CRAZY day in 7th grade :-) We started out in the cafeteria with a Survivor challenge between homerooms. What fun... the kids rotated through 7 stations with a variety of challenges. They were absolutely awesome. Behavior was extraordinary. Today is the high school football game - first in playoffs, complete with pep assembly. Also, elementary Halloween parade. Since all schools are in same building... we were wired today. I let my math classes make banners for the football game. I knew very little would be accomplished anyway :-( and we have not had a free day all year - so this was a "structured" free day. They could play online math games I chose or make banners. It was about a 50/50 split in each class. The banners are beautiful, hanging in gym for pep assembly, each carefully labeled FROM 7th GRADE :-)

Things have been going well - we just stepped out of our Data Unit to review decimals. The basic skills these kids are missing is just amazing and terrifying. They are great problem solvers, but they cannot add, subtract, order decimals, don't know place value.... so we spent the past week hitting the high points, and for the most part, I'd say it was beneficial. The predicatable ones still cannot round decimals.... or even find the millions place... I really struggle with what to so with some of them... partof itis low skill level for some of them... others attendance.... others simply do not to work... they don't participate in class, even when we are doing something online, interactive - they do not want to make any attempt to DO IT. It is frustrating and saddening... No child left behind... right.....

The interactive mean, mode, median lab online we started yesterday was fun. The kids could really SEE what changing 1 piece of data did to the mean, median, mode... Even I came away with a stronger understanding of the relationship between these 3 measures:-) Monday will they be able to do it on their own???

AHHHH..it is time for my 6th graders so I must go...

We started Come Fly With Me last week. WOW!! I overestimated their ability to simply measure with a 150 cm measuring tape. One minute I am amazed at my students' abilities to comprehend impressive tasks, and then suddenly, I am shocked into the reality of 7th gradedness again. Each group of 4-6 students had at least 3 measuring tapes. I demonstrated briefly in the classroom how to work together to measure accurately and efficiently but still some groups really struggled. It seems such an easy task in my mind, still... But we had fun!! Their airplanes were amazing. I wish we could have also measured the altitude some of them attained!! Absolutely amazing flights.... tomorrow, the "paperwork" part as they find their individual means, groups means, and ultimately class means. Then the reflection component. I am glad this was built into Brenda's plan since that is one thing I am really trying to focus on - the writing in math part. This was the lowest part for my kids on the MEAP last year so I want ot bring those scores up with this group when they are tested next year.

My pesky little 6th grade tech kids - yikes... they are still driving me nuts but they are kind of growing on me I must admit. I let them play online games Friday and they had a blast. I took digital pics and made a quick slide show so they could watch themselves. THey were thrilled. The one little girl who drives me absolutley crazy - when I dismissed them, she came back into the room because she forgot to give me a hug...talk about a rush of guilt...

My math grades for the first marking period are done - I always analyze the overal grade distribution. This time 52% of my kids earned A's - what does this mean? I hate grades - I wish we could just teach for the sake of teaching, and kids could jsut learn for the sake of learning. Do I grade too easy? DoI demand mastery so that most students achieve and therefore get A's? I had 3 E's and in all honesty, that bothers me WAY more than half the kids getting A's. Why can't I reach those 3? Will their efforts increase over the course of the year? I have talked to the parents of 2 of them, with little success or satisfaction. The other boy lives with grandma but I can never get anyone to answer their phone - I have sent home letters indicating I need to speak with them, but noone calls back... :-(

Our cereal box project is wrapping up - I have been so impressed with how fast most students picked up on using spreadsheets. They are no where near proficient yet, of course, but they ae becoming independent problem solvers and using Excel to create most awesome work. TOmorrow I will discuss at greater detail their final product, a newspaper article. We will see how they can analyze and make conclusions.

Then onto COME FLY WITH ME :-)

This week marks the end of the first marking period. I feel like we have accomplished so much, but have not made a dent in what we need to do this year. With the laptops here, I have adjusted lessons so we are using those every day in math class. I cannot say we are doing anything even closely related the NTeQ lessons yet, but just trying to get kids comfortable enough with the technology that they will be able to do some things on their own. For most, this project were are working on now was the first experience they have had with Excel. I have been so amazed at how quickly they pick up on creating formulas.

This cereal box project, while very skill oriented, is so disjointed I am not sure I will be able to bring it all together to a successful ending. While trying to cover enough different formulas for them to experience, I think I have brought in tooooo much info and overwhelmed them with things to accomplish. But they are doing great - I think maybe I worry too much sometimes.

