The Social Studies Program has been postponed to Tuesday, March 3rd at 9am in the Activity Center. Students are reminded to wear black and white for the program.
Spring Pictures have also been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 10th.
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The video from our special lunch today. It was great to see everyone that was able to attend. For those that missed it, please remember you have the opportunity to enjoy lunch with your child on one alternate day of your choice. (per WES handbook). We go to lunch at 10:45am. If you plan to attend, I must receive written notice 1 day in advance. Good afternoon. I hope everyone is enjoying the snow day. I had a parent request a key for the science study documents. I created an answer document and thought it may be beneficial to share with all. We will complete these together in class this week before the test - even if we have to postpone the test until next week. Please let me know if you have further questions. Thanks so much!
Good morning! Third grade newsletter and DREAM Sheet are attached for this week. Students have Dojo reports and graded test papers in their red homework folders. We will be reviewing this week in science to prepare for our test on rocks, minerals, soils, and fossils on Friday. Today we made flashcards of the vocabulary words. The pdf documents are attached if you need a new set. You can also access them online and play virtual games with them online: http://quizlet.com/_1728av. I have also attached all study sheets for this unit. We will complete them throughout the week. In math, we are starting a unit on graphing and measurement. This week we will focus on taking surveys, and representing data with picture graphs and bar graphs. On Friday, we have an activity planned that will run much like a science experiment, but it will have students practice their measurement and graphing skills bouncing pencils from different heights. We are working on Math 4 Today #24 with a test on Friday. Students also started our final window of MAP testing today in the math lab. Please encourage your child to take their time and do their best as they continue to work on Thursday and in the following weeks. Their previous scores and goals can be found on the blue card in the back of their agenda. Also remember, if you are in my homeroom, that we have our special lunch on Wednesday at 10:45. You should arrive a little early to pay the cashier. Please be sure to bring cash. I need to know tomorrow at the latest if you plan to attend and how many guests. You can RSVP onlinehttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vXGOlo6wc8f1_S_F9vXt5yQN2nhCXtOjdT23-lobm6c/viewform?usp=send_form or return the form in your student’s homework folder. Friday is our school Social Studies / Black History Program. Third grade has a special treat in store – you will not want to miss this! Sneak peak… All third grade students will be performing. It is Friday at 9am in the activity center. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns!
Good morning! We will not send home Dojo reports or graded papers until next Monday. Students have a copy of the newsletter in their homework folders. No homework this week since it’s a short week. In preparation for our science test on rocks, minerals, soils, and fossils, we will begin reviewing through each today and tomorrow. Next week, we will work on several different study guides and test on Friday. I am attaching the study materials in the event you wish to begin preparing in advance. I have also attached a clip of them singing our “Rock Song”, which is great for helping remember about the rock types. Review video links: Rocks & Minerals: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/land/rocksandminerals/preview.weml Soil: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/land/soil/preview.weml Fossils: http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/land/fossils/preview.weml In math, we will go back and review our multiplication by taking Kiwanis tests, playing “Around the World”, and singing our songs. Next week, we will begin a unit on representing data using graphs. We will not complete Math 4 Today this week, nor have an assessment tomorrow. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. I hope everyone is staying warm!
For my final assignment of EDUC 6710: Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society, I am to write a reflection blog post. In all reality, this is been my favorite course thus far in my master’s coursework. I have learned about many new tools, engaged in valuable discussions, and completed many 21st century activities of which I had no previous experience.
