"Technology Gone Wrong" in the Classroom

Has Your Classroom Become the Victim of Student Technology Pranks? 

I think the use of technology in the classroom has created an infinity of possibilities for teachers in their daily instruction as well as enabling students to embrace and engineer their quest to learn.  It can be an amazing source of information and differentiation in the classroom.

However....lately I have witnessed several instances of "technology gone wrong" in the classroom.  Students have very creatively found ways to use technology to create mischief in class.  I am not talking about students who attempt to sneak on inappropriate websites on their Chromebooks.  In 2016 students have taken their pranks to a new level with technology. 

Historically there have always been student pranksters in the classroom.  Dating back to the 1800's when Tom Sawyer was dipping the end of Becky's braids in the inkwell students have used their creativity to cause mischief in the classroom.  Spitballs have become vintage pranks as students now use assistive technology to create havoc in the classroom.

The first occurrence of a new high tech prank occurred in one our 8th grade classes.   I was walking to the classroom to pull out a student for small group  intervention when I noticed a student crying. The teacher was in the classroom doorway attempting to comfort her.  As soon as Ms. T spotted me she frantically exclaimed, "I don' t know what is going on!  I know I am not imagining it!"   Intrigued I asked her to explain. Ms. T. stressfully revealed that sudden loud rap music was randomly blasting out inappropriate lyrics from the back of her classroom.  Despite a search of the area by school security no explanation could be found.  Following the search the music stopped for about an hour but now it was back with a vengeance. The random outbursts of loud inappropriate music had continued throughout her math class.  Every time the music burst forth students were jumping up and dancing.  The entire math lesson had turned into utter chaos from the mystery music.

The confusion was further combined by the now crying student who had only been in America for a year and was totally baffled by the randomn music.  She had  strong cultural beliefs related to spirits and she actually was scared that some type of evil spirit was the cause of the mystery musical outbursts.  There was no calming her down and she continued crying.  I walked in the classroom which was currently quiet.  Within in minutes extremely inappropriate music blurt out of the back of the room and then stopped.  I searched through the entire bookcase in the back pulling out book after book out and yet found nothing!  At that point I felt it was more important to console the crying student so I took her back to the quiet of my classroom and requested that the school counselor make a visit to help comfort her fears.

Once the counselor began to work with the student to help bring her anxiety down.  I went back to the classroom with our school security aide.  We began an intense search of the room as the teacher valiantly went on with her math lesson.  After checking every crack and corner we both looked at each other and shook our heads in defeat....nothing suspicious was found! 

We stood in the back of the room observing the students when the security assistant noticed a female student stuffing something into the waist band of her sweatpants.  Being that this young lady was a frequent visitor to the office on incident referrals suspicions were aroused and the security aide walked up to her.  He asked her what she was hiding and after several requests she pulled out a round device.  At first he could not figure out what the technology he was holding was however after closely examining it we discovered in was a portable wireless speaker.  This was a wireless speaker that could be controlled remotely by a cell phone!

Ah Ha! Mystery Solved!

 Yes, I am really out of the technology loop on that one because I did not even know such a device existed!

The guilty student was escorted to the office where the accomplices in the prank would be revealed.  A short time later an administrator was in the classroom setting down strict guidelines and warnings to the students regarding the use of technology in classroom pranks.

Thinking that technology pranks had been nipped in the bud school continued on with the usual classroom issues, none of them related to technology.  The week before Christmas break it happened again.  All classrooms are equipped with a TV mounted in the front of the room above the white boards.  Since the introduction of Smart Boards the TVs have become an obsolete tool that just silently hangs down unnoticed.  Every second period the two 8th grade classrooms switch for math and language arts.  When the new group of students entered the room escorted by the teacher they found the TV was on blaring out a local morning talk show.  The teacher assumed that a student influenced by the excitement of the upcoming holiday break had impulsively turned the TV on as they left the room. She quietly reached up and turned the TV off and began her lesson. 

 Meanwhile in the other classroom where her home base students resided for ELA the ghostly presence of a technology prankster was at work.  The TV in that room was randomly turning off and on.  The first time had the teacher puzzled. As the TV repeatedly turned off and on several times she realized technology was at the root of the mystery.  She asked the classroom culprit to step forward only to greeted by a room of blank faced students that looked like they had forgotten their own names.  She called for assistance and the principal quickly appeared.  In her no nonsense fashion the principal instructed the students to take out a piece of paper and write down all they knew about the prank.  She further announced that if the situation was not settled in the next 10 minutes their field trip for the following day would be cancelled.  Pencils remained frozen in students' hands as they all strongly adhered to the misguided philosophy that "Snitches get stitches". 

As the minutes nervously ticked by one student in the front stepped forward and admitted he was responsible.  He had downloaded an app on his cell phone that he had somehow hooked up to turn on the TV from his phone. Upon the student's confession his fellow accomplice admitted his role and the two were promptly escorted to the office. 

