I can't believe that we are halfway through the first marking period. We had midterms earlier this week and it was eye opening to both some students and parents. Middle school is a little different than elementary school and the expectations have moved the bar up just a bit. Overall, I think the transition for most kids went very well.
Classes are going well. The resource rooms are going slower than I would like but we will speed up at some point. I have found that one day worth of lesson plans in those classes last me two or more days. But, the kids are showing growth. Even though we are 1 to 1 with an iPad for each student, I put into place a interactive math book. In the book, we have the typical table of contents, but I have also included their "I Can" statements complete with a place to show they that they can solve the problems. In addition, I have started to add a QR Code that links to a You Tube Video on how to do the skill. Sometimes we all need a little help remember what we did in class.
I am still loving my iPad classes. I can count more days when everything is working and going well. Although this week was another story. Everything went wrong. The projector bulb is quickly dying, my Activboard wouldn't work, the laptop was stuck at the loading Windows screen and then went black, and then the Internet wasn't working. Days like that make me want to cry and I feel like a failure to my students. I have to remember to take a step back and realize there are so many amazing things that the kids are creating. We just finished creating Snap Guides which are how to guides. I saw everything from how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to how to put a saddle a horse. My 7th graders were more willing to take risks with this. They loved eating all the things that people created in class. The 6th graders kept it a little safer. It was amazing to see a student type on a braille typewriter and the confidence that they showed. Typically we don't always see the confidence in kids, but this project brought it out.
There are always a ton of ideas swirling around in my head in relation to the iPad and student creations. Some of them work, others are HUGE failures. Still a learning experience for all of us,
Friday, September 26, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Summer vacation!
Schools out for the summer!
June flew by so quickly. Once school gets out I usually take a few weeks to relax and decompress before I start working on things. I love to plan and work on things during the summer. It allows me to work at a relaxed paced, be creative and think things through. It helps that I am usually on there back deck in the sun while planning.
June also brings to me a great deal of anxiety. Towards the end of the month I can see my students test scores. Being a special education teacher I constantly worry about my students doing their best on the test but the fact remains that there are things beyond my control. One student and his parent decided that he no longer needed to be on meds about a month before the test. This child had been on meds most of his life so going off of them was a big deal, he couldn't handle it. After chatting with mom she had him take his meds for testing. Another student should have been on meds but isn't. My heart breaks for her as she realizes that there are things she can't control. Keeping her calm and giving her space to walk around during testing is huge. Our amazing PTO brings bagels in on testing days, this young lady does not like bagels, so I made blueberry muffins. She worked so hard and it showed. I dislike the fact that part of my evaluations are based on student test scores. We have test anxiety and at times don't do well on things we know we have to perform at. I am beyond excited with my student test results this year. Out of my 7 resource room students, all 7 scored 400 or above on the reading OAA. A score of 400 means they are reading on grade level. Amazing for a group of students, some who have never passed the reading test in their lives. Math has always been a struggle. I don't enjoy teaching it but I try my best. Students gained anywhere from 4 to 31 points, but yet we just missed the mark on the math OAA.
I think there were a few different factors went into our success this year.
1. Student engagement: I was super excited about using the iPads and made sure the excitement was contagious.
2. Annotating text: We started to annotate everything we read. I saw students doing this on their OAA test passages.
3. Looping: I have been with the kiddos since they were in 6th grade. I know them personally and they know me. They aren't afraid to come up to me in the grocery store. At times I think their parents wished I knew a little less.
My goals for the upcoming school year is to continue to have my kiddos annotate their text,I have the relationships built but not the looping, and I am still super excited about the technology we have been given. I'm still working on things for my math class, not sure where I want to go but I know I want to increase their math scores.
June flew by so quickly. Once school gets out I usually take a few weeks to relax and decompress before I start working on things. I love to plan and work on things during the summer. It allows me to work at a relaxed paced, be creative and think things through. It helps that I am usually on there back deck in the sun while planning.
June also brings to me a great deal of anxiety. Towards the end of the month I can see my students test scores. Being a special education teacher I constantly worry about my students doing their best on the test but the fact remains that there are things beyond my control. One student and his parent decided that he no longer needed to be on meds about a month before the test. This child had been on meds most of his life so going off of them was a big deal, he couldn't handle it. After chatting with mom she had him take his meds for testing. Another student should have been on meds but isn't. My heart breaks for her as she realizes that there are things she can't control. Keeping her calm and giving her space to walk around during testing is huge. Our amazing PTO brings bagels in on testing days, this young lady does not like bagels, so I made blueberry muffins. She worked so hard and it showed. I dislike the fact that part of my evaluations are based on student test scores. We have test anxiety and at times don't do well on things we know we have to perform at. I am beyond excited with my student test results this year. Out of my 7 resource room students, all 7 scored 400 or above on the reading OAA. A score of 400 means they are reading on grade level. Amazing for a group of students, some who have never passed the reading test in their lives. Math has always been a struggle. I don't enjoy teaching it but I try my best. Students gained anywhere from 4 to 31 points, but yet we just missed the mark on the math OAA.
I think there were a few different factors went into our success this year.
1. Student engagement: I was super excited about using the iPads and made sure the excitement was contagious.
2. Annotating text: We started to annotate everything we read. I saw students doing this on their OAA test passages.
3. Looping: I have been with the kiddos since they were in 6th grade. I know them personally and they know me. They aren't afraid to come up to me in the grocery store. At times I think their parents wished I knew a little less.
My goals for the upcoming school year is to continue to have my kiddos annotate their text,I have the relationships built but not the looping, and I am still super excited about the technology we have been given. I'm still working on things for my math class, not sure where I want to go but I know I want to increase their math scores.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)