Ecosystems

My fifth graders have been studying ecosystems this month. They divided into different groups and created a diorama and a 2 page paper reporting what they learned. The projects took us a few weeks for the students to do the research, write the paper and to create the diorama. Students then presented the information to the class.

A few of my groups used an iPad and took pictures of their diorama. They used Balloon Stickies Plus or Skitch to annotate their picture. From there they brought their pictures into Show Me and recorded their presentation.

This helped many of my students that were not comfortable with getting up in front of the class to present. They were ok with watching their presentation, and the rest of the class was very supportive of them.

Here are a few of the presentations.

Saltwater

Taiga

Coniferous Forest

Enjoy!

40 Book Challenge

I decided to do the 40 book challenge with my students this year. Almost every student is on their way to achieve the goal of 40 books by the end of the year. I have a few that are struggling through it, but I'm very proud of them for giving their best effort.

Not only are the students reading books on their level, but I'm reading 40 books right along with them. It's my goal to be able to do a better job of recommending books to my students. I want to be able to discuss the books with them and not just by going off of what others have said about a particular book. I'm also trying a variety of genres as well.

I picked this idea up when I started a book study a few years ago on "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller. I absolutely loved the book. I also follow her on goodreads and I'm in the middle of her second book. She speaks from teaching 6th grade language arts, but it is very easy to relate to as an upper elementary teacher. 

I want to instil a love and passion for reading. I want to introduce students to genres that they haven't tried before. I want them to have a hard time putting a book down. 

So far, so good

At recess 

Yes, 5 of my students were reading instead of playing. They realize that books can take you to far off places. A few of then noticed that I had my phone out taking pictures. ;) 

Honored

This is my first year Teaching at Hawks Nest. The past 7 years, I've spent with 4th graders. This is my first year in 5th grade and I LOVE IT!!! I work with a wonderful team of teachers, support staff and administrator. I was surprised and honored when I was chosen as Teacher of the Year for the 2014-2015 school year.

I have an interview with our county coming up on December 1st. Our county will take the top 5 from the county and ask them for a portfolio and observe them teaching in their classroom. I will post an update when I find out how I've done with my interview. I'm nervous and anxious about the interview, I'll be glad when it is over with.

Water Cycle

     My first year in 5th grade is off to a great start. The past few weeks we have been studying the Water Cycle. Students have had a lot of fun doing experiments, investigations and reading selections all about the Water Cycle.
      For our culminating activity, I asked my students to create a presentation about the information they have learned. We checked out our school's brand new Chrome Book cart, and I gave each child their login information. That was confusing and an adventure all in itself (each child had to remember to put a period between their first name and last name, they accidentally put spaces in and couldn't remember the long k12.nc.us part, or got it mixed up). The student had this information on an index card, but still struggled putting it in correctly. ;) (really there were only 2-3 students and easy mistakes). It was neat seeing them help each other find mistakes.
    Students grouped themselves into groups of 2 or 3. I helped them create a blank presentation and showed them how to collaborate. One of the teachers on my grade level created a rubric for them to use and they were off. Off to create, share and work together. The students did amazing with this project and I'm so thankful we were able to start out this year with a fun dose of technology.

Teacher Planner and Organizer

I have seen so many beautiful planners and organizers out there for teachers. I've had a difficult time finding exactly what I wanted. I thought about ordering an Erin Condren organizer, but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't move the pages around and reorganize as needed.

A friend introduced me to the Arc Notebook system from Staples. You can learn more about it here. Basically, there are 11 round discs that hold the pages together instead of the 3 rings you have in a typical binder. I always have issues with binders. The large ones don't like to flip pages smoothly and if you accidentally open the rings, you have a mess on your hands.

I chose the Arc notebook with a clear cover (it comes with different designs to put behind the clear cover), expansion rings, 5 tab dividers (I chose the fun colors, they also come in black), pocket dividers, zipper pouches and desktop punch. The pocket dividers and zipper pouches comes in a two pack. I'm saving one of each for either a different notebook, or to use later after my first set gets abused. Putting all of them in made it feel bulky.

At first I thought about just using a solid color for my cover, or even the cover I designed with colorful dots. Then I saw a chevron with monogram on Pinterest and best of all it was FREE. You can get your own here.Follow the simple directions and make your own.

In the past I've used store purchased monthly/weekly calendar, so I knew that whatever I designed it needed to have both monthly and weekly layouts. I was very sick of the plain ones from the store and wanted something prettier. I started out with a colorful dot pattern and then found different colored dots for each month. I added some fun fonts and then I was on a roll. I've created binder/notebook covers that can be used as covers or dividers.

I have listed my calender and organizer as an all in one on my TPT store. Get your copy now. :) TPT

Andragogy

Today in my pinnacle training, we were talking about Andragogy (how adults learn). This made me think about how I have trained my coworkers in the past and how I teach my students. It really made me think about the differences between students and adults.

So many times we enter a Professional Development and may not have the best attitude about being there. I know there have been times when I've had a long day and a PD session is the last place that I want to be. Some have the expectation that snacks and drinks must be served, while others just want to to be short, sweet and too the point.

There are many things that can help me have a good attitude about PD, but there is one thing that is the most important. Adults need to know why they are at the sessions and what they are going to take away from it. Students are dependent on the teacher and the information that the teacher is going to provide, where adults are not dependent or at least not AS dependent. The adults need to be apart of their learning.

So, as I plan to teach adults, I will need to think about the prior knowledge they bring with them and how they learn the best. They aren't as dependent on us as students are. I'll need to give it to them in a quick overview, let them work individually or as small group and assign an authentic task.

A New Chapter Begins

 I was able to bring my things and put them in the middle of my new classroom. I'm so excited about this new chapter. Not only did I move schools, I also changed from 4th grade to 5th grade. I'm excited to see what my students will teach me this year. 

  In the pictures you can see a mixture of things. The huge pile in the middle is mine, and some of the other things belong to the teacher that was retiring. I can't wait to get in my new room, set it up and get going.

  Join me on this new journey to 5th grade in a different school.

Closing One Chapter

   I'm making a huge change in my career. Going from the school that I have been teaching at for the past 7 years, to a new school. This school was the school that I started my teaching career at. I had only been in two different classrooms, but always teaching 4th grade. So many friends and memories. I will miss the students and the staff. 

    Here is the pile of junk stuff that is packed and ready to be moved. There was more to be moved as well. My wonderful sister-in-law loaded up her car and the back of my van to move to my new school.

  Goodbye! :(

Technology Decisions

So.. I just found out that I can decide to keep my Dell laptop, Macbook Pro, and 6 iPads (2nd generation) with a docking station....

or trade them in for 10 iPad Airs and a laptop,
or 15 Chrome books and a laptop.

I know that I will have wireless and I work with elementary students. All of my students have Google accounts.

What shall I do???

What would you do and why?

And, I'm a bad blogger, I'm sorry.