How would you plan a lesson for a standard about teaching second grade reading?
We have adopted enVision for our Math Curriculum and text books this year. We are using Savvy as the adaptive practice for third through fifth grade. I don't know much about the program and as the STEM Coach, I don't have a class to play around with to see what it looks like. Any tips or tricks about using this effectively in the classroom? Teachers aren't happy about using it (our state had paid for Dreambox previously to this year and they are reluctant to change) so I'm looking for advice from others who have used it and seen growth for students.
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Getting ready for testing for elementary age students: what are some of your favorite review games?
We love to play Stinky Feet -- I simply use a large chart paper with a foot on it and post it notes. As teams answer questions, they get to pick off one of the post-it notes and see how many points are given or taken. (Not always the best for very competitive groups if they lose points so you can just do various amounts of positive points!)
This blog though makes it more technology-interactive: https://theuniqueclassroom.wordpress.com
How do your teams plan together? Is there one teacher that takes the lead more than others or do you all collaborate together?
One of the ways that I encourage other teachers to incorporate quick whole-body movements into their daily routine is to weave in easy songs, chants, and movements throughout the day, every day. Turning your lunch menu into a song, weaving in easy aspects from occupational therapists (i.e. 3 crab walks), and simple call and response approaches help students stay engaged and motivated.
How do you keep students engaged when transitioning between activities in the classroom?
How would you plan a lesson about discussing ways people can improve communities for a kindergarten class?
I loved teaching science and one of my favorite sections of science with severe weather. Before moving to South Carolina, I didn't experience much severe weather in Pennsylvania other than a few blizzards growing up. Once I moved here, I realized how valuable this lesson in science truly was. I have attached a planning guide and rubric from when I taught severe storms. I have done this a number of ways, but this refers to a board -- we had Discovery Education so students could create 'boards' to share this information. This also easily done in PPT, Canva, or any other computer tool (if you have great ideas on how to present this, please add below!). You can also have students use paper to create this! Some students have created pamphlets before and they've been just as creative!
Are you able to have live classroom pets? What are some good suggestions for classroom pets?
We are not able to have any pets with fur due to allergies, other than our school therapy dog. Several of our teachers have fish or turtles.
Resilience - The capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
Teaching requires more emotional resilience than most other professions. Lacking resilience is a common thread that creates burnout and leaving the profession. Resilience is not something we are taught in school, but there are things that we can do to strengthen our resilience.
Don’t isolate yourself in your classroom. Get to know other teachers in your building and your students’ parents. Building relationships with your co-workers and parents can strengthen your resilience. Take care of yourself. If you’re worn out and not feeling well, you are more likely to isolate and avoid others.
What is your resilience level?
Foundational reading skills for K-2:
How do you teach reading to a group of students of different reading levels?
To begin the school year, I use a Google spreadsheet to help organize data. I take pre and post test/assessment data from summer school assessments/projects, a student's spring and fall Acadience score (including sub test scores), and their spring, *summer (if applicable) and fall NWEA MAPs ELA score and organize, analyze etc. and arrange students by skill discrepancy, need etc... students less than 9%tile in multiple areas - and data points - are considered Tier 3 in our system and I meet with them asap for intervention. Students in Tier 3 reading intervention are grouped this way - but students in Tier 2 are grouped by classroom times (for ease of scheduling per teacher request) first, and then they are broken up into smaller groups to better align with skill gaps.
One of the things I've heard so frequently in my teaching career: "Kids love you. How do you do it?"
Students want a relationship with someone. They want to know that the people who they spend all day every day with care about who they are. I read a quote recently that said, "There's nothing to lose by giving a student a second chance. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. There's only the possibility of strengthening a relationship, demonstrating the power of empathy, and instilling a glimmer of hopeful recovery." --Teacher, Justin Tarte
This describes perfectly how I build relationships with students. Do I have high expectations? Yes. But do I also demonstrate that you can make mistakes and learn from them. Giving a student a second chance allows them to be exactly who they are, a child.
What are some ways you build relationships with students throughout the year to build them up?
