you finally figure out how to create and use a Google form. Every time you begin to create a quiz or worksheet for a lesson in your room, ask yourself, "Could I do this on a Google form?" If the answer is yes, go for it! The grading time it saves you is invaluable and you become much more comfortable in your skills.
4) Be willing to give up "knowledge control." As teachers, we are proud of our knowledge and what we have to share with our students. We worked hard to learn what we know. We consider ourselves experts, and we are. However, there is no one individual in the world who knows as much about Shakespeare as the reliable internet contributors as a whole. So honestly, what is better to share with our students? Our knowledge of Shakespeare or the ability to discern reliable from nonreliable internet sources?? We are still sharing our vast knowledge with our students; we are just making them thinkers instead of memorizers.
5) Do not forget what makes you a good teacher in the first place! If the one thing you know you do exceptionally well is build solid relationships with your students, do not let your learning something new get in the way. We all entered this profession for a reason, and I promise you it wasn't our typing abilities. As my friend Cullen would say, "No matter what happens, you do you!"
Friday, April 15, 2016
Paper Airplanes
I just had the most insightful discussion with my senior English dual-enrollment class.
This morning for a few seconds, I stepped next door to help another teacher with a projector issue. (I wasn't able to help by the way! I am much better with software than with hardware.) When I returned to my classroom, the door was shut which always makes me suspicious. I have a student in this class who has jumped out from behind the door and scared me no fewer than five times. I looked through the window, and didn't see him hiding, which made me even more suspicious. When I opened the door, my suspicions were confirmed...every student in the room threw a paper airplane at me. I know...we have a strange relationship. They are seniors...senioritis is kicking in and they are reverting to childhood thrills. It is my favorite part of teaching seniors.
At this point in my story, you are probably wondering why I am sharing this story and why it is relevant for my blog. I am getting there. For about five minutes, they flew their planes and we had a good time. After a few moments, I realized one student in the room was looking at his airplane with a perplexed expression. After questioning and coaxing, I found out his airplane wasn't done because he was trying to watch a YouTube video and he couldn't keep up with the guy on the video. Of course this led to the question, "You don't know how to make a paper airplane?" You guys...I was shocked. And then, even more surprising, the rest of the class admitted that one boy in the room made all theirs for them. Only one kid in my senior English class knew how to make a paper airplane. I literally said, "HOLD UP!" I also announced that as soon as we finish this final paper for your college class, we will be watching YouTube videos and learning how to make a paper airplane. I told them, "Sometime, in what I hope is the very far off future, most of you will be parents. And I feel, one characteristic of a good parent is being able to make a paper airplane for your little boy or girl."
Here comes the insightful part...these were my student's responses...
"My child can learn from YouTube if he wants a paper airplane."
"He can use his phone to figure it out."
"He will probably have a phone that will make it for him."
You guys...we are teaching students who fully expect there to be a phone one day that will make a paper airplane for them. Just one more reminder of the importance of 21st century learning; we really are preparing students to lead a world full of innovations and technologies that haven't even been envisioned yet...but the students are envisioning them!
This morning for a few seconds, I stepped next door to help another teacher with a projector issue. (I wasn't able to help by the way! I am much better with software than with hardware.) When I returned to my classroom, the door was shut which always makes me suspicious. I have a student in this class who has jumped out from behind the door and scared me no fewer than five times. I looked through the window, and didn't see him hiding, which made me even more suspicious. When I opened the door, my suspicions were confirmed...every student in the room threw a paper airplane at me. I know...we have a strange relationship. They are seniors...senioritis is kicking in and they are reverting to childhood thrills. It is my favorite part of teaching seniors.
At this point in my story, you are probably wondering why I am sharing this story and why it is relevant for my blog. I am getting there. For about five minutes, they flew their planes and we had a good time. After a few moments, I realized one student in the room was looking at his airplane with a perplexed expression. After questioning and coaxing, I found out his airplane wasn't done because he was trying to watch a YouTube video and he couldn't keep up with the guy on the video. Of course this led to the question, "You don't know how to make a paper airplane?" You guys...I was shocked. And then, even more surprising, the rest of the class admitted that one boy in the room made all theirs for them. Only one kid in my senior English class knew how to make a paper airplane. I literally said, "HOLD UP!" I also announced that as soon as we finish this final paper for your college class, we will be watching YouTube videos and learning how to make a paper airplane. I told them, "Sometime, in what I hope is the very far off future, most of you will be parents. And I feel, one characteristic of a good parent is being able to make a paper airplane for your little boy or girl."
Here comes the insightful part...these were my student's responses...
"My child can learn from YouTube if he wants a paper airplane."
"He can use his phone to figure it out."
"He will probably have a phone that will make it for him."
You guys...we are teaching students who fully expect there to be a phone one day that will make a paper airplane for them. Just one more reminder of the importance of 21st century learning; we really are preparing students to lead a world full of innovations and technologies that haven't even been envisioned yet...but the students are envisioning them!
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