Monday, September 28, 2020

Sentence Frames

I have continued looking through my Google Drive for things that I can put together to support teachers during virtual learning (although this resource would benefit teachers in the classroom as well).

I decided to put all of my sentence frames in one Google Slides presentation so that they are all together and easily accessible when lesson planning.

 



I have included a table of contents page with hyperlinks to each slide and organized them by content.

Table of Contents:


I am always looking to add to my collection, so if you have other sentence frames or starters that I should add let me know!

Click here to get your copy!


Instagram: @mrspotterstyle
Twitter: @apotter730



Thursday, September 24, 2020

"I'm Done, Now What Do I Do?"

This question never goes away. 

Whether you are in the school building teaching or teaching virtually, the question, I'm done, now what do I do seems to get asked at least once per class period. When teaching in the school building, I always have bins or things set up for the students to do either independently or with a partner when they have finished their work.

Now that I am teaching virtually, I realized that I need to have something set up for the students to do when they have finished their work. Originally, I would tell them that they could just log off the live session and work on any assignments that they may need to complete in any of their classes. But now that our state is mandating the students be live with us for a certain amount of time, I wanted to give them a choice of things that they could do while still staying in the live session.

The first thing that they must do is check Google Classroom and make sure that there are no assignments that need to be completed. Because I only teach them math, I am only requiring they check their math assignments so that I am not getting questions asked about other content areas that I may not know the answers to. I am learning that many of the students are not finishing their assignments, or maybe they are finishing them, but just not turning them in on Google Classroom. So I thought if I give them some other things that they could look forward to when they have finished their work, then maybe it will motivate them to do their work or turn it in.

My county uses an intervention program called Dreambox. So that will always be one of their choices of things to do when they are done.

Math Blaster is a website with many online math games for different grade levels. I have it linked to the 5th grade activities. However, this is a box that I may change throughout the year. There may be times that I link to a specific math game. Here are some other math games online that students love to play:

Epic is an online platform full of books. While I will encourage them to read a math book every now and then, I also just enjoy promoting a love for reading. Check with your county, because many school districts purchase licenses for some type of online book platform. The local libraries often give access to their online resources for the public school students as well.

The two boxes on the right will be the boxes that I change throughout the school year depending on the topic we are currently learning about in the classroom. The KenKen puzzles is something we did in class during the first week of school, so I wanted to give the kids who like puzzles something to choose from. The place value riddles is an activity I used in my classroom when we were in the school building, so I just created a virtual version for students to complete. Below are some great websites to check out for math activities that could be used in the classroom:
What types of activities are you using for your students to do virtually when they finish their assignments before others?

Instagram: @mrspotterstyle
Twitter: @apotter730



Monday, September 21, 2020

Virtual Classroom Expectations

I love reading all of the debates online about expectations for students during live sessions, whether you are using Zoom, Google Meet, or some other platform. 

Some of the expectations being set are downright ridiculous. I think I saw one the other day that stated students must have shoes on. Are you kidding me? First of all, there are many parents that won't allow students to wear shoes in the house. Secondly, are the teachers wearing shoes?? Because I can tell you that I for one am not wearing shoes in my house. Slippers maybe, but shoes? That's a no.

Now I will be honest. I didn't start the first week of school shoving Zoom/Meet expectations down my kids throats because honestly I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to expect of my students. Instead that first week we just went with the flow. If something happened that was not in the best interest of the students, then we would discuss why that behavior was not going to work for our class. We figured out together what the best things would be for our virtual learning.

This is the same exact thing we do when we are in the school building. You always hear people talk about setting up the classroom rules and expectations together as a class, why wouldn't the virtual world be any different? Now, I teach fifth graders so this is not their first rodeo in a classroom, so I could imagine that with the younger babies you may need to set a few ground rules on the first day, especially when it comes to practicing muting and un-muting. But still, those students could be involved in the process of selecting rules, just with a little more guidance.

Now that we have finished our 2nd week of virtual learning, I have put our virtual learning expectations in a visual for our class.


You will notice that all of our expectations are written in a positive manner. I try to never include the word no. I also kept them very vague, because I teach 3 different classes and we may interpret them a little different for each class based on their needs.

Try to Arrive on Time - you will notice that I don't just flat out say, be on time. I'm human, I know that things happen. Internet goes out. Computer needs to be plugged in. Things happen when you are trying to get logged in from home. These are also 5th graders and sometimes we forget where the links are located to join a certain class. This is all new for us. Try to have a little patience.

Mute Microphone - this one is an obvious one. My students have discovered that is a lot easier to hear what others have to say when everyone else has their microphone muted.

Use Chat Appropriately - my students realized really quick that it can be a huge distraction when people are trying to have a conversation in the chat during class. We decided as a class that the chat should be used for asking or answering questions or sharing resources/links.