I have to admit I rather admire their technology talents.  I wonder if teachers need to be more mindful of the fact that we  have students that are extremely bored in the classroom and need different challenges than what we are offering. 

Are we failing to find ways to challenge and engage all students and consequently they channel their creativity in a mischievous direction?  Perhaps using technology for misdeeds is a sign of the times and it will continue to become a classroom problem.  Personally I think it means we need to offer our student more opportunities to express their creative side by providing instruction in coding and other more advanced computer skills. 

 Has your school experienced the technology prankster? 

 

 If so, please comment below,  I am very interested in what may be a growing trend in the classroom.

 

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

The first snow is always so beautiful and I enjoy observing its soft white covering transforming everyday objects into pristine sparkling marshmallows.

 By the end of January this same snow fall will have lost its charm and I will be seriously considering a move to Florida. 
As I pull myself back from the window I refocus to school challenges.  Our district has mandated that 45 minutes of the school day is spent on math and reading  intervention.  Students are divided in small groups and rotate between centers where one center is teacher led.


This allows all children to have small group contact time with the teacher during intervention. 
My challenge has been developing centers with independent work and practice on the skills students have not yet mastered.  After searching and failing to find what I needed for a current math skill I had to roll up my sleeves and start creating!

We have finished "order of operations" and I still have a small group that needs to strengthen their skills on use of this strategy. 

I channeled my inner Aunt Sally to inspire me.



Yes, I know she looks like the old maid from the Old Maid card game!





I then started working on pre-assessments and a recording sheet to find out where my students were struggling.

My assessment checks on student understanding of exponents as well as order of operations.  Student assessment data is recorded to indicate where remediation was needed.

I have found interactive notebooks to be a very successful tool.  I introduced a variety of interactive notebook templates to review the strategies in order of operations with students in small group during intervention time.



After guided practice in interactive notebooks students worked in centers on task cards.   These strategies have been successful with my struggling students and I am observing improvement on "Order of Operations" I will be using the post-assessment to document students' progress and success.

Next, I think I better work on improving my Aunt Sally drawing... but that will be after I am done sledding with my 8 year old!

If you are interested in this math intervention tool check it out at:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Order-of-Operations-Interactive-Journal-and-Task-Cards-2160136

 

Grape Jelly Postponed!

 

This was supposed to be “making grape jelly weekend”.  The grapes are deep purple and definitely ripe.  Standing next to the heavy vines it smells like a big glass of grape juice, they are very ready.  Letting them go another week may result in over ripe grapes and opportunity lost.  Saturday had me running every minute but I did think by Sunday I could steal some time to pick grapes and engage in the process of making grape jelly.  I make refrigerator jelly so I don’t go through the elaborate process of canning, boiling, and who knows what else, to make my jelly.  I just cook and refrigerate it.  It is a once a year treat and I look forward to it as my personal rite of passage into autumn.

Sunday morning I woke up with a sore throat and the start of a sinus thing.  Yes, I am definitely sick and from the way I feel right now I will be spending the better part of this day on the couch sneezing, coughing and generally feeling miserable.  I will not be standing over the stove cooking and stirring my grapes as they convert to jelly.  Can the grapes wait or will they be wrinkled raisins on the vine by next weekend?  Disappointed and sick I am grabbing my Kleenex box and heading for the couch. 

How did I get sick already?  The influx of coughing germ infused children in our school has already begun but it still is early in the school year for random viruses.   I have not been mindful of getting enough rest and taking time to distress.  I have definitely been burning the candle at both ends.  That balance between work and self has been lopsided and I think it is a contribution to becoming easy prey for a floating virus.  In addition to school demands I have been helping an ill family member while I juggle my own family’s needs.  Yup, I have not been doing what I should to slow down a bit and think about self-care.

How do you balance the demands in your life to allot time for relaxation and rest?  Do you promise yourself that you will take time out tomorrow only to postpone it for the next day, and then the next day and so on? Nature has stepped in and now I am forced to take a time out …to be sick.  I should have slowed down and got more rest.  Now I regret my bag of potato chips lunch and other embarrassingly unhealthy eating choices as I worked through my lunch hour.  I replay all the unhealthy things I had been doing in my mind.  I haven’t even walked the dog in a week and in addition to that activity being great exercise it is an excellent stress reliever. 

How did this happen?  Only 3 weeks into the school year and I have already allowed myself to get caught up on this insane merry-go-round of nonstop activity.  I am not happy to be sick but I needed this eye opener.  I realize I need to slow down, breathe, and walk the dog.  Maybe it is going to take better time management but I definitely have to schedule some “me” time.

 How do you balance work, family life, and personal time?

 

Fall Mindset for Learning

The scent of fall is riding in silently on the chill of the morning air, slowly closing the door to summer.  I love summer and feel some what cheated because I was too busy with summer school and juggling family stuff to take the time to appreciate summer as fully as I usually do.  Such is the life of a working mother and I know a lot of people reading this can relate.  There never is enough time in the day to complete all the plans and projects on my list.  Now that I am back in school full time again the list is even longer and the time is consumed even faster.

