Well I decided to take the plunge today and become a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers. I have used so many great resources that I found on that site that I decided to share some things myself.
I am just starting out and have spent a few hours on it today, so I only have a handful of lessons uploaded so far, but I will gradually be adding more.
You can find my store here. I would LOVE to have you follow me as I start building my store.
To go along with that, I have also started a Facebook page for my blog. I'd love to follow some of you on Facebook and vice versa. You can find my page here.
I can't wait to start meeting more people in the teaching blogging world and sharing some great ideas for our classrooms!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Today's Techology Tidbit: Blogging in the Classroom
It's been awhile since I posted how I've been incorporating technology into my classroom. I thought I'd talk today about something I just started using this semester: BLOGGING.
I have a Weebly page that I use for my website, where I post digital copies of handouts, as well as the agenda for the week. I have really enjoyed this platform more so than teacherpage.com because you have more design options to choose from, and it is so easy to input things like YouTube videos or embed documents. I'd highly recommend Weebly if you're looking for a place to host a classroom website.
One feature they also have is a blog component you can add to your site. I have primarily used this with my juniors, but I also do some blogging with College English as well.
Each week by Monday (I usually actually do this on the weekend), I will upload a new blog. Some days, it ties directly into a lesson we did that week. For instance, one week we learned three new tier 2 vocab. words, so their blog activity had them do some writing with those words.
Other weeks, I have them read a current events article and answer some questions I pose. I think students need to learn how to read dense and difficult text more fluently, and I also think it's great to make them critical thinkers about things currently going on in our country/world. So often, the only "news" they get is what's on their Facebook or Twitter feed. Both can be used to garner information about the world, but we can't be sure students are actually using them for that purpose.
My favorite place to find articles is Kelly Gallagher's website. If you are unfamiliar with him, he is an English teacher from CA who is "dedicated to building and sharing his knowledge about literacy" (from his website). The link I posted above takes you to his article of the week. He picks a lot of great, relevant pieces each week for students to read and ends with a few follow-up questions. It's a great resource to use if you don't want to have to scour the Internet for just the right article for your classes.
So, students have until that Friday night at midnight to post their blog response. I do moderate comments, so no comments get posted without my approval first. I have had absolutely zero issues with inappropriate content doing it this way. We occasionally work on them in class, but 80% of the time, this is an outside-of-class assignment, so they are doing some critical reading/thinking outside the classroom as well. The following Monday after I've had the weekend to grade their responses, we talk about it in class. I will sometimes have students read and respond to other students' comments as well to get a discussion/conversation going on the blog.
Since we are going to 1:1 in the very near future and also getting some sort of Learning Management System (like Canvas or Schoology, etc), blogging and online discussion forums will be making their way into more teachers' classes, I'm sure. I've loved experimenting with it this year and will definitely continue blogging as an extension of our classroom activities.
 | |||||||||
| cursivecontent.com |
I have a Weebly page that I use for my website, where I post digital copies of handouts, as well as the agenda for the week. I have really enjoyed this platform more so than teacherpage.com because you have more design options to choose from, and it is so easy to input things like YouTube videos or embed documents. I'd highly recommend Weebly if you're looking for a place to host a classroom website.
One feature they also have is a blog component you can add to your site. I have primarily used this with my juniors, but I also do some blogging with College English as well.
Each week by Monday (I usually actually do this on the weekend), I will upload a new blog. Some days, it ties directly into a lesson we did that week. For instance, one week we learned three new tier 2 vocab. words, so their blog activity had them do some writing with those words.
Other weeks, I have them read a current events article and answer some questions I pose. I think students need to learn how to read dense and difficult text more fluently, and I also think it's great to make them critical thinkers about things currently going on in our country/world. So often, the only "news" they get is what's on their Facebook or Twitter feed. Both can be used to garner information about the world, but we can't be sure students are actually using them for that purpose.
My favorite place to find articles is Kelly Gallagher's website. If you are unfamiliar with him, he is an English teacher from CA who is "dedicated to building and sharing his knowledge about literacy" (from his website). The link I posted above takes you to his article of the week. He picks a lot of great, relevant pieces each week for students to read and ends with a few follow-up questions. It's a great resource to use if you don't want to have to scour the Internet for just the right article for your classes.
So, students have until that Friday night at midnight to post their blog response. I do moderate comments, so no comments get posted without my approval first. I have had absolutely zero issues with inappropriate content doing it this way. We occasionally work on them in class, but 80% of the time, this is an outside-of-class assignment, so they are doing some critical reading/thinking outside the classroom as well. The following Monday after I've had the weekend to grade their responses, we talk about it in class. I will sometimes have students read and respond to other students' comments as well to get a discussion/conversation going on the blog.
