Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 3/29/13

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

Meograph - Four dimensional storytelling (L:G ; SA: A)

Edcanvas - “Edcanvas is the one place for teachers to create and deliver lessons digitally. “(L:T; SA: A)

Historic Places - “was created in 2012 as a comprehensive listing of buildings, structures, objects, and sites in North America that have received a special status based on their historical or archaeological significance. We have almost 100.000 historic places listed in our database.” (L: G; SA: A)

SMS Generator - create a chat between two historical or fictional characters. (L: G; SA: A)

NASA Apps for Smartphones and Ipads - (L: T; SA: S)

Original Image: Tools by Pat Hensley

“Design-A-Sign” Scholarship Contest

Start Date: Monday, March 25^th, 2012 at 12:00 A.M.

End Date: Friday, May 24^th, 2012 at 11:59 P.M.

How To Enter: The students are encouraged to design signs that represent their dreams and goals. Students can submit their design online and then share their entry to earn votes to ensure the design’s success. The highest number of votes at the end of the contest wins the scholarship!

Scholarship Prizes: $1,000 (1^st Place), $200 (2^nd Place), $300 (3^rd place)

More details about the contest can be found at: http://www.signazon.com/contest/grad2013/

Calm Down

In What’s in your calming bin? from itsjustmeghan, Meghan shares about her son’s calming bin at school and at home. When he is overwhelmed he is able to go to his calming bin and unwind. Then she asks,

“What about you? What would you like in your calming bin?”

First of all I want to commend the teachers and the parents for allowing this young student to have a calming bin! It takes people who are compassionate and understanding to others to allow this kind of freedom and flexibility to those who may need it.

I guess I can relate because it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized I had control over my “fidgets.” As a good student, no one ever noticed how hard it was for me to focus. I think by pure will and fear of disappointing my parents, I worked hard at being the model student. Looking back now, I realize how hard it actually was. It wasn’t because I lacked the intelligence but because I was not an auditory learner and that that is how most of my teachers taught back then.

I notice that when I had to listen and sit still, my heart beat faster and my mind wandered. I even started to feel anxious. I used to doodle and of course, many teachers considered that rude. I started to write copious notes as the teacher would talk. Of course I couldn’t focus on what I was hearing and once I was home, I would reread the notes that I took and it would all make sense. But this didn’t help me in class when the teacher would ask me questions to see if I was paying attention. Of course I was paying attention because I was writing down everything the teacher said but I didn’t comprehend anything I was hearing.

As a teacher, when I attended meetings, I was able to jot notes down on paper. Then I started to bring my laptop and again noting everything down that was said and later read it so it made sense. It didn’t help me to record anything because again, that was all auditory.

So, I thought maybe I just had an aversion to learning that was all auditory. I made sure with my students that I addressed different learning styles and I think they appreciated it. The problem is that most students don’t know what their learning style is. I didn’t know what mine really was. I needed to have students try different styles over time so they could explore and find out what their styles was.

After I left the classroom, I started crocheting and then knitting. I started to listen to audio podcasts and video podcasts. I realized suddenly that as long as I was moving, I was able to focus! Why didn’t anyone notice this about me before? Instead of copying notes now at meetings, I bring my knitting. I’m able to focus on the speaker and comprehend what is being said. The pastor of my church doesn’t mind if I knit during the sermon and said she even noticed I pay attention more!

I wish I could go back in time to all of my wonderful high school and college classes and relearn the stuff I missed! I would bring my knitting and have a ball.

So the answer to Meghan’s question:

I would have paper and pens for writing or doodling. I would have some yarn and knitting needles or crochet hooks. I would have those squishy balls to squeeze. I would have things that would let me move my hands and allow my mind to relax.

So, what would be in your calming bin? Please share.

Image: 'sweet escape'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99771506@N00/5601183065
Found on flickrcc.net

I’m Ready!

In Ready or Not! from Tinkerings by Tim

“How do our students feel on those days we come to class unprepared?  Or breezing in late?  Or don’t have a backup plan for when the technology doesn’t work?”

I think I’m the Queen of Preparation. In fact, many people roll their eyes because I like to prepare ahead of time. I like to prepare for contingencies. I like the act of preparing almost as much as doing. I find preparation like an exploration. I discover new things along the way. This gives me time to revise and redo before I need something. Preparation is the journey to a destination and I love to travel.

I’m already preparing for my summer and fall classes at the university. I’m revising my syllabus and making changes that need to be made. I’m rereading the text book and redoing the PowerPoint slides that came with the textbook (they are absolutely horrible!).

