Leo Carrillo, CA 5-4-2019 Painted Ladies

Chumash Native Plants! Ethnobotany.. how fun is it to learn something new! These are what they look like.

How are students being set up for success?

When practicing math skills, teachers and students have several options. Cooperative games VS. Ipad apps are two choices. There are many apps for math skills practice. My personal favorite is a paid app, QuickMath. For this app, students are shown fluency facts growth at the end of each session. Students enjoy telling me how much faster they have become at math facts fluency. Others like Sushi Monster, IXL and AR Facts in a Flash are pretty good.

This year I've returned to cooperative math games. They do take time due to modeling and training, but I see the benefits in the added challenge of turn taking, listening skills, speaking skills, materials management, emotions management and social skills practice. For me, it would be easier to have students practice in isolation on their individual ipad app or individual worksheets, but the added level of social skills practice and regulating emotions is what students need for long term success. There is a difference between setting students up for success by eliminating challenge THAN setting students up for long-term success by creating challenge.      

 

Back to Nature: Day 2, Sharpen Observations with 5 Senses

During this environmental education lesson students built on Tchart notes (I NoticeI/ I Wonder) from Day 1. The learners sharpened observation skills by using 5 senses to describe a living thing in School Yard Habitat. I provided a list of words/adjectives for vocabulary development.

1. Class discussion about Day 1 chart. We created a class web of all nouns from Day1 observations. Defined noun.

2. Reviewed 5 senses and word lists.

3. Modeled a web where the living thing they chose is in the center and adjectives are outside.

4. Went to SYH. Reviewed appropriate behavior when being a scientist

5. Reviewed directions and example web. Reminded them to make CLOSE scientific observations based on 5 senses and record observation on their web in their science notebooks.

6. Ended with a whole class discuss about scientific observations.

3 Resources to Help Focus on Process over Product

2 Curriculums that Focus on Process over Product and Old Faithful, Reading Strategies that Work

When we switched to Common Core Standards, teachers scrambled to have an example or curriculum to understand how to teach in a student and process focused manner. I found Units of Study, Writing by Lucy Calkins http://www.heinemann.com/unitsofstudy/writing/ . It is hard to explain, but all the components including, a revamped writing process to included repeated, repeated, repeated revisions, lesson format, lesson delivery, organization of unit plan, and especially teacher and student writing conferences helped me make process focus mind shift. Teaching writing is NOT my strength, but I ended up enjoying  teaching writing because of this program.

The second program my principal found which helped our school switch to process focused teaching was Engage NY Math. They used math diagrams for students to really understand math concepts. The tape-diagram caused students to think about components in math word or computation problems, identify their relationship, then input and label them to tape diagram. Creating the visual representation of math problem was student goal not necessarily the answer. Engage NY helped me understand the shift because I saw my students focus change.

Reading Strategies that Work has been around awhile.  It transformed how I teach reading comprehension, years ago. Metacognition helps students tremendously with process. It's awesome when students can explain to other students HOW they think about something.

Glad to be Back! Because Twitter just doesn't have enough character allowance for me!

It's been over a year! Since my daughter is now able to return to physical activity, yet has some bad days, I feel I have time to return to sharing my experiences and expertise in teaching. Yes, I say expertise. As teachers we need to own that label, not be so humble. We are implementing. We are making it happen. We stumble, fall, and pick ourselves, our students, and their families back up. We are experts. This is hard for us to internalize because there are so many aspects to education that it's impossible to be in expert in it all. One thing we know how to do, and do it everyday, is motivating kids to learn. 

Disclaimer: My opinions are my own. I can be passionate about my opinions and am highly motivated by them, but better than that as an educator I love to change and grow from hearing about what my students, families, and other educators are experiencing and have opinions about. I've noticed that opinions about education/teaching/learning are based on real experiences, and real experiences are the key to change and growth. A pitfall for some can be over generalizing based on experiences. Each child is unique. I've taught over 400 students just in my classroom and have interacted with many others, and not one has been the same. Generalizations make it easier for those involved in research fields of ed. and curriculum development, but teachers know generalizations are biased and impractical. My desire to remain in the classroom as a practicing teacher after 18 years is a reflection of my value of real experiences. I hope the joy of experiencing learning stays in my heart for the next 20 years. On the other hand, my pet peeve and the one thing I just don't get is apathy. My world is filled with the joy and enthusiasm of children, occasionally I've seen some apathetic kids, on rare occasions. All most all of the time there are other stresses or disabilities affecting that child that can mask itself to the outside observer as apathy. So, that is why it is hard for me to be around apathetic people. "If the kids can do it, why can't you?" That's the thought that gets stuck in my mind. There have been very few apathetic people I've met in education. Most  are incredibly motivated. It may not be about what I value that sparks their motivation, but it's still impressive how motivated and dedicated educators are! I happen to work with some of the BEST!