Since we are going to 1:1 in the very near future and also getting some sort of Learning Management System (like Canvas or Schoology, etc), blogging and online discussion forums will be making their way into more teachers' classes, I'm sure. I've loved experimenting with it this year and will definitely continue blogging as an extension of our classroom activities.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Creating a Transcendentalist Society
Well, only one snow day last week, and hopefully none this week. We are up to 7 so far, and our last school day (to date) is June 4. We normally are out before Memorial Day, so this is late for us :(
It has been hard getting into a routine with my students, and I hate that my lessons seem disjointed because we have not been in school regularly. I kicked off January with my juniors studying Transcendentalism and we studied works from Thoreau and Emerson. We would get two days here, three days there. So I decided in lieu of a big test, I wanted a culminating project that still allowed students to show they understood the main tenets of that field of thought.
I found the idea of having them create a Transcendental society in my searches online. I wish I could point to the original source, but I found this project on multiple sites, so I don't know who originated it. I will link to one source here.
http://www.madriver.k12.oh.us/webquests/2002-09/kclark.pdf
Again, I found this exact project elsewhere, so who knows who originally started it.
I decided to not have my students do task 7, designing a brochure, since I only wanted this to be a two- to three-day project. I let students work with partners or alone, and they had to design a Power Point or Prezi showcasing their society. All their decisions--name, monetary system, legal system, etc.--had to tie in to Transcendental beliefs, and they had to explain why they chose everything based on Transcendentalism.
We started presenting these Friday, and I am really pleased with the outcome so far. Instead of just memorizing facts about this movement, it required them to understand it well enough to apply it to a society of their own. I would definitely do this project again.
It has been hard getting into a routine with my students, and I hate that my lessons seem disjointed because we have not been in school regularly. I kicked off January with my juniors studying Transcendentalism and we studied works from Thoreau and Emerson. We would get two days here, three days there. So I decided in lieu of a big test, I wanted a culminating project that still allowed students to show they understood the main tenets of that field of thought.
I found the idea of having them create a Transcendental society in my searches online. I wish I could point to the original source, but I found this project on multiple sites, so I don't know who originated it. I will link to one source here.
http://www.madriver.k12.oh.us/webquests/2002-09/kclark.pdf
Again, I found this exact project elsewhere, so who knows who originally started it.
I decided to not have my students do task 7, designing a brochure, since I only wanted this to be a two- to three-day project. I let students work with partners or alone, and they had to design a Power Point or Prezi showcasing their society. All their decisions--name, monetary system, legal system, etc.--had to tie in to Transcendental beliefs, and they had to explain why they chose everything based on Transcendentalism.
We started presenting these Friday, and I am really pleased with the outcome so far. Instead of just memorizing facts about this movement, it required them to understand it well enough to apply it to a society of their own. I would definitely do this project again.
Friday, January 31, 2014
Currently February
Holy cow, another month has come and gone. All told, we had 12 days of school in January. Six snow days to make up....so far.
Linking up with Farley!
1. Listening to...Parenthood. I have watched the whole series and am totally caught up, but I loved the first few seasons so much, that I started re-watching them on Netflix during my snow days. So I'm in the middle of season 2 (again) and loving it.
2. Loving....that we booked our vacation to the Smoky Mountains! I posted about it last week in more detail. I love having something fun to look forward to.
3. Thinking....I brought home a stack of College English essays, and since I'll be snowed in tomorrow, I have lots of grading to do.
4. Wanting...no more snow! PLEASE! Four inches today and another 6-8 overnight. Plus another big system coming in next Tuesday. I would like to get out of school before the middle of June, please.
5. Needing....You might think a preference for warm weather is a want. No, sir. Not this winter. It is a NEED for me. I have lived in IL my entire life and am no stranger to cold and snow, but this winter has been brutal, and it's only Feb 1! This weather is gettin' me down.
6. The two truths are....1 and 3. Growing up, I was really into dance and we performed in a few competitions around the country. My favorite stop was in Vegas! We actually placed third once.
In college, I went to Warped Tour twice with my husband (then-boyfriend) to see our favorite band, Motion City Soundtrack. Definitely got kicked in the head in the mosh pit, and it was a "I can now say I did it" type thing, but I have never returned to a mosh pit and never looked back. Yuck.
The fib...I have not backpacked through Europe. Sadly, I have never even been there :(
Who else is getting snowed in this weekend?
Linking up with Farley!
1. Listening to...Parenthood. I have watched the whole series and am totally caught up, but I loved the first few seasons so much, that I started re-watching them on Netflix during my snow days. So I'm in the middle of season 2 (again) and loving it.
