Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 10/30/15

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Thematic – display up to 20 pictures around a specific theme; great for photo stories. (L:G; SA:A)

Turn-o-phrase – practicing colloquialisms. (L:E,M; SA:LA)

Depression Quest – “Depression Quest is an interactive fiction game where you play as someone living with depression. You are given a series of everyday life events and have to attempt to manage your illness, relationships, job, and possible treatment. This game aims to show other sufferers of depression that they are not alone in their feelings, and to illustrate to people who may not understand the illness the depths of what it can do to people.” (L:H; SA:S)

Wireless Philosophy -100 free philosophy videos (L:H; SA:SS)

Zing – “a dynamic new eBook platform featuring thousands of fiction and nonfiction eBooks. Zing’s powerful searching and filtering functionality gives teachers the ability to identify just the right books aligned to instructional goals, standards, and interests. In minutes, teachers can locate titles by reading level, genre, content area topic, theme, and/or reading and writing skills and strategies. Personalized Learning Package: Teachers can assign specific texts to an individual student, a small group of students, or an entire class. This is ideal for supporting independent reading, guided reading and small-group work, book clubs, and literature circles.”  (L:G; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Math in Knitting

I am always amazed at how much I use math in my knitting. I remember as a child wondering when I would use the math skills I was learning in real life. Now as I knit, I realize that I use them a lot and I’m so glad that I know how to use them. I want to share some of the skills that I use.

Measurement:

Measurement is very important when knitting garments. I need to measure the length of the foot and the circumference when I’m making socks. I also need to be able to weigh my yarn for certain patterns.

Addition and subtraction:

I may need to add or subtract yardage when figuring out how much yarn I need.

Multiplication:

When a pattern tells how many skeins of yarn I need along with the amount of yarn in each skein, I will multiply that information to find out the total yardage needed for the final product.

Percent:

Sometimes the pattern tells me to knit a percentage of my yarn before I do another step. It is important once I know the weight to be able to figure out the percentage required for the pattern.

Algebra:

When I figure out the gauge of my fabric, I need to know how to multiply. Gauge is important if I want a garment to fit right. Once I figure out my gauge and I know the measurements, I can use algebra to figure out how many stitches I need to start off with

Geometry:

Sometimes I need to know a specific shape for a final product. I’ve knit hexagons, rectangles, and triangles. Sometimes I need to know the perimeter or the area of certain parts of a garment.

When I make something I’m proud of, I’m so glad that knew the math skills needed to complete my project. I hope when I’m in the classroom teaching these skills, I can share the practical uses of this knowledge and how I use them in my daily life. By doing this, I believe that the learning can be more meaningful and the students will be more successful.

How do you use math skills in your every day life? Please share.

Original photo by Pat Hensley

Providing Group Instruction for Students with ASD: Have a Plan! Webinar

Last week I attended an online webinar on:

Providing Group Instruction for Students with ASD: Have a Plan!

Presented by Kara Magee-Arick, MS, BCBA

 Educational Consultant

You can watch the recorded webinar HERE.

Here are my notes:

Importance of small group instruction to develop skills students need to be successful group learners.

Teachers need support too.

Skills needed: attending, modeling, turn taking, sharing, waiting,

Recipe for success: teach (foundational skills), support (small groups with supports), Opportunities to participate in group settings

National Standards Project – Phase 2: Teaching 14 strategies to teach foundational skills

5 tips:

·      Preplan

·      Active participation

·      Focus teaching skills for group learning

·      Differentiate task requirements

·      Visual and environmental supports

Environmental supports for teachers: Lesson plan includes time, activity, staff

Support auditory information with pictures

Use a visual sequence strip to show each step

Whose turn is it sequence strip

Use visuals to teach group expectations

Peer Power

(Resources:

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/asdsecond.pdf; http://www.cafierocommunications.com/articles/AACG.pdf; http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Journals/specialedjournal/Harris; http://www.education.gov.sk.ca/asd; http://nspt4kids.com/therapy/helpful-strategies-for-autism-in-preschool-classrooms/;

http://nspt4kids.com/therapy/helpful-strategies-for-autism-in-preschool-classrooms/; http://www.sharonscreativecorner.com/autism-activities/; http://www.education.com/magazine/article/10-activities-children-autism; http://www.autismspeaks.org/docs/family_services_docs/sk/Appendix.pdf; http://theautismhelper.com/lesson-planning-autism-classroom/; http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en-us/Search/resources/?Keywords=Autism&SortField=PublishedDate_desc&ViewType=ListView http://starautismsupport.com/files/circle-preview

My take away from this:

There are many different strategies that will work for verbal and nonverbal students. I think many of these strategies can be used in a classroom to all students. I think the resource list was very useful for future reference.

Universal Design for Learning Webinar

Last week I attended an online webinar on:

Designing Options for Every Learner: Universal Design for Learning

Presented by Christopher Bugaj, Assistive Technology Trainer, Loudoun County Public Schools; with Mark Nichols, Special Education Supervisor, Loudoun County Public Schools

You can watch the recorded webinar HERE.