I like to have a tentative schedule for the courses. This is a guide for the class and for me to follow so I cover all the material necessary. I used this in my high school class too. Of course this is tentative because you never know what might happen to cause the schedule to be altered. Having this schedule is like a road map. Usually I have a route planned but sometimes I have to take a few detours.

I like to plan my presentations and have them ready before I start the course. These can also be changed if I need to add slides or information. But having the bare bones already set up helps to save a lot of time. It also helps me do the research needed to give my students the best information.

If I have handouts to give my students, I like to have them all run off the week before. This means that if I have to make them, it needs to be made up the week before. At my last school, I never knew if the copy machine would be broken or out of toner so I wasn’t going to risk copying things the morning of my class. That usually resulted in disaster and it only took me a couple of times for this to happen to not risk it anymore.

If I need any tools or equipment, I make sure that I have access to everything I need the week before. I remember one time I was showing an experiment in class and forgot to bring matches to light the candle I needed to burn. Of course all of my colleagues were non smokers and no one had matches. I had to go into the bathroom where I knew some kids were smoking and ask someone to throw their lighter or matches over the door. I promised that they would not be in trouble this time but that I needed it for an experiment in my class. If someone gave me this, I would walk out and not try to find who was in the bathroom smoking. At that time, 3 lighters flew in the air and landed at my feet! Now I make sure I have everything way in advance.

If I am going to demonstrate something, I practice it first to make sure that I have all the steps down, all of the things I need, and that I haven’t left anything out. This saves me from embarrassment when I actually have to do this in front of the class. It also helps me see if I’m not clear enough on some of the steps.

I always come up with a contingency plan in case technology lets me down. I don’t count on my PowerPoint as being the main focus of my lesson. I am the resource that I need to be able to count on. Everything else is just back up for me. Visual aids whether PowerPoint or websites or videos enhance the lesson that I’m teaching but I am the one with the main knowledge.

I also like to show up for class 30 - 45 minutes early. Sometimes this is when I find out I left my room key at home or that there is some problem inside the room (roof leak, or heat/ac is broken) and can request to move to another location. This gives me time to get acclimated to the classroom, temperature, and check on any technology I might need. This gives me time to transition from traveling to the class and getting in a different mind frame to teach.

Students know if I’m not prepared and this isn’t the kind of role model I want them to see. If I expect them to be on time and be prepared for class, how can I expect less of myself? I believe that being prepared is vital to a successful lesson.

What kind of things do you do to be prepared for the classroom? Please share.

Image: 'brokencopier'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41176276@N00/4633356080
Found on flickrcc.net

What Do They Want to Learn?

In Genius Hour — Let Your Students Challenge Themselves from Angela Maiers, Speaker, Educator, Writer, Angela Maiers asks,

“What would happen if we gave kids one hour a week to work on anything they wanted?”

Having students give input on what they want to learn is a great way for them to get engaged in learning. Whenever students have given me input on anything and I listened to what they had to say, they felt empowered. I think this was a great way for them to get excited about learning.

When planning a topic of instruction, I asked them to give me some ideas of what they wanted to learn about that topic. I jotted down their ideas and then reviewed it with them. When teaching the topic, I tried to include their ideas if possible. At the end of the lesson or unit, I went over their ideas with them and summarized the learning to show that I took their input seriously.

Usually before a holiday or vacation, my students would get antsy. So about a month before, I would have them write down things they wanted to know more about. I would schedule a time for the library and have them find a magazine article (number of words for the article differed according to the student’s reading ability) and have it approved by me. Then I would use that article for lessons in class. They would practice reading and comprehension using this article. After they were done with the article, they worked on way to present their information to the class. On the last day before vacation, each student would give their presentation. This was a great way to make the last week before a vacation meaningful and keep students engaged in learning.

Since I taught a special education self contained class, I had many students for multiple years. At the end of the year I would have them write down topics that they wanted to learn about the following year. I would take their requests and match them up with state standards in order to formulate a plan for the year. Students requested topics such as dinosaurs, the Civil War, astronomy, the Holocaust, the Korean War, recycling, bugs, picture framing, and cooking. When I would teach a topic, returning students frequently would tell new students that the chose this topic. New students were amazed at how much input they were allowed in class.

When a student is learning about something that interests them, it makes classroom time so much more fun. Students are excited about learning and want to know more. It was pretty easy to incorporate most of the state standards with these topics. Reading, comprehension, grammar, writing was standard for most topics. Scientific inquiry and measurement was easily used in most topics. Then I was able to assess student’s understanding in different ways according to their different abilities.

Teaching this way was a win-win situation for all and it was a hit in the classroom.

Do you give students choices or input into their learning? If so, please share.

Image: 'Glutton'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/47263829@N00/8362376148
Found on flickrcc.net