2. Loving....that we booked our vacation to the Smoky Mountains! I posted about it last week in more detail. I love having something fun to look forward to.
3. Thinking....I brought home a stack of College English essays, and since I'll be snowed in tomorrow, I have lots of grading to do.
4. Wanting...no more snow! PLEASE! Four inches today and another 6-8 overnight. Plus another big system coming in next Tuesday. I would like to get out of school before the middle of June, please.
5. Needing....You might think a preference for warm weather is a want. No, sir. Not this winter. It is a NEED for me. I have lived in IL my entire life and am no stranger to cold and snow, but this winter has been brutal, and it's only Feb 1! This weather is gettin' me down.
6. The two truths are....1 and 3. Growing up, I was really into dance and we performed in a few competitions around the country. My favorite stop was in Vegas! We actually placed third once.
In college, I went to Warped Tour twice with my husband (then-boyfriend) to see our favorite band, Motion City Soundtrack. Definitely got kicked in the head in the mosh pit, and it was a "I can now say I did it" type thing, but I have never returned to a mosh pit and never looked back. Yuck.
The fib...I have not backpacked through Europe. Sadly, I have never even been there :(
Who else is getting snowed in this weekend?
Saturday, January 25, 2014
How to make up lost time?
In the month of January, we have been in school a total of 9 days. No, I did not miscount and that isn't a typo. NINE days.
We were supposed to start back January 6, which got pushed back by two snow days. Then we had a four-day weekend last week. Then we had two snow/cold weather days this past week, and will most likely get two more this upcoming week because of wind chills near -35.
I am so tired of seeing this on my commute to work (no, I did not take this pic; it is from a news station I follow on FB).
On top of all of this, we have to do MAP testing, which is a two-day test in English, so if we actually have school this week, two days will be devoted to that.
All of this to say, I am stressed. I have so much to get in, and most likely, my seniors won't have to make up these lost days. They're just gone. Which means I need to consider cutting some things from the curriculum this semester because I don't see how we can get it all done.
I feel so badly for my College English students. We are right in the middle of writing their first essay and every other day we aren't at school. It's so hard to do this with the writing process so disjointed. I keep having to push the due date back, too.
To make matters worse, I was already scheduled to visit a neighboring district this week to observe their technology/1:1 program and am headed to a Common Core assessment workshop on Feb. 5. I feel like I don't even have a job! My husband joked with me on Thursday, our second snow day this week, that I am an unemployed bum lately lol. I feel like it.
Is anyone else experiencing this horrid weather and an extensive amount of snow days? How are you handling it in the classroom? How do you decide what to cut and what to keep?
In happier news, we booked our trip to the Smoky Mtns. this summer, and I am JAZZED. We're staying in a private cabin in the mountains for five days and plan to explore the park and all it has to offer, going on hikes and driving all the back roads. A little time away from the hectic world and a chance to totally unplug will be nice. I can't wait to see this every day:
Everyone stay warm and safe in this treacherous winter weather!
We were supposed to start back January 6, which got pushed back by two snow days. Then we had a four-day weekend last week. Then we had two snow/cold weather days this past week, and will most likely get two more this upcoming week because of wind chills near -35.
I am so tired of seeing this on my commute to work (no, I did not take this pic; it is from a news station I follow on FB).
On top of all of this, we have to do MAP testing, which is a two-day test in English, so if we actually have school this week, two days will be devoted to that.
All of this to say, I am stressed. I have so much to get in, and most likely, my seniors won't have to make up these lost days. They're just gone. Which means I need to consider cutting some things from the curriculum this semester because I don't see how we can get it all done.
I feel so badly for my College English students. We are right in the middle of writing their first essay and every other day we aren't at school. It's so hard to do this with the writing process so disjointed. I keep having to push the due date back, too.
To make matters worse, I was already scheduled to visit a neighboring district this week to observe their technology/1:1 program and am headed to a Common Core assessment workshop on Feb. 5. I feel like I don't even have a job! My husband joked with me on Thursday, our second snow day this week, that I am an unemployed bum lately lol. I feel like it.
Is anyone else experiencing this horrid weather and an extensive amount of snow days? How are you handling it in the classroom? How do you decide what to cut and what to keep?
In happier news, we booked our trip to the Smoky Mtns. this summer, and I am JAZZED. We're staying in a private cabin in the mountains for five days and plan to explore the park and all it has to offer, going on hikes and driving all the back roads. A little time away from the hectic world and a chance to totally unplug will be nice. I can't wait to see this every day:
 |
| Our cabin |
 |
| Beautiful Smoky Mountains |
Monday, January 20, 2014
A Day in my Life
I am linking up with Where the Wild Things Learn for a Day in my Life linky.