Next we are doing Brenda Dyck's Come Fly With Me tellecollaborative project. The kids will love that, and so will I. After that?? I am not decided yet. Maybe surveys? I know they will really balk when I make them make circle graphs by hand.

I can't believe it!! 3 weeks of school are done already. We've accomplished great things already, but so much more to do:-)

The laptops are here - finally ready to go. When I got here this morning, MY Cart with my 30 beautiful babies was waiting for me. They worked wonderfully so far - I am not sure how we will keep them powered all day every day - it is almost impossible to get the cords in and out. Even my Discourse works:-)

The kids are still awesome - we are writing algebriac equations - they are catching on so quickly this year.Even the difficult patterns, it seems they just "get them" right away.

They are also excited about the computers - we will step back and get them out Wednesday and learn about some basics like getting them out and back in cart, Give Me 5, guilty if you click out, those things. As far as using them in class, really using them, maybe I will get into it next week when we start our cereal box project. I want to get through some of the CMP Variables and Patterns box before we move on too far from it.

FTl - WOW! The training in Shepherd last week was just simply wonderful. So much fun... we were a powerful group even if I am bragging about us. I re-met lots of folks from June, and met many new people - still by and large an amazingly positive group of folks. What a great way to network and share new ideas...

WOW! If today is a true indicator of things to come, this group will do well with graphs. We went over vocabulary words, and they really seem to be picking up on the big ideas, even dependent and independent variables, which are always so tough for 7th graders to keep straight. Tomorrow we head outside to collect data in our jumping jacks experiment, so they are all excited.

The first week of school went by so quickly I am still waiting to catch my breath. Things went well, all in all. This group of students seems like a pretty capable and willing group overall. We did basically procedures and rules, a few getting to know you kinds of things. Friday students partnered up to complete a short "The Three Little Pigs Come to Math Class" activity that allowed me to informally assess their basic math skills. I was impressed by the problem solving abilities of many of these kids. Listening to them talk it out with a partner how to solve problems always is fun for me.

My 6th grade tech class - yikes... If I can just get them where we can consistently log in and open a document or the internet by the end of next week, I will be impressed. One has to wonder what exactly do they do in elementary computer classes???

Next week, in math we are starting graphs, patterns, algebra. I am excited to see how well this group can do :-)

I survived the 3 days of FTL training at the ISD :-) Day one was OK, lots of technical difficulties but overall it went fairly well, although I was shocked at the lack of technology skills among the lead teachers there. Day two went well enough except there were too many participants for Tammy and I alone to facilitate. It was pretty much a zoo! Day three went so smoothly it was amazing. I felt like it was a huge success. I suppose practice does make perfect but I was amazed at how that group just seemed so much more receptive in general than the Wednesday group.

Now onto the next phase, training downstate... eeeeekkkkk.... we meet (the 6 of us reps to finalize the planningon Sep 3, then on the 15th, we do the REAL thing. I know things will go well - the "6" are all wonderful, invigorated SuperCoaches who seem enthusiastic and willing to do above and beyond to make this program successful so I feel confident we will be awesome...right???

I feel like the world is spinning tooooo quickly and I am about to fly off into outer space!! School is quickly approaching - 1 more full week to go - my room is almost all set but then yesterday when I was there I realized my requisition was in, which is a good thing, but now to put it all away in my clean, oh so clean cupboards!

FTL training at the ISD started yesterday - easy day for me - I was just a "facilitator" with Tammy & Robin up on board for most of everything - lots of tech problems but there were only 6 there for the training and it went OK for the most part. I do feel overwhelmed at how little some of the lead teachers know about computers/technology in general. They are to be the experts in their district, but some of them have such limited skills. Today I was up for my middle school lesson, which went well, I felt. We will see again tomorrow since it looks as if Scott will be gone, so I will fill his slot by replicating my lesson for the high school teachers. I plan to spend a bit more time thinking/talking through the NTeQ model. I really don't think we are giving teachers nearly enough info to be successful in integrating technology. We are trying to cram so much into the time we have we are not really covering anything adequately. And the irony of that comment, WE FINISHED EARLY TODAY!! We ran short yesterday so we pushed and rushed today only to find ourselves done early :-)

I feel a bit initimidated that I am not more knowledgeable about the programs, especially Discourse, but we've not had much opportunity to play with it ourselves, and it is one of those things, much like PowerSchool/PowerGrade, where until you actually do it yourself, you will not be able to understand all the little ins/outs of the program.