Be Present - ahh we have come to the grand debate, cameras on or off? Everyone has their own opinion. So far I have not forced any of my students to have their cameras on. Many of them choose to have them on, but some of them choose to have them off. I do remind though that if they are going to have their camera off that they must be engaging in the lesson so that I know they are present. This is why we set this expectation as be present. I must know that they are at their computer participating in the lesson.

Come Prepared - another obvious one. We discussed that just like in the school building, we must come to class prepared with laptops charged, any pre-work completed, and ready to learn that day.

Be Respectful - this is an important one in the virtual world. We discussed that being respectful isn't just about the words that come out of our mouth, but in a virtual setting we must be mindful of our facial expressions as well. My students decided that if they need to walk away from the computer, they would put it in the chat or would let me know, rather than just leaving. We discussed that when people are speaking we are listening and maybe agreeing with a thumbs up or nodding their head.

I know that some people have added more to theirs, but I like to keep my expectations short and sweet. When you start to impose too many rules on the students they will feel micromanaged and may start to disengage or not want to show up. This virtual learning is challenging enough, we have to remember to keep it light and make a stressful situation fun.

I am sharing my expectations poster here. I have a couple of version, one that you see above and one using bitmojis. You can easily make a copy and change them to your bitmoji.

I hope those who are embarking on this virtual learning journey are doing ok. It is tough. There are days I want to just give up and go back to the building, but we can do this! Stay positive. Stay patience. Have grace not only on the students, but on yourself as well. No one was prepared for this.

Instagram: @mrspotterstyle
Twitter: @apotter730


Thursday, September 17, 2020

Book Review: Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching and Learning

 

I picked up this book from Amazon to broaden my horizon with the different cultures I teach in my classroom. This is a book that focuses A LOT on relationships and that is something that I feel I do pretty well with in my classroom, but it did help me open my eyes to things I have definitely done over the course of my 10 years in teaching.

The book is broken up into three parts. It starts off discussing mindset, because let's be honest, if you aren't willing to grow as an educator, then reading a book like this is going to be pointless. It then discusses the skillsets needed to be culturally and linguistically responsive (management, vocabulary, academic literacy, academic language, and learning environment). The last section makes you step back and take a look at yourself. Where are you currently at with being culturally and linguistically responsive, where should you go from here? One of my favorite things it he Appendices section that is FULL of resources that help teachers wherever they may be on their journey to being culturally and linguistically responsive.

Being culturally and linguistically responsive in your teaching practices "means that teachers jump into the pool with the learners, guide them with appropriate instruction, scaffold as necessary, and provide for independence when they are ready." I absolutely love the jumping in the pool metaphor. Think about it, when teaching kids how to swim, you don't stand on the side of the pool and tell them what to do, you jump in the pool and show them. We must do the same with teaching.

Taking a moment to be vulnerable... I will be honest. I have often corrected students for their language. I am not just talking about those students who are learning the English language, I am also talking about those students who may speak a vernacular of English. This book made me realize that their language is not wrong, it is part of their culture. The suggestion that Hollie gives in the book is teaching the students to "translate" to academic language, rather than "correcting" their language. This is so important because teaching the students to "translate" to academic language in the school building teaches them that there is nothing wrong with the language they are speaking at home.

Here are some takeaways from the book:

  • be an advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves
  • culture is not the same as race, there are so many cultures within one race and we need to be mindful of that
  • language as culture, "our language is a representation of our heritage, including family, community, and history"
  • "students are not the problem but rather the source of the solution", such an important mindset to have in the teaching world. If we dig deeper to understand students, we will stop seeing them as the problem.
  • language comes with a variety of linguistic behaviors, we must validate and affirm these different behaviors rather than looking at them as deficits
  • "respect is not given on general principle; it is earned over time"
  • some behaviors that schools deem as negative, are just cultural behaviors; acknowledge the culture then redirect to school culture
  • the goal of being culturally and linguistically responsive is to adjust our teaching in order to meet the needs of students who are "culturally misunderstood"
Relationships matter. Get to know your students, not just academically, but culturally and linguistically. Understand where they are coming from. Before jumping to conclusions about their behavior, think about the why behind their behavior.

This book has some great ideas and is full of resources to help any teacher, no matter where they are in their journey to truly pause and think about how they can be more culturally and linguistically responsive.

Instagram: @mrspotterstyle
Twitter: @apotter730

Monday, September 14, 2020

Technology Spotlight: Google Sites

I have been using Google Sites since back when there was the old sites. I will start off by saying with the "new" Google Sites you do not need ANY web design experience. It is extremely easy to use and build.

While everyone was going crazy with their bitmoji craze (don't get me wrong they are super cute, but I like to be practical and sites does some things that that doesn't), I decided to go with Google Sites for my 5th graders.

First of all I like how sites makes it easy to add new pages or subpages and then they are already in the menu, you don't have to worry about linking anything to the correct slide.

Secondly, I like that I can upload a document, presentation, etc. from Google Drive. It shows a preview of that item and even updates automatically. So if you make a change on a presentation, it will automatically show up in Google Sites. For presentations when you post them, the visitors are able to just scroll through the presentation without having to open it.