I have been looking into new strategies to motivate my reading and math intervention groups.  Based on every teachers' favorite tool "data" (do I sound some what sarcastic? ... good) we group students and spend 45 minutes daily on intervention in small groups.  I work with a mixed group of special education students and students who struggle with proficient mastery of skills at grade level.  One of the biggest road blocks to move these students on is motivation.  They have simply given up and and therefore they are highly unmotivated.  I have been reading and researching about  Growth Mindset and I believe this needs to be a starting point for my intervention group.
A lot of struggling students lose their confidence in their ability to master a skill and by the time they reach adolescence the damage is done.  They have decided they are never going to be good at math, reading, or both due to repeated failures at attempts to master concepts. 
Even as an adult how many times are you willing to attempt to do something that you fail miserabely at? Once? Twice?  Do you tell yourself on the third attempt,"I am not good at this and I don't think I will be able to do it".  Then do you avoid any opportunities that involve attempting that failed attempt again?  We have all had those thoughts and our students do to when it comes to many areas of school curriculum. 

My students start each intervention period working on confidence and motivation.  Our first intervention time was spent talking about failure and viewing it as a learning experience.  We made personal motivation posters which are hanging in the room.

Introduction to intervention has evolved into a kind of a short  "pep rally" to help students approach our work with motivation and a willingness to engage in difficult tasks.  I am in the process of researching further activites to start out my intervention time that will be motivating and help them think about failure in different terms.

I will also be taking time to enjoy the approaching autumn and the beautiful sights, smells, and activities that come with it. 

 Yikes!  It seems like my Concord grapes were green just last week and now look at them, purple and very ripe.  I guess I will be setting time aside this weekend to make refrigerator grape jelly.

 

A Little Piece of Italy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The weekend consisted of rushing around doing errands, cleaning, shopping, and lesson planning.  It was back to back and by Sunday the manical pace of playing catch up from the week was making my head spin.  The weather was beautiful and by noon realizing I had not taken any time to just sit back and appreciate the day I knew I had to force myself to step off this tread mill to nowhere.  I grabbed my 8 year old and told him we were going out to lunch.  We headed towards Lake Michigan and ended up on Brady street,  the "east" side.  We decided to go Italian and stopped at Glorioso's, ordered a mini pizza, and headed outside to dine "el fresco".  

 It was absolutely lovely.  A little piece of Italy right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I finally could relax and put all my school ideas, plans, and hopes out of my mind for the moment.  I enjoyed my child's conversation and did a little people watching as we finished eating the cheesy flavorful pizza in the sun.  All too soon we would leave and it would be back to reality.

Week #2 It's About to Get Real-Update

The first week of school was filled with smiles, excitement, new school supplies and dreams.  However by Friday issues were starting to rear their heads and the middle school drama was beginning to emerge,  Facebook drama, stressed out kids and hot tired teachers were the theme of the day.  The week had been very hot and humid and this 100 year old building becomes a brick oven under those conditions.  Everyone was thankful for the 3 day weekend and hopefully a cooling off in the weather would begin.

Now we are back for week 2 of school and the kids are quiet and a bit sleepy.  It is still hot and humid and that affects energy levels.

I am energized and excited to implement a variety of new strategies this year.  After reading about and researching growth mindset I feel like it would be an excellent strategy for my math intervention group.  There is a lot of research supporting growth mindset and data showing increased motivation, improved behavior, and increases in math and verbal achievement test scores.  Growth mindset originates from three decades of work by Carol Dweck. I am currently reading her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

I see so many students that are only in 7th or 8th grade yet they have totally given up and decided that they will never be good at math or even school in general.  It is so disheartening to see 12 and 13 year olds decide at their young age to quit and not put forth effort because they truly believe they will never be successful at the math curriculum for their grade level.

I have read a few negatives regarding growth mindset however the positive seems to out weigh the "nay" sayers.  I will be continuing my research and planning on implementing this strategy with my intervention math group.  I will report back as I use these techniques and we will see how it impacts my students' motivation and ability to stay focused when they fail.  I hope to see them continue to work on challenging skills until they have mastery.

Have you used growth mindset in your classroom?  I would appreciate any comments(positive or negative) regarding your use of growth mindset in the classroom. Thanks!

 

Update:

 

The students began learning about growth mindset by analyzing how they feel when school work is difficult or challenging.  We discussed the differences between fixed mindset and a growth mindset.  After a lively discussion they designed their own motivating poster. 

 

Labor on Labor Day

Labor on labor day...it doesn't seem right. On September 5, 1882 aproximately 10,000 workers participated in America's first Labor Day Parade in New York City.  In 1887 Oregon became the first state to declare Labor Day an offical holiday, soon the rest of the nation followed.  Labor day weekend is dedicated to the hard working individuals who go off day after day to  a job, giving it their best and precious moments of their life.  Some of us are lucky enough to be doing what we love and getting paid for it while others force themselves to engage daily in a job that defines drudgery.