Big shock in our district - Kristi resigned.... she is probably the BEST teacher at TAS....was, the best.... how will they ever replace her?? and more selfishly, who will replace her as lead teacher??

Good luck to me tomorrow.. and Pat if you read this... it was great to have you here today. Thanks for driving all the way here from Bessemer... I hope we can work it out so you can train closer to home in the future!

My presentation for next week's FTL training is finally finished, I think!! Yes, I changed it AGAIN! I reverted to an M& M lesson, much like the one we did in Lansing, but we will be making circle graphs instead of bar graphs, since that is the 7th grade expectation. My powerpoint is not anything dramatic, but it will have to do.

I've been trying to get in touch with the lead teachers from the Eastern UP to get them registered. GRRRR.... it is so hard to get in touch with people in the summertime! Still, I think we will have a good turn out, and it will be worthwhile for those teachers. I really feel the biggest responsibilty we as Super Coaches have is to get folks fired up about this program.

Another FTL meeting yesterday - drove all the way to Lansing for 2 hours, but those 2 hours were powerpacked. We fine tuned the presentations we will giving for lead teachers.

I am just so pumped up about this whole program, still...

I've been working on a lesson to present at our ISD training coming up in a couple of weeks and I've created 3 total lessons but I think I've finally decided to stick with the original plan we are using at the lead teacher training, the M&M lesson. I think it will work well mainly because most people are already somewhat familiar with using this lesson so they will see the relevance, and ease of integrating technology into existing lessons. It's not so much that I am unsure of presenting, as I want to make sure what I do makes a lasting impression on those teachers, and gets them fired up about the potential of the FTL program, so they in turn can get the others in their buildings fired up.

One concern... a teacher from another district said his union is boycotting the entire FTL program - they don't have a contract for the upcoming school year, and are not going to take on any new anything... that scares me - we are also without contract and historically are reluctant to take on new things... especially without additional compensation. I guess if that is what happens, I will have to say, bring it on... I'll take all those new computers... and enjoy them!!
Let's just hope it does not get to that point..

To ISD tomorrow to work on presentation...

Freedom to Learn... Freedom to Learn... my mind is spinning again. After being at the ISD Tuesday, working on Discourse & ClassServer I feel panicky!! I am neither confident nor competent here, and I am going to TRAIN other teachers?? YIKES!!

The possibilites continue to amaze me - I sat here yesterday working on a lesson plan for a 7th grade social studies standard on advertising. I need a lesson to share at the upcoming training. But... now I have another idea - I want to focus on mean, mode, median, something we hit fairly heavily in 7th grade math, even though it is now not one of our standards according to the new grade level expectations... but I think I will use this topic instead - so back to the drawing board!! I want the students to use Excel to find their means, use a PowerPoint to show their understanding,  and I want to use Discourse during the lesson, and maybe a review lesson from ConnectedTech.. ambitious?? Maybe but I am pumped again...

What a great opportunity for professional development and networking this is going to be... I feel rejuvenated seeing folks from across the state who feel a commitment to quality education. I just need to make sure I can convey this enthusiam to my colleagues and get our district on board and make this integration of technology a reality. I know I am opening myself up for a huge time commitment but somehow that does not scare me. I want to do this - I feel it is worthwhile and necessary...

 

I survived the Freedom to Learn week... It was actually quite an interesting experience, for a variety of reasons. The whole laptop thing is exciting, no doubt. I am curious to see how our school actually utilizes them - will each student actually have access to a computer all day during school? at home? will we share a set per grade as was discussed before? The possibilities seem so endless if I could actually know my kids would always have their computers available in math class.

The NTeQ model training is certainly a useful tool for integrating technology into the curriculum, but I am not certain we will be able to "sell" most teachers on the time-intensive-ness of this approach. I hope I keep my own enthusiam long enough to get lots of lessons in place for next year - ready made - to use in class. I know it is like anything else - the more you do it, the easier it becomes so maybe once I get through a couple of lessons independently, I will find my own way to get things set up without so much paperwork.

Meeting other teachers is always great too. Knowing that those attending this week-long summer training must also be committed to excellent educational practices is exciting. SO often at conferences, it seems most people are there to get out of school, and are not really interested in learning anything new. Not at SuperCoach training... what an enthusiastic crew... at least overall... of course our Eastern Upper Peninsula crew was, oh, hmmm... enthusiastic does not even begin to describe it - what a great group of people to work with - I am excited at the possibilities looming ahead.

