Classroom

You Know It’s Working

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I had a few ‘it’s really working’ moments this week. Two of them centered around ‘8*pARTS of Speech‘ by Jon Corippo. In this activity, students are shown a rather silly picture (my favorite was the elephant on a giant toilet). The sillier the better! Each day my students practice writing and using the 8 parts of speech. We also address subject, predicate, and similes. Oh, and write 1 paragraph EACH DAY. They are also getting pretty proficient at using quotation marks.

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Writing the parts of speech and a paragraph based on a photo (from pixabay) is more engaging than a boring prompt!

It’s Working Moment #1

We were working on writing. A student commented that the word ‘on’ was an interjection. Immediately, another student corrected the first by stating, “No, ‘on’ is a preposition.”

The first student looked at the second and said, “Oh yeah, that’s right.”

Seriously, how awesome is that? AND we’ve only been doing this activity for 3 weeks!

It’s Working Moment #2

Earlier in the week, a student asked if she could find pictures we could use for the daily activity. Um, yes! Now I don’t have to look for photos for a few weeks. This has caught on and I have a few students sending me pictures. Looks like I’ll have to make a GForm in order to help organize it all.

Here’s My Advice

Try it! The first few times, my 5th graders and I did it together. They quickly caught on and can now complete the entire page in 15 minutes or less. I still have a few that need extra help (in the form of previously completed papers). That’s okay, they’re making improvements and that’s what I want to see!

And finally, a big thank you and shout out to Jon Corippo for sharing this nugget of awesomeness!

Gamification: Here’s the Deal

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And what a deal it is! I have written about my use of Mangahigh in my classroom in the past (Gamify My Homework, Math In the Summer, Engage Student With Mangahigh, and Online Homework). I really do like the tool!

Here’s an opportunity to check it out…for FREE (for a limited time). Not only do you get to check out all the features, your class/school can participate in an online challenge! Adding to the gamification fun. Go ahead, sign up for the challenge. What do you have to lose? It’s FREE.

10% Discount

And if you like it and decide to purchase…You can receive a 10% discount and a 30-day FREE trial. See, it just keeps getting better! Email Amber (amber@mangahigh.com) with the code: NOWATECHIE10.

Mangahigh

Challenge Details

The challenge will run from February 1st – 15th 2016 for all K-10 students at schools in the US and Canada. It’s completely free to participate and we encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to explore Mangahigh and see the impact digital games-based solutions can have on students’ learning.

 

During the challenge, you will have full access to all of Mangahigh’s premium features, including 600+ activities aligned to Common Core and other state standards. You can assign specific challenges to support the topic you are currently teaching, or simply allow students to complete challenges independently.

What do we win?

The school that scores the most points during the competition will be crowned the Math Bowl Champion, winning a $500 Amazon voucher, $500 Mangahigh voucher, a trophy plus medals and certificates for their top 10 students.

The 9 runners up with all receive a $100 Amazon voucher, $200 Mangahigh voucher, medals, and certificates for their top 10 students.

Students with 200 points or more will receive a Mangahigh medal!

Who can enter?

The competition is open to all schools in the US and Canada for grades K-10 regardless of school size, location and previous experience with Mangahigh.com. You are welcome to enrol as many teachers and students as you like.

Who will join me?

I’ve already signed up. Who will join in the challenge?

 

Changes

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I am on my third, and final week, of Winter Break. Yes, I get 3 weeks off. I LOVE it! The time off has given me time to regroup, recharge, and realign my focus.

giphySo… Next week when I am back with my students I am ready to go! No, really I am. I have some exciting lessons, well, I think they’re exciting. And there are some big changes. One of the biggest changes coming up is that I will go back to teaching all the subjects. For the last year and a half, my partner teacher and I have done a partnership with our classes. However, due to forces outside our control this year, it just wasn’t working. Another change is my attitude towards classroom decorating. In the past, I have been lazy. I have had no desire to create that ‘cutesy’ type classroom. I filed it under, ‘just not my style’. What I really should have been saying is, ‘Ugh, that takes so much energy’. Apparently, I have found said energy. I plan to ‘cutesify’ my room. It will begin with a stool painting project. I then plan to paint other furniture in the room AND attempt to do something with the 1980’s metal blinds. Yup, my next few months of Genius Hour are packed!

Then there is the curriculum. There are some exciting learning opportunities happening there too. One such project will be A Tale Unfolds. Students will read, write, produce, video, and star in their own movie. This will start in a few weeks. I’ll keep you posted on this activity. Before that, we need to edit our NaNoWriMo Stories. My hope is to publish an anthology of their stories. I mean, how cool is it that they will be published authors at the age of 11?

So in short, I’m super excited to see what the rest of our year has in store for us! THIS has been an amazing break.

Social Studies Poetry Slam

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Earlier this month I wrote about setting my students up for success. We were studying Cortes and Montezuma. The idea was to give students the information so that they could synthesize, analyze, and collaboratively create a writing to be performed in a poetry slam style. Many of the students turned the assignment into a rap – which is fine with me. The idea, after all, was to understand the information. The outcome…Success! Here’s one example – viewpoint: Montezuma

Google Classroom: Calendar Notifications

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The integration of Google Calendar with Google Classroom has been helpful. Many schools require students to have a Planner [book]. This allows students to write assignments due dates, project deadlines, and tests. Google now assigns a Calendar with each Classroom you create. Then when you create an Assignment or Question, it automatically creates an event in the Calendar. However by default, there are no notifications reminding students of the Assignment or Question deadline. That can easily be changed. And by doing so, helping to create a digital Student Planner!

Navigate to your Google Calendar or Google Classroom – About Page.

The left side lists all the Calendars. Each Classroom has it’s own. By hovering over the Classroom Calendar, a small down arrow appears. Choose it to set the properties. Choose Edit notifications.

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This will send you to a new page. There are a few options on this page. Event notifications is the first choice. This allows you to send emails or pop-up notifications to all attendees (students). You can send several if you choose. Say an Assignment is due on Friday, you may want to send a notification to students 3 days before it’s due AND the day before.

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You can add as many Notifications as necessary. When you are done, remember to Save.

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Google Classroom: Create Question

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In Google Classroom, I like to ‘Create a Question’ for quick checks or exit tickets. They are easy to create and manage. Students can read each other’s posts, comment, and have quality discussions with ‘Questions’. This is an underused tool by many who use Google Classroom. It truly is a hidden gem in this tool.

In order to create a Question, choose the + located in the bottom right corner of the ‘Stream’ section of your classroom.

Question 1

Now I can create my question. I can insert a file, something from my Google Drive, a YouTube video, and/or a link to a website. I can insert as many items as needed. Since I teach 2 classes of Social Studies, I can assign the question to both classes, with files and links, at the same time. I can even set a due date. When I have my preferences set, I choose the blue ‘ASK’ button.

Question 2

Next a pop-out window appears where I can allow students to view each other’s responses, or not. I can also allow students to edit their own responses. I like to allow students to comment on each other’s. This allows for discussion and opportunity for students to defend their positions. When I’m ready, I click the blue ‘ASK’ button.

Question 3

My question now appears at the top of the stream.

Question 4

Here’s an example we did early this year. Once the students respond, I can then grade their answers if I choose to. On this particular example, I gave the students some material to review before answering. In order to encourage open dialog, I also asked them to comment on each other’s responses.

Question 5

When I’m ready to view, I can click on ‘Done’ in the Question. This takes me to the Student Response page. All of their responses are listed along with the option to grade, comment, and return work.

Question 6

When I click on an individual student, I can see his/her answer and the classmates’ responses.

Question 7