 I feel blessed that I am able to work in a field that I am passionate about, education.  Just like everyone else it isn't easy getting up when it is still dark and pushing myself to keep moving as I get ready for work.  However once I am out the door my mind is racing with a multitude of ideas and plans for the day.  I really love what I do.

This weekend is supposed to be a break from our hard work and yet I foolishly planned a rummage sale.  The heat was horrendous and once again I was up at the crack of dawn to "work".  I had driven around the night before and placed signs directing people to my rummage sale.  Soon they starting coming, yes, before the appointed time of 9:00 am.  It was OK though, we were ready for them.  As the day crawled on the temperature and humidity index rose.  The eclectic collection of remnants of past decorations, dishes and furniture slowly began to sell.  I had no regrets parting with any of the items and it was a relief to see them find a new home knowing I would not have to lug them down to the basement when the sale ended.

For some reason that remains unknown, Labor Day weekend is a popular weekend to hold a rummage sale here and the neighborhood is filled with sale signs as people use their 3 day weekend for selling and shopping at neighboring garage sales.

Originally I was going to do the 3 day rummage sale, however after sweating and wishing I was somewhere else and doing something else I decided I am done after tomorrow.  So Monday, Labor Day, I will enjoy the day and honor the American labor movement movement by appreciating the opportunity to sit back in thankfulness. 

The Best Teaching Tool Ever

 

 

 

You are looking at the best teaching tool ever!  

At least for today when the temperature is 90 degrees and the humidity is 90 plus.  Children walked in the door looking as fresh as a daisy and walked out looking like melted crayons.  It was hot! 
 Thus, the fan became the best teaching tool of the day.  Although it was only pushing around hot humid air it created an illusion of being cooled off and that was enough to keep all of us persevering.  In every classroom there was the low hum of numerous fans in the background as you walked through the building and it was music to our ears because it meant moving air.
Take note, I am not complaining because only a couple of months from now Wisconsin will become an artic tundra of ice and snow.  They are predicting a drop of temperatures into the 70's after Labor Day so this sauna won't last much longer.  So, kudos to the inventor of the fan!  We wouldn't have survived today in this old brick two story building without it.

Road Trip in My Mind

Teacher's Road Trip

Moving down the highway into blue sky, billowing clouds and lots of green scenery; its a road trip! The wind through my window gentlely tugs at my hair matching my mood of freedom from style and constraints. I can just feel all my worries and issues behind me as I surge forward.  Rythamic movement pulls me down the highway and away from it all.  I follow the road as it gentlely turns and twists through the countryside when suddenly a big red octagon shaped sign pops up in my line of vision.  On the sign are the words:  STOP! It's August 27th Back to School! 
Yes, it was only a road trip in my mind as I try to escape the reality of summers's end and the fact it is time to return to school.  Regretfully, I can't hide from the reality any longer and I awake to the jarring ringtone on my cell phone's alarm.
The first 3 days will be teacher meetings and some allowed time to get classrooms ready.  As the days go by and classrooms are whipped into shape the excitement will grow and we will be ready to welcome our students and the magical chemistry the blend of their personalities bring.  It is here and I am ready for it.

 The road trip will just have to wait until next summer because Back to School here I come!

#Loyalty

Happy National Dog Day

 

Dogs.. Our most loyal friend.  This is my new "puppy".  She is 8 months old and she has wiggled her way into the hearts of our family.  There have been challenges with her as we soon learned being the owner of a German Shepard is much different than that of a Labrador retriever.  Our previous dog of over 11 years was a docile overly friendly lab.  This pup is definitely a pack dog and needs us to be assertive pack leaders.  She is smart, affectionate and loving to our family; however she is very aloof and on guard with strangers.  After a close call where she attempted to nip at a neighbor we began working with a trainer. He actually "trained" us.  It has involved a lot of rethinking on our part as far as dog training goes.  Our dog experience was limited to our laid back lab and this truly was a different breed and personality. We learned how to teach her basic commands such as heel, down and sit.   Working with the trainer taught us the importance of consistency, patience, and taking control.  Ironically all the same important strategies and techniques in discipline and guiding children (no, I am not comparing children to dogs).

Every time I walk in the door her delighted greeting melts away my cares of the day and I am so glad we have her. The daily training and consistency has paid off and she follows commands beautifully.  So, before I go on and on about my wonderful "puppy" I will close with "Happy National Dog Day" to all dogs and dog owners.  Give your dog an extra treat today!

 

Are You a Scaredy Squirrel?