Maria... the Spanish teacher who is being sent back to Canada - how can that be?? You can tell she is such an incredible teacher, the way she talks about her students, and her classes - she really truly cares about them.
Robin.... well, we go way back and we are trying to work out a plan to teach her 6th grade social studies class with my 6th grade tech class so we can have students working on projects for both classes. What an ultimate integration of curriculum!
Michelle...always so professional, so gee... I don't know, mature, and all knowing, and knowledgeable about so many things - she is perfect to be in her position! I can't wait to work more with her as a colleague rather than having her be more in the role of trainer as in the past.
Scott... he must be a great science teacher - I can tell... he too just exudes that sense of caring and compassion for all that he does..
Shannon... well, hmm... interesting person, but not sure what to think about him yet - he seems to be dedicated to the success of this program but I hope he will be able to relate to the lead teachers we are training, being himself so far removed from the teaching situation.

so all in all.... a long tough week of training but I think the payoffs will be incredible... purple supercoaches RULE!!

This week I am in Lansing at the Freedom to Learn Super Coach training. So far, we have learned about the new laptops -COOL!! and been introduced to this NTeQ lesson planning - hmm... good ideas but time consuming to actually use.

My biggest concern at this point is the actual use of the laptops we will be getting. The intent of the program is to actually integrate tech into the curriculum. Will teachers actually do this or will our valuable resource continue to be used as primarily word processors and games, entertainment?

just short thoughts - in training session now...

It is official --- the school year is over. Wednesday was the last day - I guess it is one of those "double-sided" swords - because a big part of me is simply relieved to be done. It has been a long frustrating year and there's a good chunk of these students I am glad to see move on to 8th grade.

But as with every year, there are those I will be sad to see go. In particular, Jake who was gone for the last few days for another stupid incident... what he did was wrong, at least from what I heard of it, but that does not mean that I did not miss the little fart while we were doing all that fun end of the year stuff. I still cannot figure him out - he has such great potential to be something POSITIVE... what does he so consistently choose otherwise??? and I'll miss Blake who was so sweet, and tried so hard to please, always, and Kim who went from a grumpy snotty young lady to the funniest, kindest, most enjoyable girl with attitude, and Lauren, who always makes me laugh, and Laury who also went through a dramatic attitude improvement over the course of the year, and Derek, who rises to meet every expectation, and Kassandra, and Marie, and Dave, who got the "PIGGY LOCKER" award, and Morgan, and Katelyn, and Courtney and Caitlin, the twins, and Jessica & Jennifer, the twins, and Warren, and Jeremy,who I can't start class without, and Joe, and Dale,who's come so far, and the other Jessica, and Miranda, and Mariah, and Amber and Jamie, who always makes me laugh, and Toni & Tony, and Brendon, and Char, and tardy Jessie, and Devin, and Tuffy, and John, who works so hard always, and even Travis, and gosh, I guess Dan who drove me nuts all year, and Micheal, and of course, Colleen & Alyson who are both such amazing young ladies, and Cindy, who never fails so smile, and I could go on and on... so I guess in looking back, there are more I will wish I had again, than the other way around....

GOod stuff this year - track meet math project - lots of fun, and they really seemed to do well with the ratios and percents this way - I will have to tuck this in my memory to do again. I love using the computer lab more - it will be great to have a class set of laptops available next year - the kids seem to respond to anything more positively when the computers are involved. It will be interesting to see if this holds true when we are able to use them daily.

This computer training I am going to - to be a Freedom to Learn Super Coach (doesn't that just sound so superhero - ish) will hopefully be just the thing we need to get our entire tech program back on track. I am excited to find out how other schools are using technology and how it can be better integrated across the curriculum. It seems much of our lab time is spent with kids creating a PowerPoint over and over... or typing another story or report - we need to be more innovative with technology and find ways to make its use more meaningful, relevant,and interesting. I think I personally some great gains here this year with the webquests we did, using math.com for actual lessons, and utilizing my links pages at teacherweb.com more. Not letting the kids search on their own may not give them that experience but so often it is a waste of time - giving them links allowed class time to be used so much more efficiently.

Not teaching social studies I will not miss - for the most part that always seemed to take a back burner to math, and I felt I did not do my class justice in what we were covering, at least the passion about the topics part... I know that learned some good stuff, and it was overall positive, but, yikes, when the teacher is not fired up, how can the kids be??? Next year teaching tech for 6th grade will be odd because I will be learning an entire new group of kids I won't have in class, but it should be easy to plan for, teach and evaluate/assess what they have learned.

that is all for now... I will think more about individual lessons another day and get this blog set for next year...