History: This blog was set up 2 years ago in my quest to integrate 1to1 ipads in my classroom. I had this amazing tool and wanted to figure out how my students could use it for research, creation, production, and collaboration. I still have a lot to learn as technology changes, but I'm better. It's been three years of ipad implementation, so I pretty much can say what works and what doesn't. I started a different blog a few years ago for sharing of classroom teaching practices as we transitioned to Common Core Standards. At that time, I was freed from demanding curriculum restraints and was able to implement centers among other things, so I had to remember and find out how teach differently. It was fun, but I didn't make much of it as you see. http://moserssecondgrade.blogspot.com/

Future: As I look to the future of this blog, I'd like to change the name among other things. It will reflect my experiences and expertise in all that is teaching, education, and leaning. Currently, my focus has been environmental education, project based learning, and my never ending quest to find solutions that support struggling readers and their families.

The Beautiful Hum of Children Learning

Last Friday, some students shared their projects. The sound was like a beautiful orchestra to me, so I recorded this harmony to share.

3 Steps to Create Instructional Videos with EDpuzzle

Steps to Use EDpuzzle:

 

1. The YouTube link below is a tutorial explaining how to download instructional video from Vimeo/YouTube/etc. to your computer.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IubsfPD9U9Q

2. Upload video into EDpuzzle app for editting and adding critical thinking, open ended questions.  I like the way I can really target what I want students to attend to in the video.

 

3.  The edpuzzle app allows you to set up a class to review answers with the class and give feedback to students. I have made several videos and see it's value!!!

 

Here is an EXAMPLE:

 

Watch 'How to Create Your Own Monarch Butterfly Rest Stop.mp4' on EDpuzzle.

https://edpuzzle.com/media/54e8e746df74e777457a765b

Showbie Limitations with Editing Google Docs.

I really like using Sowbie for students submitting work.

Problem: Although I wanted to use if for the purpose of drafting into a closed task, and it isn't possible for students to edit pdf or word docs. 

Solution:  If the Google doc is submitted by teacher into Showbie as word doc. and opened by students in Google Drive, then the students can edit and resubmit the final draft from Google Doc. to Showbie. This way my students don't need to be a signed up for Google classroom.

Proven Successful: Great Journaling App for Third Graders

"It's time for HappyTrack," my third grade students excitedly blurt out after hearing the daily 2:12 app notification from HappyTrack. We stop whatever we are doing, so students can individual reflect about their day with a rating scale of 1 to 10 and write a few sentences describing and explaining their day and rating.

We have consistently used this app all year and my students now have a beautiful journal telling about their days in third grade. Some days being happy, sad, upsetting, exciting, thrilling, or boring with sincere individual student self-reflections and growing emotional vocabularies.

I think what made HappyTrack more successful than hand written journals was the timer notification for consistent daily use, the name of the app (everybody likes to say the words Happy Track), and the ease of writing and caring for a solid iPAD as opposed to a journal that either looks like a piece art at the end of the year or like it just came out of the bottom of a student's backpack. The simplicity of the app also contributed to student success. The students like the color and text adjusting features too.

I will be using this app every year!

happytrack by Seth Hayward
https://appsto.re/us/MQE70.i

The Truth about Standardized Testing!

I was dedicated to the idea of standardized testing for 11 years of my teaching career. From February to May my students immersed themselves in the genre of testing.  I taught countless short term memory skills for math and spent countless hours building my students' stamina to read passages and answer questions.  My students were so prepared for the test that by the time the test came around it was easier for my students than the practice tests. Practice, more practice, and short term memory strategies proved to be successful.  My students performed very well on state testing so well that other teachers spread rumors that I might be cheating.
During those years I always felt I was doing what was best for my students. I whole-heatedly believed that I was helping my students develop an Advanced and/or Proficient label for themselves.  During conferences, workshops, and meetings I listened as educators labeled students into categories, and the last thing I wanted for my students was to be labeled Below Basic or Far Below Basic which I felt set them up for failure in the eyes of their next year's teachers/educators.
The reason I reflect on this now is simple. We are returning to the teach to the test philosophy!  During my grade level meeting last Wednesday, we discussed INSPECT testing questions. These are basically the same questions as in the past! We've been down this road before which resulted in a damaging labeling process.
I have mastered the process of teaching to the test, and it's a waste of students' valuable learning time.  There is no creativity, collaboration, innovation, or communication involved. I'd rather quit teaching then go back to months of shoving short term memory information into my students.     

Words to Encourage Growth Mindset

I need to remember this! It's so easy to slip back into general praise and/or praise with intent to improve. 

I remember reading the results of a study where students learn by age 7 that those given praise are in need of improvement. This made sense to me because I see how my words fed into this belief.

I also see how my words effect students internal dialogue and perception of self.

Some basics are exciting and motivational to young students!

Future Ready includes students learning foundational reading skills.

