Science EOG Review Note Pages

As I wrap up my first year teaching in North Carolina, I have started to prepare for our End of Grade (EOG) assessments. In Maryland, our 5th grade state science assessment was given in March, so we barely got through all of the content, which means we definitely didn't have much time for review.

In NC, we take state assessments the last week of school. This means we have plenty of time to review all of the content that we have learned. North Carolina also has their own science standards instead of following the NGSS, which I have been using the past 5 years or so.

It has been fun teaching different topics and I have definitely had to teach myself quite a few things before teaching the kids (hello weather unit!). I decided I wanted to find a quick, easy way to review the content that we have learned this year, but could not find exactly what I was looking for online. So this weekend I used one of my new favorite tool: Canva!

I created one-page scaffolded note pages that students can use their notes or my unit teacher slides to complete. I also created a teacher model for students who need more support in completing the pages.

As I was adding the note pages to TPT, I was able to connect some of them to the middle school NGSS standards. 

Here are the topics:

- Cells

- Heredity

- Body Systems

- Ecosystems

- Matter

- Force and Motion

- Heat Transfer

- Weather

I listed the note pages individually on TPT, as well as, them all grouped together. I usually like to share my resources for free, but this one took quite a few hours of my time and let's be honest I am not getting a paycheck this summer!

Click the name of each topic above to see the listings, or click here for the entire bundle.

Morning Meeting Greetings

This is my first year doing a morning meeting with my class, so I have been collecting resources and ideas throughout the school year.

The morning meeting consists of the following components:

• Greeting
• I do not follow the traditional morning meeting method of greeting where students sit in a circle and everyone takes turns saying hello to the person next to them every single day. I do use this method every now and then, and definitely at the beginning of the year when we are establishing our classroom community.
• Sharing
• This is a time for students to share based on a question. (I plan to share my questions in the next month or so)
• Activity
• Most of the time my activity has to do with what's going on in the current month (for example Black History Month) or includes some type of SEL lesson. (also planning to share in the future)
• Message
• Because I teach 5th grade, I told have the traditional message posted on the board, but instead use this time to talk about the day and anything important that is happening that the students need to know about.

One thing that I have enjoyed creating each day is different type of greetings to keep the kids engaged. Below I am sharing my morning meeting greeting ideas that we have come up with so far. This will continue to grow as we finish out this school year.

There are currently 60 slides (at the time of this post), so make sure you add the Google Slides document to your drive in order to see the growing collection.

The fun thing about some of the greetings, is allowing the students to interpret how they want to use the idea to say good morning to their classmates.

Enjoy!

Morning Meeting Greetings

Top 10 Educational Tech Tools

I used to be on top of the latest and greatest educational technology applications/tools, but now there are SO many that some days it is hard to even keep up. Then you have the ones that have been around for awhile that are constantly adding new features to keep up with the latest trends, needs, etc.

My top 10 tools has changed a lot over the past 3 years because of the pandemic and ever-changing needs of education. We went from using edtech as a supplemental tool pre-2020, to having to use edtech 100% during virtual learning, to now going back to making sure that the tools we are using are meaningful to the learning and not just a replacement or even a distraction.

That last part is extremely important. When we were forced to go completely online with our teaching and learning, it required teachers to make all of their activities digital. While this made some activities/lessons better, there are many things that students can do outside of their device that is more engaging and meaningful. It is all about finding the PURPOSE of the activity. Is the digital tool just simply replacing a worksheet or is it providing students with a deeper understanding of a topic by allowing them to explore something that is not possible without technology?

As we transition to post-pandemic (and I use that term lightly) education, we have to find a balance of using edtech tools. Always ask yourself, how will my students benefit from completing this task digitally? Sometimes it is as simple as immediate feedback from a teacher or peer!

I thought I would share my top 10 favorite tools. Side note - these are not really ranked from 1-10 because honestly, depending on the purpose/goal of the tool being used determines which one is my favorite.

1. Book Creator

This tool has SO many different uses other than having students publish their writing. They even have a book on their main page with the many ways it can be used in your classroom!

2. Pear Deck

It is always a toss up between Pear Deck and Nearpod, but for me I always seem to go back to this tool for the ease of use. I love that I can take slides that I have already created and simply add on an engagement activity for students to use. I love that I can give feedback after a session is done that students can access easily. Unfortunately, my current county has this blocked so I am definitely having some withdrawals from using it this year.

3. Canva

I will be honest, I did not really start using this tool until this school year and it has been a game changer. I have used it to create posters and charts for my classroom, I have used it personally to create invitations, as well as, created my email signature. The thing that I have enjoyed the most though is allowing my students to use the tool to create digital content for school as well. The ease of use for students makes it a top choice in digital creation.

4. Edpuzzle

This is another tool that I have not been able to use this year, but I have enjoyed using it in years past. I like that I can take any video and add questions to get a quick and easy check-in/assessment for my students to inform my teaching.

