Stuff I Like

I feel like this is slowly becoming LOOK AT THIS TECHNOLOGY, LOOK AT IT.  But that's not a bad thing.  Something both teachers and students struggle with is how to be a citizen in an increasingly digital world?  Where can technology help me, and where is it a hindrance?  How much money should I invest in good apps?  These are questions that come up every day.  A big part of my preparation for school is looking at available technology and considering all of those things before I really invest both time and money (hopefully not too much) in said app.  And sometimes, that investment pays off.

Planboard

I found this app through a link on Pinterest (can't remember where, sorry, it's November.) and I thought "Oh great, another crappy planning app that says it will make me more productive.  And it will have a terrible interface and not do anything better than my DIY notebook calendar."  Boy I love eating my words.  IT IS SO MUCH BETTER.  Right now, we're in the process of changing standards from the California Science Standards to Next Generation Science Standards (or NGSS) and a big challenge is how does our current curriculum already align to those standards.  Besides a very easy to use interface, Planboard has a database of standards that is easy to navigate and sort by keywords to much unit objectives.  THIS IS AMAZING.  Also, it connects with other programs, and while it doesn't connect with Google Classroom yet, I live in hope.  It does connect to your drive so you can sort materials out by unit.  But the biggest thing is matching units to standards.  Now, I can justify what I do to the actual standards.  That is a dream come true.

EdPuzzle

I love showing videos in class, but frankly it's hard to know what students got out of them.  EdPuzzle is an in video assessment system that now connects to Google Classroom.  I haven't used it what I consider "right" yet, I just used it mostly as a video sharing system, but we'll get there.  It's, again, a time investment to learn a program, and see where it fits, but this one might be worth it once I figure it out.


Of course there are some of my old favorites like Gradecam and Plickers, and Google Classroom has rolled out some updates, but those are the newbies that I enjoy.  Is there some tech you swear by?  Let me know some suggestions in the comments!

ERRRR-ORRR

Day 21-

Wednesdays are strange for me, because they are so long.  So, looking back as I am want to do, sometimes things don't jump out too much.  I remember that I lead most of my class period, and that 6th was much easier than 5th.  We did a concept review, which students did far better on than last time.  A couple students are getting me worried.  One boy has all the signs of under schooling, and seems to be getting bogged down.  Another girl is still transitioning into the class, and that can be tough too.  I think what it comes down to as what I want to reflect about is they are my class.  I run almost the entire class period for them most of the time.  I truly want all of them to succeed, and I feel like we're making a good rapport.  We went over "percent error," and what they really clung to was the word "error."  I suppose for most of their languages, that word has all the worst things in it.  Not unlike my last name.  But they just love to try saying it.  And I love to hear it

L is for...

Day 20-

So here's how it went down. 

A student was having issues with her vision so, as I was the extra special extra adult, I had the pleasure to take her down to Wellness, or as I knew it when I was young, the nurse's office.  The Wellness Center is a great deal more than what my nurse's office was, with different amazing resources for the students, and it's located in the basement of the school, and can be rather difficult to find.  As I walked this girl down, she became increasingly nervous and I'm convinced she thought I was taking her off to be murdered.  I did what I do best, and asked her about herself and her life.  It seemed to help, and we made it to Wellness in one piece.  I had a couple other errands to run, and I asked this girl if I could leave and do so, and if she was going to be ok.  She looked at me and said, "No.  Stay."  How can I say no to that, so I stayed as long as I could.  When it looked like it was almost her turn, I said I would meet her when she was done with her exam.  She nodded, and I went to take care of my next job, which was discussing with a counselor why a girl had be dropped from the system again.  Survey says:  no idea, but she's back in.  I have a few theories, and only two have to do with gremlins.

  

I arrive back in the classroom and as I walk in, there are shouts and students milling around.  They had been using the meter sticks as weapons, and not as the measuring tools that they were meant to be.  They lost the privilege to use them for the day and were set down to bookwork.  Scared the crap out of me.  But I understand where the teacher was coming from.  This part I've dissected over and over again, so not going to go too far into it.  

I get a call that the girl is done, and I run down to meet her.  She seems more comfortable with nurse, who is one of my new favorite people, and we walked up back to the classroom.  She said the three words I enjoy hearing, but never know how to respond to.  "I love you."  I nearly cried.  That's how today went. 

Bottle Rockets Part 2

Day 8-

So today was a great example in how planning can really benefit a class.  We assigned partners, we assigned volunteer order, we outlined expectations and therefore, we were pleasantly surprised (or not really surprised, just please) with how smoothly bottle rockets went today.  Also, I feel a stronger bond with the first period we had today.  I'm not sure if that's because they're my primary class or just because there are some great kids in the class.  Over all the classes, I'm shocked with how well a lot of the kids get along (knock on wood.)  The best part?  I got to lead part of the experiment!  And I made some fantastic mistakes that I definitely learned from.  I'm trying to get in the headspace of enjoying my mistakes.  I suppose that way I stay a bit saner than otherwise.  The next step with this process is the students will be designing and doing their own experiments, so I think a planning discussion over this is necessary.  

One aspect of Wednesdays I need to really consider is how long my day is and if I am able to keep swimming.  For my own mental health, I think I should but man, it makes the day that much longer and harder.  I'm already down to 6 hours of sleep on good nights, and so that's started to drag me down a little.  Let's see how it goes.  I just want to take care of myself.