Gamification of Education

This year I am teaching myself to think outside the box and make games in order to gamify my class. I have my brother to thank for that. He is an educator in TX and I've been here in OK.

Anyways, I taught the kids how to play "I declare war", the card game. This week, where I had left the regular playing cards for "war", I replaced it with basic multiplication fact flashcards from Dollar Tree. Keep in mind my students are 6th graders, though they don't know their facts well.

I was pleased to hear a group of girls who are particularly low in math who decided to play "war" with the flash cards! So when one got 5x11 and one got 4x12, they figured it out and just kept going.

Virginia

Off to a good Crazy start

This year has been crazy so far. For the last 3 weeks I have been happily teaching 5th grade Math, Science, and History. However our numbers in the school were off. We lost a pre-k allocation and gained a 6th grade allocation. To make a long and confusing story short, the boss asked me to teach 6th grade Math & Science. I've never taught 6th grade Math but I'm good at Math and I have resources so I agreed. LOL. I'm always the flexible one!

Our contract gives us a day without students to prep but the boss had no money for a sub in the budget so I told her I'll just stay late to plan. (I always stay late to plan. 35 minutes isn't long enough during the day.)

So later today I will have my 5th graders carry their books to the new class and I will ask the 6th graders to bring their Math/Science books to me. On Monday, I will begin again. I will start with some new faces and many old ones. Here's to being the flexible one and being capable of teaching at any level of the Elementary! 

Oh well, at least I get to do the Barbie Bungee Jump activity again this year! I love teaching Science! (The only thing I love more than 6th grade Science is 5th grade US History.)

Virginia 

Setting up my room

School starts next week! I've been at the school for over a week messing around and working on design and decor for my classroom. So I have one cute bulletin board up. and a couple of boring ones that I'm working on revising.

This year I pledge to use technology everyday in ANY way that can help my students learn, so why not have an app bulletin board!

The featured apps are Reading, Math, Vocabulary, Games, Science, and U.S. History. I plan on displaying a concept we are learning where the apps are. So for now it shows these 6 apps but once we start our first week of competency learning, I will take down the apps and display a place value chart for a week or a Jamestown map, etc.

I can't tell you how many times I have found myself in a discussion with coworkers where I end up saying, "I have an app for that."

Okay, Back to work on setting up my room!

Virginia

Weakness and Laziness

Updated 12/17/17...

Okay. I admit it. I hate to admit it but I do. I started this whole blogging thing not knowing what I was doing or what purpose it was serving. Then, with the lack of vision, I got complacent lazy. I was lazy in my purpose and in my follow through. Until now.

I went to Lone Star TIA, a Denton ISD conference... and OMG! I can't tell you how many times my mind was blown!

I sat through one session where a teacher had first grade students blogging. Yeah... you heard me right. FIRST GRADERS!

I sat in the session and thought "Ugh! I don't even keep up with my own blog." Then I started thinking of how useful student blogs would be and how lazy I've gotten, and not just about blogging. So this year I vow to blog at least once a week. Well that didn't happen.

On Fridays, my students will be blogging on weebly on a site I'm currently setting up and I will be blogging here.  That didn't happen either but... this did.

So here's to the death of laziness.

Ginny

Zombies are coming!

Ok. So I went to this workshop the other day. And...

 OMG!

I am in love with this curriculum!

It's called Zombie Based Learning. It is a curriculum for learning Geography. The guy (David Hunter) who created it is a certifiable genius! He is fresh from the classroom and created a project based curriculum with lessons all focused on National Geography Standards. He unpacks the standards, breaks them down, and makes the content understandable.

I just finished my first lesson last Thursday and the kids were so excited. They wanted to do that zombie stuff again on Friday. LOL. I teach two sections of fifth and  two of sixth grade. I also cover Science. So I was worried that the curriculum gives the whole first day's lesson over to "back story" about zombies but I became a believer when the kids read the first graphic novel, Dead Reckon, and created their own Zombie preparedness plan for our school.