5. Quizizz

This is another big debate of whether Quizizz or Kahoot is better. I personally have always enjoyed Quizizz more because the answer choices are on the student's screen. I still use both of them depending on the purpose (kids love Kahoot!).

6. Whiteboard.fi

I used this tool more during virtual learning, but I still use it every now and again for one main reason. I love that I can create something on my whiteboard, for example a number line, and then push it to my students. I still use the traditional whiteboard and marker in the classroom, but watching students try to draw a perfectly straight line or draw rectangles for an area model that can barely fit one number inside each box, drives me crazy!

7. YouTube

Obviously every teacher loves YouTube for the insane amount of videos that are readily at our fingertips, but I have started using it "better" over the past couple of years. There are so many features that we all should take advantage of to make our lives easier. I have started using the playlist feature to organize and share videos with students. Also embedding videos into the different Google applications is a game changer as well.

8. Flip (formerly Flipgrid)

I often give this tool as an option for students to choose when producing work in the classroom. Some students absolutely love the idea of recording themselves on video and being able to add different features to it, while some don't.

9. Prodigy

Students LOVE playing this game to practice math skills in this game-based learning tool. It is FREE to use with an education account and now even has a language arts side to it as well. 

10. Edulastic

This is a great tool for online assessments. There are many different question types that you can use including a passage with questions that show up side-by-side, math questions that include equations, and tech-enhanced items like hotspots, drawing, etc. You can also attach standards to each question so that you get immediate data as students are taking the assessment.

Now a bonus tool because I have always been in schools that are Google-based, but I absolutely love all of the Google Drive based applications. I am biased because I have never had the opportunity to learn the Microsoft apps, but Google Drive deserves its own list. :)

Now let me know... what are you favorite educational technology tools? What is something that I should try in my classroom? I am always up for experimenting with new things!

Writer's Block

I used to love blogging. I would have blog posts planned out a month or so in advance. I used it as a way to share ideas or resources I was using in my classroom, as well as, a way to decompress or get my thoughts out of my head.

However, this past year has brought about a huge writer's block. There have been times I have wanted to get my blog going again and I will make a post, then nothing for weeks. The main culprit is time. 

Since moving to a new state my schedule has been completely turned around. Unfortunately I have always worked in a different county than my kids. In Maryland my school hours were 7:30am-2:45pm and my kids did not get out of school until 4pm. I was able to get up and be out the door by myself and after school I had time to run errands or get things done before the kids got home off the bus. In North Carolina, we are the opposite. My school is 8:45-4:00pm, while my kids get on the bus by 6:55am each morning and get out at 2:45pm. They go to after care until I can pick them up around 5:15pm.

It is currently March and I still have not adjusted to this new schedule, haha! It has also prompted another big change for next year. While I currently love my school that I am teaching at, I have realized that I can't keep up with this type of schedule everyday. I accepted my current job before we bought a house, which is why I currently drive 45 minutes (sometimes more) each way. I am interested to see how next year will be while teaching in the same county as my kids for the first time ever. We will finally have the same breaks/days off!

I am using this post to get myself motivated and hold myself accountable. I am making a plan and can't wait to start blogging again. I do find that it is therapeutic for myself and hope that if this does reach anyone else out there that is in a writer's block or want to get started with blogging again, you can do it!

New Year's Eve with Kids Part 2

We had so much fun last year with the kids on New Year's Eve that we decided to do it again! Our daughter is in 2nd grade and is learning to tell time, so I decided to use analog clocks this year for the bags. 

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Last year we started the first bag at 4 pm because coming up with 8 ideas for bags is plenty!

4 pm - New Year's Printables

There are so many options out there but this year I picked ones from Oh Rubbish Blog.

5 pm - New Year's Hats

Use the numbers for the year and a strip of paper (or two) to create a headband style hat for the kids to wear.

6 pm - Reflection Questions

I found these cute questions from Artsy Fartsy Mama and decided to print them out and put them in a bag.

7 pm - Game Time!

We have SO many board games in our house including some new ones we got for Christmas, so we let the kids each pick 1-2 games that we could play as a family.

8 pm - Popcorn and Hot Chocolate 

This is always a favorite, so even though it was on last year's list we decided to do it again this year!

9 pm - 2022 in review

We also did this last year, but it is fun to see how their answers have changed in a year

10 pm - New Year's Poppers

I found some cheap ones at Walmart this year, but also found this DIY version using toilet paper rolls from Honey and Lime.

11 pm - Sparkling Juice Toast

This year we picked up a bottle of sparkling juice and some plastic flutes from The Dollar Tree for the kids to do a toast at midnight.

See New Year's Eve 2021 post here.

From my family to yours, we wish you a year of full of happiness!

via GIPHY

Subject to Change

I always love to reflect on the previous year. Some years are great and others not so much. This year brought about a lot of changes.

