Academic Word of the Week

     At Pound Middle School (LPS) the academic goal is to have students improve their comprehension of informational text. As a part of this students are given a pretest to see which words they struggle with that might be a part of the block that prevents them from fully comprehending the text they are reading.

     Using the data collected from the pre-test a list of words students struggled with was created. Each week during the school year there is a new word from the list. In my classroom Mondays are vocabulary days.  Each class is spent discussing the word, definition(s), and examples.  Students are then asked to complete a word web of what they think of when they hear the word of the week.  They are also asked to write a sentence using the word correctly.  Once the sentence is approved by me, students are asked to illustrate their sentences.

Here is an example using this weeks word estimate:

The sentence reads: "It's hard to estimate how many people are on (in) this world."

     I'm also adding a bit more to it this week. Since the word of the week is estimate what better way to reinforce then word by having a jelly bean jar?  The kids to be having fun with this! :-)  Here are the instructions on the board at the front of the classroom:

The small blue writing says, "Use estimate in a sentence correctly AND guess with 10 to win!"  

Tagxedo in the Classroom

This past year I've been taking graduate courses through Peru State College. One of those courses had mentioned something about tagxedo.com. I love this website for the simple fact that it is easy to use and the students that I have for special education classes can create pictures independently! Here is an example of on that a student just created for his social studies vocabulary words.

How To Be a Good Steward of Earth's Resources...the video!

I think that iMovie is a great tool to use and have had fun creating two assignments on it.  While it was a bit time consuming it was a great and wonderful tool.  There was just so much that I wanted to put in and that I felt was important to the topic so it's a bit longer than 5 minutes.  By using this tool to create videos like this I think students are more engaged in what they are learning.  I look forward to using it again in the near future!  I hope you have just as much fun watching this as I did creating it!

Personal growth in Peru 552

I had a wonderful time creating this voice thread for class.  I kept thinking while creating this thread how awesome doing something like this with my students would be.  The options that it gives to students by being able to comment vocally or typing something or even being able to draw on the post is wonderful!  My mind is already rolling with ideas on how to use this in the classroom!

Using Twitter after class

                  I’ve learned more than I expected by using Twitter in this class. My PLN has grown and I have found a plethora of information out from them as well as my classmates.  There have been new ideas gained as well.  For instance one of the people I follow suggested using Google Docs for sub plans or even lesson plans.  I thought that this was a great idea because then the administration can give the sub the link to the plans and the sub could update the plans with notes for the teacher to see if they are able to get access to them wherever they may be.  It’s also a great idea because it cuts down on the paper being used by the district and the teacher. 

                  I think the one of the more interesting people I followed would have to be Bullying_org.  I was particularly drawn to this account because of how prevalent bullying is at the moment.  This account also provides updates about what sources can be found on their website to help parents, teachers, and others with issues pertaining to the topic of bullying.  Another account that I followed and found particularly helpful was @Job_Interview22.  This account gives updates and advice about interviewing and even few different points of views like those of managers.  I try to view this account on a daily basis so I don’t miss anything and can apply it to any upcoming interviews I may have.

                  I know that I will continue to use Twitter both personally and professionally after this class is complete.  It has wonderful benefits like asking for advice and receiving immediate responses or responses in a timely manner.  The ideas that I have gained by following people in my PLN and participating in #edchat have put my brain in motion on how I can use what I’m learning in my classroom.  I look forward to learning more by continuing to follow the #edchat’s on Tuesdays and seeing what people in PLN are posting.

Choice boards

In one of the classes that we have had to take for this program we created choice boards.  These boards are something that I had used before, but have started using a lot more recently.  The students are given a choice board, or as I call it a Tic-Tac-Toe board when we have completed a chapter.  The students then have to complete the board by doing three activities across down or diagonal.  You can include a "free space" if you want, but I often times don't because it can make the board/test too easy for the students.  I use these boards as a test.  I have found that there is higher passing grade using tic-tac-toes as apposed to paper tests.  Click here to see the most recent tic-tac-toe board we did in my 6th grade Science Class!

Here is a video of the kids working and sharing their projects with the class.

A social story on Google Docs

I wanted to share a social story that I had to create for the class Inclusionary Practices with everyone.  It is a social story for transitional times at school.  Please click here to view the social story.  Enjoy!  :-)