Teachers, what is your Monday Motivation?  What gets you out of bed and out the door at the beginning of the week.  We like to focus on the positives that motivate us.  A passion for teaching, improving students' lives, and providing skills and opportunities for our students are some of the many reasons we are motivated to teach.  Let's be honest, we are also motivated by fears and anxieties.  We all have bills to pay and lives to maintain as well as that of our families and those fears are motivators too.  What motivates our students on Monday morning?  What gets them out the door and into the school?  Sadly, many of our students have other things that get in the way of any motivation to attend school.
When you go to school do you think of the fears and anxieties your students experience regarding school and how it impacts their ability to learn?  Test anxiety, math anxiety, and social anxiety are just a few of the many issues that impact our students' learning style.  Many students shut down and learning stops.  I am amazed how some of my toughest older students who daily face challenges in their day that would devastate me don't even blink an eye about their situation.  The violence, death and drugs are their "normal" and yet when faced with a difficult math problems they quit and refuse to try.  They feel threatened when school presents academic challenges and they hide from facing the possibility of failure in their noncompliant behavior or refusal to work.
What can we do for our students who lose all motivation because of anxiety and fears in school?  Talking to students, building relationships, and helping them to strengthen their confidence are all effective techniques to help them overcome their fears.  There is always that one who is so badly scarred by past failures they refuse to respond to your best efforts.  So with this question in mind I had a sudden insight during my bedtime story reading with my son.

Like many parents, we have had a nightly bedtime story at our house since day one.  Now that my son is 8 years old it is sometimes silent reading and sometimes read out loud at bedtime.  The other night he elected to read Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt.   If you haven't read the book, Scaredy Squirrel is a somewhat neurotic squirrel who is so fearful of the the world and its imagined dangers he refuses to leave the safety of his tree.  He fears a variety of dangers some realistic(poison ivy) and some are very impossible dangers(sharks).  Scaredy squirrel had a packed emergency kit, structured daily schedule and an emergency exit plan.  As my son read the story I was struck by the parallel to life, particularly school life. Actually, it reminded me of myself at times and fears I didn't want to face yet life forced me out of my "tree".
 I thought back to my search for other techniques to reach students who did not want to discuss the impact their fears had on making progress in school.  I realized how books could be a strategy to reach these students.  A simple read out loud with stories like Scaredy Squirrel could start the conversation so many found difficult.
As an adult I found myself relating to the struggles Scaredy faced with his fears and the limitations it placed on his life.  I was reminded of many people I knew as we read about his rigid schedule and rules he placed in his life to create a feeling of security.  Yes, it is a story for younger children and yet it could be a powerful tool with older students who can analyze and explore the similarities between Scaredy Squirrel and themselves.  In the story's end Scaredy Squirrel  accidently falls out of his tree only to discover that "nothing horrible happened to him in the unknown world."  A simple but powerful analogy for students to discuss and relate to life. 
I have used some children's books in a similar way with 8th graders in the past and found it to be successful.  There are always a few who scoff at being read a picture book however after the first couple of pages they are quiet and engaged as the magic of the story and its illustrations sweep them up.
Scaredy Squirrel can just be a starting point for a literature study of books related to struggles and facing fears.  There are many excellent books at a variety of grade levels that relate to this issue.  Within the safety of a book children can explore and face their fears.  They can see they are not the only one with these feelings and they can read about triumphs in the battle to overcome their anxieties instead of staying stagnant in the security of not approaching the "unknown".  Powerful discussions can take place in the analysis of the story's plot and details.
As a special education teacher who works with students from 1st to 8th grade with a wide variety of labels I wondered how this analytical discussion could be approached with younger students. This was the inspiration for my newest TPT product.  I developed materials that would help younger ones explore these topics as they worked on a Scaredy Squirrel theme in math, reading, and writing activities.  The writing and reading work focuses on story details and explores the fears Scaredy Squirrel faced.  If you are interested please check it out at: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Literacy-and-Math-Fun-with-Scaredy-Squirrel-2025556.

Hope you find this to be an interesting and effective approach for some of your challenging students.  An analysis of Scaredy Squirrel could easily be incorporated into literature and writing time.  Building strong positive relationships with our students are critical to the learning process and discussion on this topic is one step in that multifaceted relationship.

Vocabulary's Important Role in Teaching Math

As teachers we all recognize the importance of vocabulary in reading and writing, yet sometimes we neglect the important role it plays in math.  We get very focused on teaching skills and strategies when we are teaching math however for some of our students mastery of math vocabulary impacts their success in math.  Many of my special education students struggle to recall math terms that we use in math, especially the higher grade levels.  I found that by creating math fluency strips students had a tool for quick visual reference of terms.
  I laminated the math terms we were using for our unit on triangles and angle relationships.  I attached the strips to a binder clip and had it available as a tool for students who had difficulty remembering the difference between an isosceles triangle and an equilateral triangle.  Each math term has a definition with a visual representation. 

In addition to the first set of strips I created a second batch of fluency strips identical to the first set; however these strips had blanks in the definition.  These strips I used in my math centers for additional practice of the terms.  Students practiced individually or with a partner on the “fill in the blank” set in math centers.  My students began to gain confidence with their knowledge of the terms through this repeated practice. 