We made some huge life decisions like moving our family down to North Carolina. It was something we have been talking about doing, but different things came up health-wise that kept us in Maryland an extra year.

I found a job in Wake County after being at my previous school for 9 years. Change can be scary and leaving a place where I had met so many coworkers that became friends was hard. A place where I had made a name for myself. A place where families and students knew who I was and wanted to be in my class. A place where I was comfortable.

We then had the joy of looking for a new house in a housing market that was crazy. People were putting in contracts for way more than asking price, offering ridiculous cash offers, etc. We came down during spring break to look at houses and didn't see anything that sparked our interest. Literally the day after we left NC a house came on the market that we loved. We decided to put in an offer without seeing it (crazy right?!) and somehow our contract got picked! Buying a house can be stressful, but everything worked out.

Next up moving. The moving industry is corrupt and I hope I never have to do it again. Add on to the fact that it was the end of the school year. I had covid, then the rest of my family had covid. The moving company held our stuff for almost 14 days, so my poor husband was in our new house with one bed and an air mattress, a few toys, and grocery delivery through instacart!

While April through June was stressful, we spent the summer traveling. We visited family and friends, saw new states, new baseball stadiums, and had a blast!

September brought the new school year! My amazing daughter started her third school in three years. She handles every change that comes her way like a champ. She is doing amazing. My son started kindergarten and while I was not sure how he would do with school as he spent all summer saying "I not going", he absolutely loves it and asks every morning if it is a school day.

I started at my new school love it. It is a place where I am treated with respect and as a professional. However it is challenging being the new person again. Students don't know me. Staff members don't know me. I want to be the leader that I was in my previous school, but also learning to take a step back and just learn this year.

The theme for this year was change. One of my favorite music artist is Kelsea Ballerini. She came out with an album and song called Subject to Change and it just felt like the theme song for my year. I used to hate change. I was a planner who thought things out from short term to long term. If things didn't go as planned I would struggle. Having cancer changed that. I stopped looking into the future so much. I learned to enjoy the day to day life. Whatever happens, happens. So enjoy these lyrics from Kelsea's song. I am certainly taking them into 2023 with me!

If I'm honest
Growing up, it kind of hurts like hell
It's chaotic, ironic
But it's how I learn to find myself, yeah
Thank God, I don't know about tomorrow
Thank God, I take it day by day
Oh, I don't think about the chapters
It's all about turning the page

A Year of Cooking with Kids

My aunt asked me to put together a year of cooking adventures that she could do with her granddaughters as a gift for Christmas. I had so much fun putting this together that I am going to do it with my own kids too and figured why not share it with everyone else as well!

Each month features a different recipe that you can make with your kids. I tried to keep them relatively simple recipes, but you can easily switch out any recipe. There are PLENTY of ideas out there on Pinterest.

Here are the recipes that I chose:

January - Mini English Muffin Snowmen

I originally got the idea from Snappy Gourmet, but I liked the idea of using English muffins instead of dough, so I combined this idea with Well Plated's recipe for English muffin pizzas. Easily swap out the olives with peppers or pepperoni to fit your child's tastes.

February - Air Fryer Heart Pies

I used Pampered Chef's recipe for the air fryer hand pies, then used Well Plated's idea of making them into hearts for Valentine's Day. These are so easy to customize with whatever filling your child likes!

March - Leprechaun Cookies

These delicious looking green cookies come from Never Ending Journey. Also, just add green food coloring to any of your favorite recipes to have some leprechaun fun!

April - Oreo Egg Truffles

I made these a few years ago and oh my goodness they are delicious! These Oreo truffles from Play Party Plan can be made into any shape!

May - Muffins for Mom

Swap out whatever your favorite muffin recipe is for this month! I used a banana muffin recipe from Live Well Bake Often.

June - Donuts for Dad

Again, swap out with your favorite donuts recipe. I used a recipe from A Grande Life that uses a can of biscuits!!

July - Firecracker Hot Dogs

These are so adorable for the 4th of July! The idea came from Handmade in the Heartland.

August - Jello Beach Dessert

This fun beachy themed dessert almost looks too good to eat. The recipe comes from Mommy's Fabulous Finds.

September - Apple Nachos

Who doesn't love a good apple recipe in the fall? This idea came from Momma Fit Lyndsey.

October - Jack o' Lantern Quesadillas

Here is another adorable take on an easy quesadilla recipe. The recipe comes from One Little Project.

November - S'mores Pies

One of my favorite things about fall, s'mores around the campfire! Here is a fun twist on a s'mores recipe from My Heavenly Recipes.

December - Reindeer Snack Mix

This salty and sweet snack mix won't last long in my house! This version comes from Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen.

The designs for each month were made on Canva. Click on the image below to get the Google Slides version of the recipes. The links to the original recipes are included in the speaker notes at the bottom of each slide.

Remember, the most important part of this is to have fun!