One group started asking relevant questions such as, "What does it take to kill a zombie?" Not being a big fan of zombies, I had no idea. So we researched on the SmartBoard while other groups were inventing their plans.

Each group had to write ideas in a t-chart. On one side they wrote materials/supplies they might need; on the other side they wrote what they might need to know or learn to stay safe.

The groups weren't quiet but for the first time in a long time, I didn't catch anyone off topic! I can't wait for tomorrow's lesson which will have us mapping the zombie outbreak.

The curriculum is inexpensive and amazing and can be found here.

When inspiration HITS you!

Ok so I've felt so behind. LOL. And that is a huge understatement. For the first time ever, I took ALL of spring break off and it made me feel even more behind. It's Friday before state tests. I teach 5th and 6th grade but I only teach Science and Social Studies. SO... being in Oklahoma, I only have to test 5th grade in my subject matter (other teachers will test reading & math). So that's two fifth grade classes and two tests each. I am testing Monday thru Thursday next week but my bulletin boards weren't down yet. So instead of pulling down my vocabulary wall I was reading through old posts that I had saved in my email (from January if that shows you how far behind I am) and I found this fabulous post by Vicki Davis.

I WAS SO INSPIRED!!!

The part that I needed to hear because it's so true...

Those of you who don't teach won't understand this feeling I described in the opening paragraphs. Usually it is a feeling for Fridays and end of the semester, but it is real and it is normal for teachers to get this way. We are in a high stress high burnout job and must hold onto encouragement and go to bed at 4:30 when we are self-aware enough to realize that we're about to push ourselves too far.

So I just finished pulling down every letter and number that could be seen. I covered my bookshelves with sheets. I was about to head home for a restful weekend before state testing and I thought... I need to blog about this. We, as teachers, are meant to encourage and inspire one another.  So here is my amazing break through idea to share...

Q.T.I.P.

When a kid starts yelling and has a fit, I remind myself Q.T.I.P.

Quit Taking It Personally...

When BillyJoe JimBob (or his momma) is in my face about his grade, take a deep breath. Don't take it personally. Stay calm.

It is easier said than done but to remind myself I tape a Q Tip to my computer and to my classroom phone. Why in those places? At my school we use our computers to write discipline referrals and classroom phones to call parents. So when I sit down to write up a student I can ask myself if I'm taking it personally... and when I pick up the phone to call BillyJoe JimBob's momma, I can be reminded.

Later peoples!

G.



Geography Goodies

Ok so it's most of the way through January and I haven't blogged yet! I feel so far behind. I just read a  blog post which I found on pinterest. It had some great ideas about exploring countries by introducing food from that country. The problem for me was that most of the countries listed were eastern hemisphere. In my 6th grade geography class we study Western hemisphere! So I decided to create a list of my own.

For Canada  I chose SUCRE À LA CRÈME (variation)

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup light whipping cream
2 tbsp. butter

Combine ingredients in a microwave bowl. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes on HIGH. Stir twice while cooking; let stand for 5 minutes. Whip mixture in blender until smooth 3-5 minutes. Pour into buttered Pyrex dish and refrigerate until firm, approximately 1 hour. Cut into small squares.

Canadian Food

USA is all about apple pie! These little apple dumplings look super easy. I can't wait to try them with my class.

I actually went to Mexico with my church youth group when I was 17. I was so young and simple minded. At our first dinner in a restaurant, I wanted something familiar so I ordered tacos. LOL. Mexican tacos and tex-mex tacos are not the same! My favorite Mexican food is probably Mexican wedding cookies.

Guatemala & Cuba have a distinctive latin flair. Click on the country to find the recipes.

I still need recipes for Jamaica, the Bahamas, Panama, & Puerto Rico.

I also need to find more for South American countries. Have any ideas? Just leave a comment!