Students were able to refer to the fluency strips as we completed classwork.  Students were also able to take the strips home to use for reference when doing their homework. Students began to display more confidence and success through the use of the math fluency strips. The fluency strips have definitely had a positive impact on many of my students' math progress and I am currently in the process of developing more for my other math units. 

Click on the link to try out my triangles and angles fluency strips for FREE with your students: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Fluency-Strips-for-Triangles-and-Angles-Vocabulary-1765089

Say it isn't so....Back to School is Here

My Monday Morning reflection is the realization that summer is coming to an end and I plan to wake up early to enjoy and appreciate every last moment.  The sun breaking through the morning haze as birds chirp their daily greeting are memories I want to hold on to for the cold days of winter ahead.

 Some profess to be so excited to be going back to school, but I am not a fan.  Going back to school means so much more than going back to work, it means summer is ending. I don't want to think about the cold season ahead so I avoid the back to school ads with their amazing deals on notebooks and crayons.  I don't want summer to end.

 I don't mind the fall, it is colorful and the weather is pleasant. However, after the glory of a colorful fall winter comes creeping around the corner.  Winter...lovely at Christmas but then it just needs to go away.  Subzero temperatures and eyeballs up to snow is not my idea of a fun time.
I love summer and the endless possibilities of the outdoors that it brings.  I practically live outside in the summer but when winter comes I am only outside for the seconds it takes to run to my car.  I have lived in this tundra like winter climate always however winter seems to get more difficult with each passing year.  I just want to be able to start my day with breakfast on my deck and end it grilling my dinner.  Winter robs me of that opportunity, so when the ads bombard me with "back to school" sales I am sad as I am awakened to the end to summer.  I guess that best strategy is to focus on the new school year and all the exciting new challeges it will bring.
As I come to terms with the reality of summer winding down I have started working on some of the back to school activities I plan to use with my students.  While reading Back to School, Splat by Rob Scotton to my 8 year old I began to think of activities to align it to Common Core Standards and yet make it engaging and fun for students.  The result is Back to School Literacy and Math with Splat the Cat.  Splat is so much fun and I hope by incorporating Splat into math and literacy more students will be motivated by his curious spirit to explore math and literacy.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Back-to-School-Literacy-and-Math-with-Splat-the-Cat-2017256

Enjoy your Monday Morning as we wind through the last lazy days of summer.

Monday Morning and I am taking time to...

Taking time to smell the roses...

No roses but I have a beautiful hibiscus!  Yes, summer school is over and I finally have some time to enjoy a little bit of summer before school resumes.

This Monday is the first Monday that I didn't have to get up at 5:45am for work.  Howevcr from a summer of being conditioned to wake up at that time I was up by 6:00am despite my best intentions to sleep late.
I had the luxury of being able to eat a leisurely breakfast on my deck while listening to bird songs and enjoying the garden scencery surrounding me.  This is how a Monday morning should start!  No rushing and mentally going through my checklist of all I had to do as I fly out the front door.  I am still making a "to do list" in my mind but at a relaxed pace. I have time to revise it and think deeply about goals. It is really more powerful to have the oportunity to mindfully plan while surrounded by nature.

One of my plans is to work on more items for my TPT store.  Actually I don't consider that work.  It is a creative outlet for my art and writing skills and the process is fun and rewarding.  The next two days Teachers Pay Teachers is having a store wide "Back to School Sale". If you use the code:  BTS15 you can receive a 28% discount on any purchase.  I know I don't want to think about back to school already, especially on my first day of vacation this summer.  However, in a couple of weeks it will be a reality and being prepared does make the transition smoother.
There really are some excellent products designed by teachers for teachers.  If you have time check it out: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mondaymorning
Time to put the lap top away and go back to my first leisurely Monday morning in months.  Hope you find some time in your day to enjoy your Monday!

Back to School - Math Fluency Strips

I have closed my eyes to the  ads and turned the channel at the mention of it however, I am starting to come out of denial.  It is beginning to look like "BACK TO SCHOOL" time.  To help ease the pain of that adjustment I have my " Math Vocabulary Fluency Strips for Triangles and Angles" available for FREE download in my TPT store right now.  I have found these fluency strips to be a vital tool to differentiate my instruction for the variety of learners in my classroom.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Fluency-Strips-for-Triangles-and-Angles-Vocabulary-1765089

 

They are great in math centers too.  There are 2 downloadable versions, one with a fill in the blank and one with the answers.

Hope you find them useful for your classroom!   

Savor the last few days of summer break!

Where Did All the Butterflies Go?