In what ways has this course helped you to develop your own technology skills as a professional teacher? For the most part, I would consider myself to be extremely advanced regarding technology. I am a digital native to reference Marc Prensky’s Digital Native, Digital Immigrant Theory. I grew up with technology as it was introduced, and I am one who has become extremely dependent on technology. I have taken many classes and courses where I am bored, flying through activities that I knew how to complete already. I have even submitted work to have the professor tell me I should be teaching the course, rather than taking it. With that being said, I am always hesitant when I begin courses involving technology. Throughout this course, I have learned many new skills and resource that have aided in developing my expertise. The activities have been challenging to me and have encouraged me to research these new resources and find ways to implement them within my classroom. In what ways have you deepened your knowledge of the teaching and learning process? Before this course, when I thought of 21st Century Skills, I only thought of technology. Through this course, I have developed a better understanding of the other components of 21st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, flexibility, initiative, and social skills. With this knowledge, I have tried to find ways to implement these skills along with technology into my daily classroom activities. I am constantly trying to find ways to create project based learning scenarios to develop skills that my students will use when they reach the work world. In what ways have you changed your perspective from being teacher-centered to learner-centered? As mentioned above, I have shifted from direct instruction to more project based and collaborative learning in my classroom. In the past I have had them work in collaborative groups many times, however, they were simply completing a task together. I feel this is very different in that students are not able to create their own understanding and explore freely. I recently attempted to transform my classroom to a learner centered environment within my habitat unit. Rather than teaching my kids about habitats, I had them work in groups to research habitats and develop presentations to share with the rest of the class. This has assured that my students are engaged at all times by having them create their learning, make choices, teach others, evaluate their own performance, and work collaboratively to hold each other accountable. In what ways can you continue to expand your knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology with the aim of increasing student achievement? In order to continue expanding my knowledge, I plan to continue visiting the P21 website (http://www.p21.org/our-work/p21-framework) to ensure that I continue implementing ideas that challenge students and foster a learner-centered and collaborative environment. I have enjoyed reading some of the blog posts within the site that share ideas from classrooms and how other teachers are implementing these skills into their classrooms. Set two long-term goals (within two years) for transforming your classroom environment by which you may have to overcome institutional or systemic obstacles in order to achieve them. How do you plan to accomplish these goals? One goal I have for transforming my classroom is obtaining devices to create a 1:1 student technology ratio. I am constantly working to complete grants through Donor’s Choose to obtain funding for this technology. I already have 6 iPads and would like to continue by attaining 18 more for a class set. I also have 2 touchscreen laptops, and I would like to acquire 4 more so that when we do group work, each group could have access to a laptop. Donor’s Choose works off of a point system. You receive points by completing grants and then following up by posting pictures and submitting thank you notes. To accomplish my goal, I will complete follow-up steps as soon as possible after receiving funding to ensure that I receive points and can upload my next project without experiencing any downtime between projects. My second goal is to teach my students about our class blog so that we can transition to it being a student blog rather than a teacher blog. I would like to implement a question of the week for my blog where students can respond by posting. I would also like to have student showcases where they actually write the blog posts, rather than me writing them all. This would require me to set up accounts for each student to comment. I believe to accomplish this goal, I would do better by beginning the year with this practice rather than trying to implement it with only a few months to go. I could see this working by having students create their accounts with their parents as they come in on registration day. This would ensure that their parents are aware of this practice and also involve them in the process. My goal is to put this into action by August 2015. I will definitely have to make sure I have all ipads and laptops readily available at registration so that I can attend to multiple families during busy times of registration. Refer to your checklist from Week 1. Have any of your answers changed after completing this course? I feel that the performance indicators that have been impacted and changed the most are the following: · Design learning experiences that require students to formulate questions for inquiry and engage in real-world problem-solving activities. · Enable students to take responsibility of their own learning by providing tools and resources that allow them to mange their own learning goals, plan learning strategies , and evaluate their progress and outcomes. As I mentioned in the beginning of my reflection, this course has been my favorite thus far! The content and resources have been meaningful and applicable. The course has challenged me and have made me eager to transform my classroom to meet the needs of our 21st Century Learners. I also wanted to share a meaningful infographic I will save and use for setting goals for myself. I originally came across it on Pinterest, but linked to a blog I have found most interesting: “Hooked on Innovation”. The blog goes into much more detail about each component, but the graphic is amazing in and of itself! (http://hookedoninnovation.com/2014/09/03/21-things-every-21st-century-teacher-should-do-this-school-year/) I'm sure you all have heard that we will not have school again tomorrow (Wednesday) due to winter weather. If your children are running out of things to do, I have created a few "Snow Day Assignments" for them in Study Island. (www.studyisland.com) There is an assignment for Math and one for Science. Any students that work in Study Island from home will be rewarded with Dojo Brownie Points! I have also attached the newsletter so that you can see upcoming events, menu, and superstars! Please tell them I miss them and I look forward to seeing them on Thursday!
This is one of my favorite labs - and the kids LOVED it!
