Getting in touch
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![]() A tool that I have found useful for staying in contact with parents is www.classdojo.com/about/
Here you can let parents know about upcoming events, but more importantly it is also a real time classroom management tool, where you can keep parents up to date on classroom behaviors throughout the day. Students can earn or loose points depending on behaviors you set up in your classroom, such as +1 point for participating, +3 points for collaboration, or -2 points for no homework. You can choose to leave notes to parents about specific behaviors when they occur. Not only can you use it for just a behavior system but also for student engagement. For example instead of my equity sticks to call on students for answers, they have a built in randomize button that calls on the students instead (no more sticks in a cup cluttering up my desk!). And it's FREE! |
Creative WritingStudents often times have a hard time coming up with ideas when it comes time for narrative and creative writing. Using www.storybird.com helps students write by selecting the artwork first and then creating a story to go with it. This has help a lot with students who just wont write at all. I offer this up as a may do can I get wonderful stories from unlikely students.
Problem Solving![]() My classroom comes alive when we use scratch.mit.edu/about. Scratch is a coding program that teaches students how to analyze and use reasoning skills in order to produce a product. There is a frustration level when using this program that I feel is very powerful learning experience in the classroom. It can be too easy for students to give up on a project (or a math problem, or a writing assignment, etc) and move on to something else. With scratch however students will puzzle it out and find the reason why their character isn't moving or why it wont change color they way they want it to. They will look at the code block by block and find the one detail they forgot to put in. Students will reach out to others in the classroom for help and others want to help and provide constructive feedback on how to solve the problem. The interest level is there for students and they are willing to put in careful time and planning in order to create something they are proud of.
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A different way to assess
In love with it!
Using nearpod.com/ changed the way we do some of our assessments in the classroom. Here you can either buy (or scan the free section) by subject and grade level and pick out interactive presentations to use with the students. This goes beyond power points and google slides. You can control which slide the students are on so that they don't move ahead of you, and the students are engaged by the variety of interactive multi media within the presentation. Students can watch a video about whales, and then take a polling as a class online on whale facts. They can draw, write, match answers, and take quizzes all in one presentation.
Below is a math review presentation that I had created for my class after we had completed chapters in multiplication. It is cheaper to create your own, and it is tailor made for you classroom, but be warned it will take some time if you are using the free version (like of course I did).
Using nearpod.com/ changed the way we do some of our assessments in the classroom. Here you can either buy (or scan the free section) by subject and grade level and pick out interactive presentations to use with the students. This goes beyond power points and google slides. You can control which slide the students are on so that they don't move ahead of you, and the students are engaged by the variety of interactive multi media within the presentation. Students can watch a video about whales, and then take a polling as a class online on whale facts. They can draw, write, match answers, and take quizzes all in one presentation.
Below is a math review presentation that I had created for my class after we had completed chapters in multiplication. It is cheaper to create your own, and it is tailor made for you classroom, but be warned it will take some time if you are using the free version (like of course I did).
"Tech gives the quietest student a voice."
~Jerry Blumengarten
~Jerry Blumengarten