A New Chapter

If I were completely truthful with myself, I put off writing this post all summer long. Yesterday, I began a new chapter in my life. It's hard to say goodbye to a place I called home. Throughout my teaching career, I've taught at four schools (including student teaching). Each campus taught me skills that would continue to shape who I am as a teacher. Seabrook Intermediate was another important part of shaping who I have become as an educator. Seabrook was my school family when I moved to Texas. I'm honored to have been a part of the Spartan family.

The new chapter of my life takes me out of my own classroom for the first time in my teaching career. This is the first summer I haven't shopped for school supplies, planned for my classroom layout, created a plan for my students. This is the biggest change I've made in my career. I've had the opportunity to pursue my dream job. To work alongside teachers and help them implement technology in their classrooms. This is what my Master's degree was focused on. I've worked towards a position like this since student teaching. I remember working alongside teachers in the computer lab to help them with an interdisciplinary unit. I was comfortable with the technology. I was strong with my ability to figure it out. I knew then that I wanted to pursue my Master's degree in educational technology. My cooperating teacher helped foster my love for technology. Mr. E helped me learn how to utilize it in the classroom. He taught me how to use technology to enhance and strengthen lessons. I learned how it could be used in a way that didn't make it just "fluff" for a lesson.

Moving to Texas was one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life. I left the security of a school district that I not only taught in for 11 years but also went to school in. It was a comfort zone and my home. When I moved to Texas, I found a new home at Seabrook Intermediate. I found a new family that pushed me to grow professionally, supported me when I needed support, and gave me a new place to call home.

When this position for learning technology coach opened up, my professional family was supportive. My administration, coaches, and team supported me as I worked to pursue my dream job. It's important to have a family that supports you as you continue to grow in life. I'm so blessed to have both a personal family and professional family that supports me through this journey.  Seabrook Intermediate will hold a special place in my heart and it's bittersweet to not walk through those doors this year.

I'm eager about my new role in the district. It's a new learning adventure for me as I navigate uncharted territory. I've been preparing for this upcoming year in a much different way. There are many unknown variables for me as I pursue this different role. I have an even bigger professional family as I move from the role of a classroom teacher to a learning technology coach. I'm excited to work alongside these coaches and teachers this school year. I look forward to growing and finding my place in the new families. It's exciting that the schools I will support this year feed into Seabrook Intermediate. It makes me feel like I'm still at home.

Book Clubs - Part 1

In February, I wrote a Donor's Choose grant for new books for my classroom. The purpose of the grant was to provide my students an opportunity to have newer books to read for their book clubs (literature circles).

My students entered my decorated classroom. They were excited about the activity we were participating in. I'll be honest, I spent about $20 to set this all up. I bought inexpensive tablecloths, baskets, cups, and soft peppermints (for their after tasting mint). Students spent two days rotating through books. I grouped the students and that's the table they sat at for the book tasting. Each day they tasted a different batch of books. During the book tasting, the students answered questions about the book. They ranked the book 1-10 by interest. On the last day, the students filled out a page to pick their top three books to read. This is what I used to determine the book clubs. 

Here are some highlights from the book tasting. 

Book Tasting

How did the grab your attention? How did they "hook the reader? 
"The author had a fight start within the first five pages. After the fight, I didn't want to stop reading it." G.C. - The Outsiders

"The author hooked me into the book by not telling me the background information of the boy that was being taken to prison." A.E. - Scar Island

After looking at the cover, what's your first impression of the book? 
"It is questionable, I am confused whether or not the beaver is metaphorical or the story is actually centered around a beaver, but the cover really gives the reader a good idea about what the book is about." D.S. - Slacker

After reading 3-5 pages, what do you think of the book? 
"I think this book would be great to read because I have friends that can relate and I've heard what they went through and the character in the book surprises me." M.L. - The Outsiders

"Wow! It's incredible! I love the language that the author uses. It really makes you connect to the story and the characters." B.P. - Some Kind of Courage

Classroom Screen

 Our technology coach showed us this awesome free website. It’s called Classroom Screen. I use it in my classroom daily. It’s the perfect resource that has plenty of tools available on one screen. All you need is a computer, projector, and internet connection.

First, I want to point out that you have access to several different languages. It converts the text into the language of choice. That’s an excellent opportunity, especially if you teach a foreign language. I think about one of my friends from Louisiana. She’s a Spanish teacher and this would be a perfect tool for her to use in her classroom.

You have the choice to set the background. There are many crisp, clear images that can be used. There are also solid color backgrounds as an option to reduce distraction. My favorite part about this section is you can upload your own image. This allows me to upload images based on the seasons, holidays, or topic discussed in class.

There are several tools available. The best part is it’s all on one screen at a time. The creator really had a classroom teacher in mind. It’s so nice to not have to bounce back and forth between several different windows. I know that there are many wonderful tools integrated in different software programs. I have found that for me personally, this site has everything I need in one easy location.

If you haven’t tried classroomscreen.com, I highly recommend you check it out. You won’t be disappointed. Here’s what my classroom screen looks like this morning.

Piecing Me Together - Book Talk

Synopsis from the School Library Journal 

Gr 7 Up –High school junior Jade is an “at-risk” student from a rough neighborhood in Portland, OR. She is also a talented collage artist, and she attends an elite private school on scholarship. More than anything, she wants to go on a study abroad week offered at her school to use her Spanish skills. Instead, she is given an invitation to join Woman to Woman, a mentorship program for young women like her: poor and black. Her mentor, Maxine, is from a more privileged background, and Jade doesn’t see what she can learn from her. But in spite of her early resistance to Maxine, Jade begins to open up and gain confidence, and, eventually, she is able to express the importance of her family, her community, and her art. The two strong female characters and the ways in which they struggle with and support each other form the center of this tale. Most young people will relate to Jade’s search to find her voice and learn to advocate for herself in appropriate ways. The lack of a romantic lead may leave some young teen readers disappointed, but there is a real, refreshing strength in a fully fleshed-out female character whose story is her own. This is a memorable novel that demonstrates that a happy ending doesn’t require a romantic subplot.

