Educreations in Math!

I'm back and  meeting my goal of blogging at least once a week. Our district has fully implemented the Common Core standards in math. We are in the process of working on ELA. As a part of the district math development team, I have worked very hard to truly understand what the standards are asking of our students. Trust me, I think I will forever be trying to understand all of them.

I've started to focus my weekly newsletters to my staff on Math, specifically the 8 mathematical practices. This week I am focusing on mathematical practice #1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.  "When presented with a problem, I can make a plan, carry out my plan, and evaluate its sucess."

Because my school is a 1:1 device school. I really started thinking about how I could turn my normal "math journal" notebook digital! It just so happens that I was also thinking of a way to use Educreations in the classroom in the area of math. (FYI: Educreatiosn is a free app and web based tool).  I've been dying to get back to my old stomping grounds.....1st grade.

So I am working with a 1st grade teacher in my building to accomplish my "thought". We are presenting at our annual district technology conference in April and wanted to be able to share some student samples using Educreations.

What I did today was pull out a 1st graders and explain how to use Educreations. I then gave him a math problem verbally to solve using Educreations to see how he would do. He did great. Our students often have a hard time explaining why they solved a problem the way they did. So I did have to prompt him at times. I didn't pose a problem that was too difficult but often not asked of 1st graders. My goal was to get him used to Educreations and talking loud enough for the IPAD to catch his voice.

We are thinking of using it in small groups or during math centers. We are struggling with room noise being picked up in the student recordings.

Let me know if you have any suggestions! This is always an issue when numerous kids are trying to record anything in the classroom.

Check out our final product here:
 http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/math-problem-with-a-1st-grader/5921893/?s=0n9eQx&ref=app

All that and a bag of chips!

Today was one of those  days where I had so much on my to do list. As soon as I finished one thing, something else was added to the list. It probably makes things worse that we are testing so I feel like I'm tip-toing around. I've been able to get a lot of paperwork and tasks done that I've neglected the last couple of weeks. Our kiddos have worked so hard on their ISATS. As a PBIS school, we thought it would be awesome to celebrate the completion of their first week of testing with an "Out of the Blue" celebration. So why not celebrate with food! Have you heard of the  LAYS chips flavor contest going on? The three flavors are: cheesy garlic bread, Srircha, and Chicken and Waffles.  Our students who earned the reward were able to try all the chips. We then had them vote on Edmodo for their favorite chip. As a technology magnet school, we thought that we would follow the contest, compare it to our results, and try to Skype with the winner when he/she is announced in May. Of course with kids, the hot chip is in the lead!

Have a great weekend!

Pinterest + Teaching = Awesome!

Here's a great resource on using Pinterest as a teacher. It gives the run down on what Pinterest is, how to use it, and how it can be beneficial to teachers. Just a warning, it can quickly become an addiction.

"My name is Rida and I'm addicted to Pinterest!"

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/06/educators-guide-to-use-of-pinterest-in.html

Wanted: More Informational Text!

With the sweep of Common Core State Standards, there has been plenty of talk about an increase in the amount of informational text that teachers should be exposing students to. One of the major misunderstanding that I see is the assumption that informational text just means more non-fiction. According to Scholastic, a big difference between the two.  What do you think?

As teachers are searching for more resources and not just books, I have started the hunt. 
Of course, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that some of my fellow colleagues have shared some of these resources. Thank you!

Here are a few resources that I've started to look into. 

Feel free to share any other resources that you have come across! I would love to
 share the and of course, I will give where credit is due.

• Tween Tribune: www.tweentribune.com
• current event articles for kids
• Newspapers for kids: www.teachkidsnews.com
• 
  
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  Timely, relevant news articles for kids, educators in the classroom and parents at home. >>

• Time for Kids: www.timeforkids.com
• online articles for students on all different topics
• options to participate in voting polls and surveys
• Library of Congress: 
• primary source documents, photographs, ads, etc.
• Great resource for Social Studies

I used Time for Kids in a 4th grade classroom as I was modeling a lesson.  The article was about the recent ban of large, sugary drinks in New York. I dropped the article into Edmodo (a safe networking tool for teachers and students--much like facebook) where all students could access the article link.  Paper copies are fine! I did use paper copies of the article for highlighting purposes. The students read the article and took a position on whether they agreed or disagreed with the government being able to decide what we can eat and drink. In a Common Core world where evidence is important when defending an argument, the kids did an awesome job with providing evidence from the text to defend their choice. It led to great discussion. You almost would have thought there was a debate of politicians going on if you walked in the classroom! I don't give credit to myself at all. I give credit to a great article choice :) The kids just couldn't believe that New York had made that decision for their citizens. The kids were involved and could relate to the article and it was very kid-friendly.  Best comment of the lesson: "So Ms. Ellis, you mean to tell me that if I drive all the way to New York right now, I can't buy me a large sweet tea? That just won't work for my life!" Ha! My thoughts exactly!

Don't forget to share any resources that you have come across!

Happy Blogging!

Officially blogging!

Hello all! My name is Rida and I am in my first year as an instructional coach. I'm an all around rookie! I taught 1st grade for 5 years before taking the leap out of the classroom to take on my dream job of being an instructional coach. I never thought that the opportunity would come so soon after completing my Master's degree but here I am...Rida Ellis, Instructional Coach. I work at an awesome technology magnet school in Illinois. We have iPads for every students, Promethean boards, responders, and a state of the art Broadcast Studio. I always follow bloggers out there and thought it would be a neat experience to blog myself. Can't wait to share my first year experiences with you!