Third, I like the organization of the sites. It is easy to navigate with one click.

This is my welcome/landing page. The menu bar at the top allows for navigation of the sites. I also added the four icons, they also take the students to pages for each of the items.


The schedule page allows the kids to click on their homeroom teacher name and it takes them to the weekly schedule that we created with hyperlinks to their Google Classrooms, independent tasks, Zoom links, etc.
See my post about weekly schedule here.


The assignments page allows the kids to click on their homeroom teacher name and it takes them directly to the classwork page on their Google Classroom.


The resources page is something that I am still working on to figure out exactly what I am going to include. Our math curriculum comes with family letters, so that is definitely one category. I also started my Tech Support page. I have a feeling this will grow as I discover the needs of my parents and students. I am also thinking of including other things as well. Maybe resources for supporting students at home or other website they could visit that could be fun to practice more math. Any ideas, drop them in the comments below.


The last page (for now) is all about the teacher. It is always nice to share information about yourself with your students and parents. They like to know where you came from, how long you've been teaching, among other things. It helps build that relationship, especially if they realize they have something in common with you.



I am not going to include a link to my school Google site since it has links just for the kids, but I will share my personal site here where I house many of my technology support items. I am also going to include the presentation I put together previously for how to get started with Google Sites.



Instagram: @mrspotterstyle
Twitter: @apotter730


Thursday, September 10, 2020

Social Emotional Check-Ins or Check-Outs

While teaching through a pandemic, whether you are in the classroom, in a hybrid situation, or teaching virtually, it is important to think about the social-emotional well-being of our students. We have been hearing about this a lot on social media, through training, etc., but what does this really look like and what should we be doing?

I have decided to start the year off with a check-out at the end of the each of my lessons. I debated whether I wanted these to be check-ins done at the beginning, or check-outs at the end and ultimately decided on the end of the lesson for a couple of reasons.

I use Pear Deck with my presentations, which is a tool that allows my presentations to be interactive. (see more about that EdTech tool here) In the spring when I began doing check-ins at the beginning of the lesson I realized that some students took longer than others due to processing time, amount of time it takes to type, etc. so I would have some students who are done just waiting and I would have others who were still trying to type. I would also have those few students who would log on late and completely miss the check-in, which could have given me a good indicator of why they were late. 

So alas, I switched to check-outs. All of my students are typically still logged in by the end of class so I am getting many more responses. Plus, I tell the kids that once they have completed their check-out, they can begin working on their independent assignment so there is no waiting around for others to be done, they can get started working on something else right away.

Here is the important part about these check-ins or check-outs.... you must have a plan. If you are going to see how students are doing emotionally, then you have to follow through. If a student says they are not doing well, then you need to reach out to them or have a school counselor reach out to them. That following through is so important. It could just be that the student is having a bad day because they overslept, but it could also mean that someone in their life is sick or dying and if that is the case we need to have a plan in place to support them.

At the time I am writing this blog, I have completed 4 check-outs and have learned quite a bit about my students. Many of them are excited to have school back, but many of them are sad we are not in the school building. They miss their friends.

I am including a few examples of the ones I have used so far, but I am also including a presentation where I am planning to keep all of my check-outs this school year. I would bookmark the presentation or add it to your drive if that is an option, or bookmark this blog so that you can continue to check it out throughout the year.

If you have any other suggestions please let me know!








Instagram: @mrspotterstyle
Twitter: @apotter730


Monday, September 7, 2020

Preconsonantal Nasals Matching & R-Influenced Vowels Activities

We have made it to the end of the Letter Name word sorts for Words Their Way!

Here are my other posts for the Letter Name sorts:
Beginning Sounds (qu, k, wh, th)

The last two activities are dealing with the preconsonantal nasals (ng, mp, nt, nd, nk) and determining the difference between short a and r-influenced a and short o and r-influenced o. (more r-influenced vowel activities are found in the within word sorts)

The preconsonantal nasal activity is a matching activity. It is set up exactly the same as the matching game for the qu, k, wh, th matching activity. Slide 3 is the game board. There are 20 boxes. When a student clicks on the box it takes them to a slide with an image. They have to decide what ending the item in the image has. Then go back to the game board and select a different box. If the endings are the same then the student moves the 2 boxes over to their side of the game board. If they do not match, then their turn is over and the next student goes.

Students will need editing rights to the presentation so that they can move the cards around on the game board. Make sure to make a copy before sharing it with them!


Click on any of the images above to get your free copy or check out my RELA Resources page.

The short a/o vowel and r-influenced a/o activity is the same setup with a matching game. They are trying to match short a sounds, short o sounds, r-influenced a sounds, or r-influenced o sounds. Same rules as listed above.

Students will need editing rights to the presentation so that they can move the cards around on the game board. Make sure to make a copy before sharing it with them!


Click on any of the images above to get your free copy or check out my RELA Resources page.