Some basic reading skills like how to decode larger words by identifing syllable patterns, breaking words apart while sounding out and thinking through words are not as exciting for teachers, but it's not for the teacher! It's exciting for 7 and 8 year olds to learn about words. They rejoice in being word detectives and take pride in learning to decode and encode larger words. Basic skills instruction is not as flashy as supporting students as they create a video production, but it's exciting for students to learn literacy skills and experience success. Primary teachers and educators must remember that young students are thrilled by learning about words. Just don't make it a competition. Rewards for reading and spelling simply reward readers and good spellers who already feel successful while at the same time make those learning to read feel like failures or inadequate at reading.

Reading is not magic... It is taught... The magic recides in the teacher who remembers the basics are FUN for students even when the instruction seems mundane or ordinary. 

The light of excitement on a child's face as they learn a simple decoding skill is anything but mundane... extraordinary!

Digital Footprint! School is a safe place to learn and grow!

Just participated in the podcast about KidBlog on Teacher Cast. It is the next step for my students who really have started to develop as digital citizens on Edmodo.

School is a safe environment for students to develop a positive digital footprint. The idea of a digital footprint is real and what I currently feel compelled to help my students develop.  We will see how it goes! 😁 

Great App for All ELA Domains!!

Free Teleprompter App!

Many book club groups wrote a script for their book project presentation. This app will be perfect for future book club groups that want to write a script too. There are many great adjustments students can make to the speed of text scroll and size of the text.

As soon as I get back from vacation, I'm introducing how to use the DV Prompter App!! Very excited to see how motivated the students will be to write, read, speak, and listen!!!!

https://appsto.re/us/tnlFy.i

Replace Boxes of Math Manipulatives with 8 Free Apps Without Ads too!

The interactive image links to free apps without advertisements that can replace boxes and boxes of base ten blocks, student clocks, pattern blocks, fraction circles, and geoboards.

Top 25 FREE Tried and True Apps for 3rd Graders of 2014

Top 25 FREE Tried and True Apps for 3rd Graders of 2014 

Ranking by most often used during and after school, student popularity, and educational value

All 25 In Order!

These are the free apps my students use regularly on a daily, weekly, monthly basis!

 

1. Safari 

2. Edmodo

3. Numberkiz

4. happytrack

5. Book Creator

6. Showbie

7. Popplet Lite

8. PuppetEdu

9. ChatterKid

10. News Booth

11. Animoto

12. SpellingFree

13. ThingLink 

14. ScratchJr

15. Knowmia

16. Puppet Pals HD 

17. VirtualManipulatives

18. Sushi Monster

19. LearnZillion

20. Farmers Market

21. Tellagami

22. TokenMe

23. KeepTheChange

24. PizzaFractions

25. Wonderopolis

26. Educreations

7 Apps Used Daily and Routinely by Students

7 Apps Used Daily and Routinely by Students

Edmodo

Morning journal topics include a post with two replies.

Many students also use this app to help each other after school with homework, get my help after school, or to simply practice digital citizenship by sharing about themselves. I post pictures of students to build our classroom community, and reply to posts modeling how to appropriately comment and give positive feedback.

Numberkiz

During and after math lessons students illustrate, discuss, and share math process with this whiteboard app which contains math manipulatives.
 

IXL

Daily common core math practice routine during 15 minutes between intervention groups and lunch. 

Happytrack

At the end of each day, the students reflect and rate their day on a scale of 1 to 10, and write at least 4 sentences describing their day. The timed notification feature is great for classroom management. We have it set for 2:05 which helps us start our end of the day routine.

Showbie

I post assignments from various subjects and students complete, submit, resend, and reflect on assignments.  I give corrective feedback.

Reminders

Students type in homework assignments.

Notes

Student type spelling, vocabulary, or writing homework.

21st Century Classrooms are Surprising Even For a New Teacher in Her Early 20s

21st Century Classrooms are Surprising Even For a New Teacher in Her Early 20s

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to have a young, new teacher substitute for my regular reading intervention teacher. During that push-in hour, she walked around the classroom supporting students as they worked on final edits to their group Book Club Projects. She worked with one group as they animated plant vocabulary words via Chatterkid App. Then moved on to another group as they refilmed themselves acting out a TV interview they wrote where a news broadcaster interviewed a family who survived the Titanic via Newbooth app. As she was helping those groups, I noticed her turn towards me often. I was busy with another student, so I figured I'd wait and ask later. Finally, she moved on to a group that was helping a group member catch up from his previous absentees. This group was also working on final edits to a chapter book they wrote about Dr. King where each member wrote a chapter for a time in Dr. King's life that they compiled into a chapter book via Book Creator app.  At that time I was trying to download iMovie to my iPAD and because she is a young 20 I thought she might know how, so I interrupted her group and was about to ask for her help when she enthusiastically told me how school is so different now. Of course I knew exactly what she was talking about but wanted her to explain more especially since her perspective is from a different generation than mine. She went on to say how the students are more involved, can get instant access to information, and students are so much more independent and creative. She followed it up with what I consider to be the cutest, "It wasn't like this when I was in school." I couldn't help but giggle inside and think, "what? 5 years ago?" 






Classrooms are different now. They are 21st century learning places with blended learning, deep thinking, independence, creativity, critical thinking, and cooperation with emphasis in communication.