Graphite.org

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As most teachers, I have become addicted to Pinterest. I spend hours (without realizing it), looking through pictures of anchor charts and classroom activities. Most times I just repin the post, but sometimes I will click on the link to see what the story or explanation behind the picture is. This often causes frustration because I almost NEVER find what I am looking for. However, I have stumbled upon a new website that combines Pinterest type pinning and searching with Google and 21st century technology.  I urge you to go to www.graphite.org. This website is awesome. It allows you to search through apps, online games, websites, etc. to find items that are related to what you are teaching. While pinterest allows you to explore everything, graphite.org is specially geared toward educational material. They have articles and ways to connect with other teachers. I highly recommend it, if you are looking for an educational idea that involves 21st century learning. 

Inclusion classroom from a teacher's point of view

I am currently in the middle of my second year in an inclusion classroom. The first time was two years ago at my former school. I loved it. I was really close to my SPED teacher, that particular group of students were challenging academically and behaviorally, and I learned as a teacher. That year was my second year EVER teaching, and the first year for my inclusion teacher. We had a lot of the same ideas, but ultimately we were learning together. It helped that we were not required to do it, she had another room she could pull to. We choose to do it because we thought it would be best for the students...and for us. Times were not always easy, we got on each others nerves a lot! However, it felt  like our classroom.  This year feels and looks completely different. My inclusion teacher and I are being forced to do this and we do not get along. This is her first year teaching sixth grade, but she has been teaching other grades for longer than I have. She does not see the value in how I teach and will often criticize what and how I approach things. I feel like she doesn't understand the rigor that these students can do...and will do if you require it. I have been successful in my teaching. My students love to learn at the end of year, I have great relationships with most of them, and at least 90% of my students pass ALL of their standardized tests. In my short career I have taught title 1, low ESOL, SPED, quiet ones, loud ones, behavior issues, students that aren't identified but will be, etc.  so why is it that she can't see that whatever I am doing is working. I feel like this year is all about questioning my practices and wanting to do it a different way. What is wrong with the way that I have been teaching if it has worked on different populations for 4 years. 4 consistent years of success....why do we have to mess with success? I know I can learn things from her, but her attitude makes me not want to. Administration of course only compounds things and it makes me wonder is there any reason to stay in the classroom? It is almost like people don't want me to be successful....or want to push me so hard until I break.

Elementary vs. Secondary

When I was a little girl I had an "ah-ha" moment. I realized that math was easy if you understood basic concepts. Oh course when I had this "ah-ha" moment, it was from the perspective of a student and not very ground breaking. However, it was a determining factor in what I wanted to do when I grew up.  I had always loved math. I loved solving problems in my head, I loved to do puzzles, and challenging myself to complete a problem quicker and better than everybody else. I also had amazing teachers help me grasp the fundamentals of math and see the patterns that existed within every math problem.  I knew I wanted to do this for other people.  I had friends that HATED math...but when you investigated further it wasn't because it was boring or whatever it was because they couldn't see the patterns! They struggled with the basics which made the higher level mathematics almost impossible.  I knew when I became a teacher that I wanted to help students stop struggling with math.  However, I have been teaching 6th grade (long story how I got into that grade) for 4 years now....and I have to admit I am burning out. Being in an elementary setting is really difficult.  I am asked to teach all subjects, deal with homeroom stuff, monitor 24-30 students (depends on the year), deal with field trips, school fundraisers, sign agenda books, have parent teacher conferences, among many more things. I am not saying that teaching in a secondary position is ANY easier...but I know colleagues that have made that switch that say they are a lot less stressed out...so why is it? Did I make the wrong career choice?

Numberline

 This year, I am trying to stress Fractions, Decimals, and Percents on a number line as a math concept in my classroom.  It is not enough that the students can do the calculations to convert a fraction to a decimal and then a percent.  They need to visually understand that 2 3/4 is greater than 3.6 because it is closer to zero.  It is a hard concept for them. In our elementary schools we rarely go above 1 on a number line. Even then we rarely put all three different forms on the same number line except to show equivalency. My 21 students were put into 7 groups of 3.  Each group of students had a different denominator that they had to place. *In hindsight this probably wasn't the best plan. I then gave the students the task to place their fractions on the number line.  The conversation that came from this open ended task was AMAZING.  The students were able to compare the fractions using their previous knowledge of equivalent fractions and non-mixed fractions.  In the upcoming days we will continue putting decimals and percents on the number lines so that the students can see the whole correlation. 

Integer Guided Notes

So...apparently, I did not save ANYTHING that I did for the first quarter last year.  I don't know if it's because I was so overwhelmed by being at a new school or I just had lost my mind, but I am finding that I have to recreate all of my Quarter I materials.  That being said, I decided to revamp how I am teaching Integers this year.  My math class this year is made up of ALL special ed., ESOL, and generally "low" math students.  I am going to have to slow down and spell it out more for them then I have done in the past.  I am hypothesizing this is going to be a challenge for me.  I generally go fast in my teaching, and I know I can't do that this year.

I have provided a copy of the integers guided notes that I will begin with this year.  I try to always include test questions that they might see so that the students can get used to the way a question is asked.  The new big push for our county is Technology Enhanced Questions...so open ended, performance tasks, and multiple answer questions.  Our kids did HORRIBLE with this last year...SO as you see my future guided notes you will see a lot more of those types of questions.

A worksheet in a Flipped Classroom...is still a worksheet.

I am currently sitting in a two-day in-service that has been frustrating, painful, and tiring...as most are.  However, my last 1-hour session has been inspiring. I have been grappling with the idea of the flipped classroom.  If you have read any of my previous posts, you would have seen that I have started incorporating flipped assignments into my classroom.  This being said, they have been lecture assignments.  I would use a YouTube video that I created or borrowed that teach a specific skill set. While the students are watching the video, they must answer several questions that record the important information.  After the students are done they must take the new information and complete an assignment (create a poster, fill in the blank quiz, solve some problems, etc.) I tried to make the assignments as interactive as possible and allow students to creatively think about the new information...but the end I would always have a worksheet.

In my latest session I have learned about creating a YouTube video that is interactive..meaning the students can click on the video and based upon what they clicked can learn new information or relearn information.  Think about the possibilities! What if they create an entire story based upon an interactive video where they randomly select the next image...or if they monitor their own thinking while watching a video by commenting with their questions or clicking on questions that I write in that they can click to find the answer...I cannot wait to test this in my classroom.


This is the website that the instructor gave us that tells you how to make an interactive video: http://www.iteachithink.com/2013/08/beyond-flipping-interactive-flipped.html

Beginning of the Year

The beginning of the year is particularly painful for me.  It isn't because I am missing my short summer vacation or because I have to do the whole shebang all over again. Instead it is because I find it hard to remember that these students that sit before me, are not my students of last year.  They are untrained in my ways as a teacher.  I take for granted that my students last year knew that I would always follow up their response with a question asking them to justify or clarify. They are unsure when I am joking and when I am serious. They push the boundaries and question my decisions, they are the untrained sixth graders that I will take and shape until they are better versions of themselves.  By the time I do this, it is time for them to leave me and move on to another school and other teachers.  I sometimes get glimpses of my work when they come back and visit me or email me to say hi.  But until they are the trained versions that I love, I must remind myself to stay patient.