Mine is not as exciting or varied as an elementary teacher. As you can see, I teach the same thing a couple times a day.
We have to be there by 8; I usually stroll in around 7:30. I am most productive in the morning, and I love having first hour prep, so I can work from 7:30 to 9:10 with no interruptions (usually) or kids. It is marvelous.
Our periods are 50 min. long, which never seem long enough (I would love to teach block). I have the first lunch, which seems early, but I am starving by the time 11 rolls around. That's what happens when you eat breakfast at 6 AM!
After school, we have to hang around until 3:30. I sometimes stay longer. I use this time to make sure things are in order for the next day/tidy up and grade papers.
It's all in a day's work :)
Saturday, January 11, 2014
A peek at my week {Jan 12-17}
I'm linking up with Mrs. Laffin for a Peek at my Week.
Well I survived the first days back to work. I was so tired last night, I fell asleep on the couch around 10. On break I was staying up until 1 on the regular. 5:30 AM sure comes fast :/
I want to get back into some content-based posts once the semester gets more in full swing, but until then, just a quick peek at what's going on in my personal and school life this week.
Tomorrow we are meeting some friends for lunch at the winery. They have the BEST food and wine. And isn't it pretty? (Admittedly, it does not look this way in January. Womp womp).
But they have the absolute BEST homemade chili in a bread bowl and a raging fire to sit next to while drinking some vino and chatting. I am very excited. I'm also picking up a pair of boots I ordered two weeks ago because they weren't in my size. I hope they fit so I can wear them to school on Monday.
School-wise, we are kicking off our banned book project in English III. They are choosing a book to read this quarter that has been banned or challenged in the past. Then fourth quarter, we are reading Fahrenheit 451 and discussing government censorship, censorship in schools, and all that fun stuff.
To cap it off, they'll have to write an argumentative essay arguing for or against banning the book they read third quarter. They just chose books yesterday and blogged about why they chose them.
Which leads me to something else--I am trying out a Weebly blog for all my classes this semester. Some classes have weekly blogs to post; others may be a little less frequent. But I am posting prompts related to what we're doing in class and having them respond to the prompt and to each other to get some online and out-of-class convos going on between students. So far, so good, but it's only been two days, so we'll see!
In College English, we're seeing if we can define what "good" writing is and covering some of the important basics quickly. I made up a game in Power Point called "Plagiarism or Not?" so we'll play that and then get started learning about how to write summaries of critical articles! Fun stuff!
Well, we are off to see Her tonight--that movie with Joaquin Phoenix where he basically falls in love with a Siri-like person. It looks kind of weird, but I love weird/off-beat/Indie movies, so I'm excited! Have a great rest of your weekend :)
Well I survived the first days back to work. I was so tired last night, I fell asleep on the couch around 10. On break I was staying up until 1 on the regular. 5:30 AM sure comes fast :/
I want to get back into some content-based posts once the semester gets more in full swing, but until then, just a quick peek at what's going on in my personal and school life this week.
Tomorrow we are meeting some friends for lunch at the winery. They have the BEST food and wine. And isn't it pretty? (Admittedly, it does not look this way in January. Womp womp).
But they have the absolute BEST homemade chili in a bread bowl and a raging fire to sit next to while drinking some vino and chatting. I am very excited. I'm also picking up a pair of boots I ordered two weeks ago because they weren't in my size. I hope they fit so I can wear them to school on Monday.
School-wise, we are kicking off our banned book project in English III. They are choosing a book to read this quarter that has been banned or challenged in the past. Then fourth quarter, we are reading Fahrenheit 451 and discussing government censorship, censorship in schools, and all that fun stuff.
To cap it off, they'll have to write an argumentative essay arguing for or against banning the book they read third quarter. They just chose books yesterday and blogged about why they chose them.
Which leads me to something else--I am trying out a Weebly blog for all my classes this semester. Some classes have weekly blogs to post; others may be a little less frequent. But I am posting prompts related to what we're doing in class and having them respond to the prompt and to each other to get some online and out-of-class convos going on between students. So far, so good, but it's only been two days, so we'll see!
In College English, we're seeing if we can define what "good" writing is and covering some of the important basics quickly. I made up a game in Power Point called "Plagiarism or Not?" so we'll play that and then get started learning about how to write summaries of critical articles! Fun stuff!
Well, we are off to see Her tonight--that movie with Joaquin Phoenix where he basically falls in love with a Siri-like person. It looks kind of weird, but I love weird/off-beat/Indie movies, so I'm excited! Have a great rest of your weekend :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)