Early this summer I had Monarch butterflies dining on the nectar of the sweet smelling flowers in the  group of milkweed plants in my garden.  The butterflys are gone now as the last days of summer blend into the approaching autumn chill.  The milkweed's flowers have transformed into pods that will soon burst open with the whispy seeds.
This is a good time to hold on to our memories of summer and so I am revisiting one of my summer blog posts and my inspiration for this Life Cycle of the Butterfly activity. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Life-Cycle-of-a-Butterfly-1984219

Butterflies have been gracefully circling the milkweed plants in my garden for days now and providing inspiration for my newest TPT product; The Life Cycle of a Butterfly.

I have included many hands-on activities such as this engaging art project with pasta to reinforce the stages in the development of the butterfly.

 

 

Numerous reading activities, including a nonfiction close read.

 

 

Math printables

 

I spite of my neighbor's unhappy glances at my butterfly garden because it includes a few milkweed plants I have allowed the milkweed to remain.  Some may view them as weeds but they exist in my garden for the sole propose of attracting monarch butterflies.  In addition to the monarchs I have also observed humming birds drinking nectar from the milkweed's fragrant flowers, another reason to allow this plant to take residence in my garden.

 

The cycle of nature is my Everyday Motivation. Taking time to appreciate the wonders of nature unfolding in my garden gives me the patience, peace and focus I need to meet and balance all the demands of my job and family this week.

Summer School in the City-Watch Out for Lions!

Early in the week the news was warnings of a new car jacking scheme in the city.  Someone would bump your car from behind and when you got out of your car to assess the accident they  would jump in and drive off with your car.  Thus, I have been mindful  as I drive around the city providing support for summer school programs at various schools.

Today I have a different danger that the media is warning residents about. 

This morning I will be in the neighborhood where the lion was sighted and I have to admit I feel a bit nervous. When I first heard about this lion  sighting I thought it had to be some kind of joke, however when I saw the video someone had taken of the lion prowling in a backyard it gave it credibility.

So I am off to the city, watching out for car jackers, stray bullets and a lion! 

 

Here's a little Friday Smile from Monday Morning.  I provide support for the summer school program for 7 schools in our district.  As part of the support I provide I frequently help teachers by administering pre-tests for science content being taught in the summer program.  The K5 and 1st grade testing is time consuming because the tests are read to the student and then their response is written down.  The 1st graders are going to being studying the earth and the effects of pollution on our environment.  I really had to chuckle at the response one of the children gave to the question"Why must we protect the earth?"  See the response below.

 

I thought the answer "because God loves clean" was cute and it made me smile.  Have a great weekend!

Off to work on Monday Morning

It's Monday Morning and although it's summer contrary to the public opinion that teachers are just  laying around in the sun sipping ice tea all summer, I am working.  I am working 3 jobs this summer.  I do summer school program support in the morning, academic coordinator for our CLC in the afternoon and free lance writing anywhere I can fit it in.  I really would much rather be sipping ice tea in the sun but I have bills to pay, hence the summer jobs.  Actually I enjoy what I do and it is a nice change of pace from the routine of the school year.  I provide support to 7 different schools and travel from one end of the city to the other to cover my schools.  I relish being able to drive around and enjoy the views of summer in the city as I travel.
However, there is a comfortable lounge chair in a cozy spot on my deck surrounded by flowers calling my name every morning. I have to walk by and head to my car and drive out to the city. I always pause for I moment as I walk by just to enjoy the image but then I move on.

It is not so bad, summer school and CLC end in August so I will have all of August to finally sit back and relax.  I can't wait!

 

 

In our data driven, common core aligned curriculum where do you allow students the opportunity to reflect on school experiences? 

 Students and teachers are all acutely aware that the end of the current school year is approaching.  This is the point where I like to use ELA time to guide my students' writing through the reflection process.  I have two different projects that allows them to be creative and create a memory book of the school year.  I have had students come back years later and tell me that they still have their memory project and they enjoy looking at it from time to time. 

 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/End-of-the-School-Year-Memory-BagBook-1858715


Take time out from all the hectic demands to sit down, reflect and relax.
 

Take Time to Listen to Your Students

It's Monday Morning...and as always the weekend went by too fast.  I truly had good intentions to finish a lot of work.  I had curriculum to write as well as lesson plans.  I don't even want to mention the numerous house cleaning projects that needed major attention. There was definately plenty of work to do inside but then there was this...

 

 Tulips! Tons of tulips in the park were beckoning me to take in their rainbow of colors and so began my Sunday dilema. The  temperature had actually climbed to 70 degrees after months of frigid cold which served to add to my spring fever. I really wanted to be outside in the fresh air and feel the sun's energy.   However, I had so much work to do and  I really needed to focus my energy on work, not the park.   I wrestled with my choices.  I knew what I needed to do but it really was not what I wanted to do.  I thought about all the times we force students to do their classwork and yet sometimes it is about more then that. How many times do we overlook the emotional needs of students that are clearly not of the mindset to do classwork.  Do we ignore the red flags they send up because we are so pressured to raise test scores?  We have students who have no room in their head for math because their mind is filled with trauma from the night before.