Here are my notes (I got so involved in watching the webinar that I stopped taking notes):

1. The Myth of Average – TED talk; All cars have adjustable seats. Our classrooms are the cockpits of our education system. We need to design our classrooms to fit our students.

2. Universal Design Principles:

·      Equitable use

·      Flexibility in use

·      Simple and intuitive

·      Perceptible information

·      Tolerance for error

·      Low physical effort

·      Size and space for approach and use

3. Mounting an interactive whiteboard with obstacles in front of it is not UDL

4. UDL – is put in the planning process; meets the needs of every student; a framework for removing barriers by anticipating the needs of all students.

My takeaway: I think this is really necessary to reach all students and give all students an opportunity to succeed. I think it takes a lot of planning and organization on the teacher’s part before the lesson is presented to the student. I think all lessons should be designed for all students to take an active role.

How do you feel about Universal Design for Learning? Please share. 

Advice Given

In The Power of Sharing from Sioux's Page, Sioux asks,

“What have you "given" someone in the form of advice or help recently, or what have you received that was helpful?”

I like to offer advice when it is asked. Mostly I give advice to teachers who have a difficult teaching situation or to parents who want to know what they can do to help their child be more successful. Most of the advice I give concerns education because of my many years of experience. I also find it a challenge to try to find possible keys to a student’s success and each student’s situation is like a new puzzle. I find it very gratifying if I can help the student (and parents) find success.

I like to write posts about my recent travel and add places and costs if at all possible. I hope this gives other travelers some idea of what we did in certain places and how much we spent. I try to put the cost of cab fare or entrance fees also. By doing this, I also have a record of our travels in case we return to these places again.  So, I guess there are times I am asking for my own help.

When I am knitting, I might come across something that I don’t understand or can’t figure it out.  I joined a weekly knitting group and there are more experienced knitters there that can help me. I also joined Ravelry, which is an online fiber group, and there is always someone there willing to answer my questions.

I am not the most experienced cook either so I am usually seeking advice when I try a new recipe. Sometimes the recipes have a new term or an ingredient that I don’t have and I’m usually asking friends for help.

I think this would be a great thing to share with students. They need to know that I’m willing to ask for advice as well as give it. No one in this world knows everything and there are others who have different strengths than I do. In fact, I have even asked students for help in thinking of solutions to a problem that I may have.

When have you given advice or asked for help? Please share.

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 10/23/15

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels:  E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Snappy Words – “It’s an online interactive English dictionary and thesaurus that helps you find the meanings of words and draw connections to associated words. You can easily see the meaning of each by simply placing the mouse cursor over it.”  (L:G; SA:A)

Wili the Word Wizard’s Math Dictionary – “Wili the Word Wizard can help you learn the most important words you’ll need to understand Math and Science concepts. Click on the letters above to learn some new Math words.” (L:E; SA:M)

MoocNote -  “Import any YouTube playlist or video by simply copying and pasting the URL,  Watch videos and automatically continue your training from where you left off,  Take notes that link back to the appropriate place in the videos,  Take notes that link back to the appropriate place in the videos, Check your notes anytime, anywhere. All notes are organized in one single place.” (L:G; SA:A)

Dotstorming – “A real-time group brainstorming and decision making app”  (L:G; SA:A)

Student Discovery Sets - “The new Library of Congress Student Discovery Sets bring together historical artifacts and one-of-a-kind documents on a wide range of topics, from history to science to literature. Interactive tools let students zoom in, draw to highlight details, and conduct open-ended primary source analysis. Full teaching resources are available for each set. (L:G; SA:SS)

Original photo by Pat Hensley

We Have To Try

In Everyone Fails: It’s What You Do Next That Matters in Angela Maiers Educational Services, Inc.,  Angela Maiers shares,

"But everyone fails…everyone! JK Rowling’s manuscript for Harry Potter was rejected 12 times, while Dr. Seuss’s first manuscript was rejected 26 times. Abraham Lincoln lost many more elections than he won. Oprah Winfrey was demoted from her first job as a news anchor. Our children fail at something almost every day too. What matters most is how we respond to failure. Do we give up, or do we get up and try again?"

It is really hard to face failure. Parents want to shield their children from the hurt they face when they fail. But failure is what makes us stronger. If we always succeeded, we might not find something better. Life is not like that. There is failure faced every day because everyone can’t get everything they want all of the time.

Failure is a way to learn important lessons. One of the most important lesson we learn is that we have to try. We have to keep trying and never give up.

We can fuss and throw tantrums but usually that doesn’t get us anywhere. The only way we can achieve success is if we move forward. If our actions cause us to stand still or go backwards, we will never achieve success.

If something doesn’t work, we don’t just stop trying. We need to look at alternatives or maybe think about our original goal. We might need to change how we are doing things or maybe we need to change our goal. By failing, it gives us a chance to reevaluate our actions.

Sometimes trying means asking for advice or getting other people involved. We do not always have to do everything by ourselves and there is no shame in working with others.

Sometimes we need to remind each other that we need to keep trying. It is easy to convince myself to give up but it helps when someone else believes in me and encourages me to keep trying. I need to be this person for other people too. I need to be willing to give someone a hand up because I want someone to be there for me too.

How do you encourage others to keep trying? Please share.