Our Special Lunch will be held on February 25, 2015 at 10:45am in our school cafeteria. We would love for each child to have a special visitor to come eat lunch with them. We will have a chicken tender meal and enjoy a video of our class photos on the big screens. Please bring cash ($3.50) on the day of the event and arrive approximately 5 minutes early to pay the cashier. If possible, please RSVP by Monday, February 23rd so that the kitchen can make preparations to serve us! This is a special even you will not want to miss! I look forward to seeing each of you!
RSVP to the link below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vXGOlo6wc8f1_S_F9vXt5yQN2nhCXtOjdT23-lobm6c/viewform?usp=send_form Just wanted to remind everyone that tomorrow we will have our Science Fair Drop In (Wednesday, February 11th) from 8:00am – 1:30pm. Projects will be displayed in the media center, cafeteria, and science labs. Please be sure to check in and out with Mrs. Surrett at the front desk as you visit. I snapped some shots of the boards from our class before sending them down for those that will not be able to attend. I was very impressed with all of these projects and I commend both the students and parents for their participation. I understand the vast amount of time it takes in preparing, organizing, and creating a Science Fair project. These are phenomenal and I know they were a learning experience!
Good morning. Third grade newsletter and homework sheet are attached. Dojo reports are being sent home with graded test papers – please be sure to sign these and return them tomorrow. As few reminders:
In Science this week, we are continuing our study of rocks, minerals, and soils. Students will learn about the three types of rocks: sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. We will also learn about the different soil types: sand, silt, clay, and humus. There are some excellent Brain Pop videos that go along with this unit: https://jr.brainpop.com/science/land/rocksandminerals/ https://jr.brainpop.com/science/land/soil/ We will also simulate a lab to determine rock types and another lab to examine and compare the different soil types. We are also learning a song to help us remember the properties of rocks, the 3 different types, and how they are formed. I have attached the words and a link for your student to practice at home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3YjBP5MYTY Once they get it down pat, I will record them and share! In Math, we have several fun activities planned for students to demonstrate their knowledge about shapes and their attributes. Students will complete two different writing activities using their creativity and knowledge about shapes. They will also complete a review assessment in groups. We are working on Math 4 Today Week 23, with a test on Friday and will continue with Kiwanis testing. I have attached it for your convenience to practice at home. Our school uses Study Island in our computer labs and they are now able to go to the computer labs each morning if they arrive early. I have created several review assignments on fractions for them. If your child would like to review/practice more from home, please feel free to allow them to work. The link ishttp://www.studyisland.com/ and they have their login and password in the front of their agenda. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns!
For this week's assignment, I was to create questionnaire to gauge exposure to technology. I have spliced and compiled the audio files to create one podcast. Although my podcast was a little over the time limit, I felt everything was informative and I didn't want to remove any of the questions/answers. I have uploaded the original audio files on my podcast channel in the event you wish to hear their in their entirety. My channel: http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/18056 I hope you enjoy listening! Good morning! I have attached the DREAM Sheet and third grade newsletter for this week. Dojo points will be sent home today with graded test papers. Please sign them and return them tomorrow. In Science, we finished up our unit on habitats and food chains. Their research projects and illustrations turned out great! Some of them have some final touches to add in their “spare time”, but they are mostly complete. During the beginning of this week, we will review the scientific method and complete a mini board in class to help them if they choose to complete a science fair project. I have also included a display board example. Science Fair projects must be brought to Woodruff Elementary Tuesday, February 10, 2015. We will then display projects in their categories within WES. They will be judged Tuesday afternoon. In lieu of Math and Science night you will have the opportunity to view projects Wednesday, February 11, 2015 from 8am to 1:30pm within the school building. At the end of the week, we will begin our unit on Rocks and Minerals. We have several exciting activities planned as we learn all about these materials of the Earth. Last week in Math, we finished up our fraction unit. I was so pleased with the way our pizza fractions turned out! The kids had so much fun creating them and then comparing their remaining pizza with a friend. This week, we will begin our unit on Geometry. We will begin by discussing polygons and classifying them by their attributes. One of their favorite “Just Dance” videos to do during inside recess is “What does the Fox say”: http://youtu.be/y2ETWu21Kx4.
Today we talked about the family tree of polygons and how they are each related. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. I am looking forward to another exciting week of learning with your students!
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My dream is to create a 21st Century classroom that encourages collaboration, integrates technology, and promotes thinking deeply.
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