Personal Reflection

I really enjoyed this book. I personally give it a five star rating. I felt like I connected with Jade on a different level. This book was able to convey the struggle with privilege and give a perspective of coming to terms with oneself. As a reader, I could see what Jade's internal conflicts were. I could relate to her struggle to be proud of who she is and not feel the need to be "fixed" by others. Jade finds her strength as she learns to speak up for herself. As an individual who is sometimes quiet, I appreciate seeing how she grows stronger and finds her voice. It is definitely a book I will put in my classroom library. 

Flipgrid - I've got the fever!

I must say that I've been diagnosed with Flipgrid Fever! My instructional coach has been working to try and get me to use Flipgrid this school year. I got excited and set up my grid. Then I tried it with one class and just never pursued it from there. The class I tried it with was kind of chaotic towards the Christmas break. So like many things, I put it on the shelf and didn't touch it again.

My kids are now participating in book clubs (literature circles). I decided this was a great way to have them participate in a discussion question, especially since their STAAR writing test was over. My students LOVE this program! It is so easy and they can answer the prompt in 15 seconds. These videos gave me an insight to student's thinking. It was great for my quiet students who I struggle to get to speak to me. They can share their thinking in a space without feeling the pressure of the teacher "hovering" over them.

Here's how easy it is. First step is to go to info.flipgrid.com and sign up. You'll have the opportunity to create one grid for free. The membership is reasonably priced if you are interested in obtaining the full version. So far the free version has been exactly what I need at this time.

My student's have enjoyed doing this activity. I've been getting more out of them, especially my quieter students. It's so exciting to give these students a voice. I'm looking forward to making flipgrid a staple in my classroom. Here's a sample of one of my topics. Please excuse the smiley faces, I wanted to protect my students. I hope that you'll be able to catch the fever too! 

Collaborative Book Clubs Grant

I'm so excited to annouce that I received a Donor's Choose grant this year for my book clubs. I was able to obtain five books each of 13 different novels. I can't wait for my books to arrive! My students are going to be so excited.

Collaborative Book Clubs

Last year I ran across a blog entry about hosting a book tasting in your classroom. Check out the blog entry here. I was so excited to do this in my classroom. I was able grab some books from our book room. I bought table cloths, put together a "menu" of books, set up after dinner mints, and their recording journal. My students really enjoyed this activity. They were able to choose their top 3 choices of books they wanted to read. One of the downfalls was that the books were outdated, they were in rough shape, and that posed an issue for my students.

Over the last year I've been working very hard to try and update my classroom novels. I've been blessed by so many different people this school year. My home flooded in Hurricane Harvey and much of my classroom library flooded with it. I can't begin to tell you how many people poured out on me. They sent me books from their bookshelves, gift cards, money, etc... I've been able to update my classroom library. I still wanted to obtain some novels for the book clubs.

In February, I decided to submit a Donor's Choose grant in hopes of obtaining books. My grant was funded towards the end of February. With this grant, I was able to get 13 different novels for my book clubs. Once the novels come in, I'll sketch out the days for our book clubs. This is one of my favorite activities. I absolutely LOVE the group discussions that come from the book clubs. I hope my students will have the chance to partner up and work with students they may not normally work with.

After last year, I learned a few things that should make this round run well. I divided the groups into an A group and a B group. That way I was conferencing with half of the groups each day. It was difficult to get to the groups and have meaningful discussions. I think I'll do it differently this year. Honestly it would be good to have 1-2 groups to conference with on an given day. That may make the rotation for reading the books and conferencing much better. The students will have lesson meeting days, but there can be more quality conversations. Each student will have a role to participate in during the book club discussion day. That's just one of the things I'll do differently. I also plan to help the students map out when they will read the books and how to divide up the pages. It was tough on Pre-AP last year trying to get it all in. I know the pitfalls to avoid with that. Here were a few of the resources I found helpful last year.

Depth and Complexity Literature Circles
Literature Circles for Middle School
Book Tasting
Because Sometimes You Just Need a Worksheet

I look forward to incorporating a more Workshop style for my upcoming book clubs. I'll post more after I formulate my 2018 Collaborative Book Clubs - Book Tasting.

OneNote Collaboration

The past week I've been able to collaborate with one of my 7th grade team members in OneNote. We were able to work together to share OneNote with our faculty. It was such a neat experience. We were able to talk about the different ways we use it in our classrooms. I felt like many of our faculty members were very excited about having the opportunity to use this program. That made me even more excited about using OneNote.

I'll be honest, it sure does help to have someone else who's using it too. It gives a sounding board, someone to share ideas with, and to be excited about using it. I know that this year I've been using it on a small scale compared to what the program can do. We've had a few hiccups along the way, but now I have someone to collaborate and troubleshoot with. Here's a sample of our PowerPoint.

Presenting this to our faculty was awesome! After our presentation, we decided to create a OneNote notebook that we could share and collaborate on. We can add pages, test out the collaboration space, and so much more. I feel like this is just the first step in being able to use OneNote to collaborate as teachers. I can see so much potential in this. I can't wait to explore it more in depth.