I left here in a hurry yesterday, tired of spending my holiday at school, humbled by those parent notes I'd read, depressed at the amount of rain pouring into my classroom through the leaky roof/window, and OH HEAVENS...when I came in this morning I almost had a heart attack!! The mess was absolutely overwhleming! Don't get me wrong. I WISH I was a "clean desk" person but the clutter always wins over but I was absolutely appalled that I'd left such a huge mess. And, then, when I realized another teacher had been in here to drop some things off..embarassment... What was I thinking??

Wouldn't it be great if our classrooms just miraculously cleaned themselves, all those books and boxes, and miscellaneous stuff just found their way into the cupboards?? In orderly fashion of course, in contrast to the way my usually gets packed away...shoved quickly into the largest available spot with the door closed in wait for the unsuspecting person who accidentally opens it to a avalanche of exploding STUFF...No, not an avalanche, a volcano!! The sheer force alone... It is terrifying...

As I sit here on Memorial Day afternoon, listening to the rain leak through my roof and window, I must admit I am a bit melancholy. I came in to clean my room, since we have but a week and half of school left for the year. I was doing so well until I came across the Million words assignment for parents from this year and last. Reading those words from all those parents about how special their children are to them... wow... I feel so honored to be here, to touch their lives every day. What a humbling moment to think of all the times I've been less than patient, less than caring... As a teacher, we must always realize that every child, not matter how irritating, is someone else's child, and that parent feels about their child the same way I do about my own 2. They are the most important parts of my life, and such is it with all this I teach every day...

Okay... I officially throw in the towel.... my last math class, 5th hour, tried to do the activity with presorted blocks in bags. Imagine my confusion when they predicted Bag #1, which should have had 4 blue, 4 red blocks, was predicted to have yellows, and greens!! Undoubtedly, some little charmer 2nd hour decided to shuffle blocks from bag to bag. I am so angry, so mad, so hurt, so...so... so... disappointed... the time it took to sort all that stuff for that activity, to find the crayons, markers, colored pencils in the mess they left from the last project.I took time to get stuff ready for them to have a fun something to do rather than worksheets and this is the appreciation I get. I feel like giving worksheets for the rest of the year, all day every day....but then I am punishing the all for the sins of the one/few... the dilemma...

We started probability today - the weather is being uncooperative for outside stuff. 1st hour went so well with combinations and permutations - drawing ice cream cones, drawing blocks from bags... they had fun, and so did I. THEN..2nd hour..grrrrr...I swear on my grandmother's grave, there are a couple in there who just want to be difficult no matter what we do. They won't listen to instructions, follow instructions, raise their hands to speak... no matter what. By the end of the hour I was close to screaming or crying...

and then social studies where I again have the "guiltiest" of the 2nd hour crew again.. when he could not even make it through me takign attendance and passing out the map activites without disrupting twice, I gave up and sent him to detention for the class period and through AR where I have him again. It was as if a HUGE weight had been lifted. The others got right to work, settled in, and even when some finished early, they amused themselves appropriately. Can I just send him away for the rest of the year????? I am out of patience, out of desire to be patient...especially with him, and a few others.

I am calmer now, and still, I cannot fathom a way I could have created another ending to the situation. I jsut have to remember - tomorrow: clean slate, clean slate, clean slate... can I do it???

Yipee... the track meet projects are all turned in and graded!! And, I must say overall they were done well. The majority of mistakes were not mathematical in nature, but rather they did not follow directions correctly (well, duh!!). OF course, some just did not bother. Even with 4 days in class, Paul had only one section on his poster. grrr.... and then he said it was because he didn't have enough time. grrr...some of the illustrations were awesome. One tape measure actually works, antoher group has 3-D figures. Yes I know - that is not the MATH part, but it is so invigorating to see them actually take the time to make the extra effort to turn in a project that looks professionally done.

The scuttlebutt about next year's schedule continues to wreak havoc. So far it looks as if I will still be 7th grade math but who knows what electives... going to a 7 hour day I know there will be something else piled on. And who knows what will change in the meantime...It is the not knowing that riles everyone so much..

Today... Bird's Eye View in math - so fun to watch them erase, and think, and argue, and erase, and think and argue..We will go outside if there is ever another day without rain, to measure the perimeter of the school property.I am worried about taking this crew out - they are just so impulsive, so untrustworthy, so reluctant to accept responsibility when they do make bad choices...and then we will finish the year with some probability stuff - real basic - colored blocks in bags, dice...maybe some card games, SKUNK - so at least they are exposed to some of the BIG ideas.