  Today one of my students walked in my room with the greeting "Did you watch the news?'  I said I had and asked him why.  He answered, "Oh, it was nothing, never mind".  I was busy trying to get the morning started and would have been very easy to just let it go but I didn't.  I sensed what it was about and asked him if there had been a shooting.  "Yes, right in front of my house," he replied softly.  I asked him what his address was and Goggled search the incident.  There was a brief paragraph stating a 27 year male had been shot and killed while sitting in his car.  I showed him the article and he nodded.  "Was it drugs," I asked.  He shook his head no.  "Gangs?"  and again another shake of his head indicating no.  "Was it a boyfriend/girlfriend problem?" He very silently nodded yes.  It was like he was afraid to verbalize yes or no, maybe fearful somehow of being called a snitch. I acknowledged his answer with, "I am sorry."  Then he sighed deeply and went to his desk, now  ready to work.  I think he felt the incident and his feelings had been validated by the fact I took out the extra 5 minutes to look it up for him.  I was glad I took the time to do what he needed and started the math lesson 5 minutes late but right on time as a teacher.  .                                                                                                                                                    

I am also glad I decided to put my work on hold Sunday and take that walk through the park  instead of working the day away on paper work.  I needed that break.  I have no regrets that I choose to walk down the bridge into the park surrounded by lush green, calling birds and brilliantly colored flowers instead of surrounding myself with 4 walls, a pile of papers and a blinking computer. 

 



Little "For-Get-Me-Nots" from the School Week

Through the chilly un-April like week I was awed to find my little blue for-get-me-nots had begun to bloom in my garden.  It reminded my of the little blooms I witnessed this school week through the less then optimum teaching conditions during the week of  Badger Exam standardized testing.  My memorable bright spots(for-get-me-nots) for the week included:
          *I actually was able to hold my 8th grade math class twice this week and I am starting to see some progress with attitudes and mastery.  After we reviewed 2-digit multiplication I began see everyone improving their accuracy when calculating volume of cylinders, cones and triangular prisms.  This success finally helped improve their confidence in their ability to solve math problems,  which is critical for motivation in math.
          *One of my 8th grade students has an extremely difficult time with anger management.  When he is mad he verbally lashes out on anyone who dares to talk or look at him He does this to peers as well as adults.  He  has resisted all attempts to redirect his anger and feels justified to behave as he does.  Monday I tried to model and suggest appropriate verbal  responses to use when he was mad.  As usual he acted like he was ignoring me however later that day when he was very mad I spoke calmly to him and waited for his usual verbal blast.  He scowled and gave me those angry eyes then opened his mouth...and stopped.  In amazement I watched his expression change from anger to calm and he responded with "I don't want to talk right now".  I said I would respect that and walked away while inside I was thinking "I don't believe it! He  did exactly what I had been prompting him  to do for months.  I decided it might just be a randomn response and really didn't expect to hear that again anytime soon.  The next day I went into his reading class and found him sitting sullenly and  unengaged with the class work. I walked up to him   and quietely ask him why he wasn't working.  He looked up angrily and I waited to hear his  tirade.  He paused and then softly said, "I really don't feel like talkin right now."  Wow, two days in a roll and he used the appropriate strategies both times.  I thought I would never hear this type of response from him.
This progress confirms my belief  in the importance of building positive relationships with students.  It is critical for academic progress and social/ emotional growth.  It has taken half the school year to build up trust in this angry student however consistent calm patience has paid off.  I have my fingers crossed and I am hoping this behavior will continue next week.
         *This "for-get-me-not" is a personal success.  It is a struggle to develop and create teaching materials. As a special education teacher I have had to create my own materials to differentiate instruction for my students.  It is a really a plus when these materials are engaging for all students in the classroom.    When I develop interactive materials that motivate and provide learning opportunities for all students I like to post them in my TPT store.  One of my most successful writing activities involves the use of a simple brown lunch bag.  I call it my "in the bag" writing.
 After hours of work I finally finished 3 writing packets into one bundle.   It's full of activities that are creative, hands on and highly engaging for students as they learn how to; write a research paper, write a persuasive essay, and write an expository essay. 
                                 

If you are interested in more details just click on the TPT link on the right side at the top of this blog. My students have made some cool writing projects and I have found it engaging for reluctant writers too.
                                     

              

 

  

           *My  last "for-get-me not" of the week is related to a common problem in inner city schools, at least here. Monday morning before school started I was sitting at my desk sipping my Starbucks and organizing my day when a tiny brownish bug ran across my desk and hid under my Kleenex box. I got him with a tissue and was careful to leave him intact. The school's bug guy identified him as a German cockroach. Yuck! The school engineer gave me a roach motel that had a glue pad to see if this was a random critter or a member of a large family. Every morning I have been checking for occupants but so far the motel has thankfully been vacant. Truly hoping the roach motel remains customer free after the weekend so I can then assume my classroom is free of these unwelcome guests.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I will talk to you again on "Monday Morning"!