Week 11

Fun with Line Segments

This past week I started a new unit/topic in math (we're finally finished with fractions!) and we're currently learning about 2-dimensional shapes... which is a cakewalk in comparison. I found some fun videos on Youtube that explained the concepts so I could differentiate the lesson for the more visual and auditory learners. My seminar instructor came in to observe me during the lesson and the kids did such a great job participating and being great listeners while she was there! I was happy with how everything went. My favorite part of the lesson (and I'm sure the kids would agree) was when we sang the Line Segment Song, which you can listen to here. The tune was really catchy and they were singing along and kept asking me to play it over again. My mentor teacher took a video of us, check it out! They're so funny.

The students learned about lines, rays, line segments, points, intersecting lines, and parallel lines. I gave the kids a worksheet in which they had to label the different pictures and one answer in particular made my mentor teacher and I laugh.

Those are "interesting lines" ...glad he thought so! ;) Oh, the hilarity of misspelled words. 

Humans in Space

We also had a few other Skype sessions this past week. We did a mystery Skype with Michigan, a mystery Skype with Nebraska, and then on Friday the entire third grade participated in the NASA Discovery Learning Network's program, Humans in Space. We Skyped with Mr. David Mazza from the John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and he taught us about what it is like to live on the International Space Station. We got to watch a few videos, and the kids were able to ask questions. It was so great! If you are interested in seeing more pictures of Friday's video conference, you can check out my mentor teacher's class blog and follow the links. http://passionatelearners.blogspot.com/

Birthday Party Fiasco!

So, I was invited to one of my student's birthday parties this weekend, and let me tell you, it turned out to be an occasion for the books! I decided it would be fun to pop in for a bit and celebrate... when I showed up, the kids were off the wall! Hyped up on soda and snacks, they had a blast (to say the least) and it reminded me of why teachers have weekends off... haha, I can honestly say though that I'm glad I went. My students were pretty excited that myself and their old student teacher, Jessica Hall, showed up together. Anyway, one of my other students who was at the party accidentally locked herself in the bathroom and the door got stuck. We were trying to pry the door open, and even Jessica (who is a Umaine Hockey player) couldn't break down the door despite her efforts to body check it. We ended up calling the fire department, who came in and kicked the door down. Everyone was fine, nobody was hurt, and we all had a good laugh. The birthday boy was pumped to have a fire truck and firemen at his party!

 The birthday boy and I!

So excited to see Miss Hall :)

Locked in the bathroom...

 They had to kick the door down...

And she's free! The firemen saved the day :)

Week 10

My Second Week in Grade 3: Mystery Skype and Video Chat with NASA!

This past week was very exciting and busy for us at BCS! A few years ago, my mentor teacher started an educational video-chatting program called Chatting Across the USA in which her class digitally visits other classrooms around America and learns all about the different states of the US. Occasionally they will do a double blind "Mystery Skype" in which only the two teachers of each class know where the other class is located. The students in each class work together as a team, asking questions, using maps, and receiving clues from one another about their states to figure out where they are in the US. This program creates a multitude of authentic learning experiences for all students involved and the kids in my class have Skyped with 18 different classrooms (in 18 different states) and have had guest speakers from all over the country. A few of their favorite guest skype speakers, to name a few, include Barbara Bush, Senator Collins, Bill Cohen, Anna Belknap (an actress on CSI, New York), Matt Light (a Patriots football player), many different authors, and even Michelle Obama! I would have DIED to see that Skype chat!! 

This week the kids had three video chat experiences! The first one was with a school in New Jersey, the second was an educational video conference with NASA, and the third was a Mystery Skype session with a school in Illinois. The kids are assigned different jobs for Mystery Skype sessions: there's the questioner, the notetaker, the lead thinker, the data collector, the google mappers, the map messenger, the think tank (a group of students who put their heads together based on the clues given), and the blog reporters. The session with Illinois went really well, it was a truly meaningful learning experience to be a part of and I am excited to see more!

Here are some photos of our conference with NASA! The speaker taught us all about the different planets in our solar system and answered any of the burning questions students had about space.

Fun with Fraction Stations:

To spice things up in math a bit, this past week I decided to try something new. Instead of teaching the standard lessons that are laid out for me in the book, I decided to set up stations to get the students more enthusiastic about fractions. Usually, I just read through the lesson and the students would do work from their book at their seats. I got bored of this and felt like the students were dreading it too. I was also frustrated that the math program that is required doesn't allow much time for mastery before moving on to new concepts. In order to give students more practice with the concepts, I found an equivalent fractions memory game online (I had to print all of the cards out, color the fractions in, cut them, glue them to construction paper, then laminate them—oh, the delights of teaching) which the students seemed to really enjoy. All of the tedious work was worth it, and luckily I had a few extra hands to help me with all of that. Anyway, the memory game was one of three stations. At the second station, students played online fraction games that I had posted to the Portaportal ahead of time, and at the third station I worked on the concepts of that day's lesson with small groups at the kidney shaped table. This “Math Workshop” rotation worked really well and the kids were much more on task and enthusiastic about the lesson.

Week 9: First week in 3rd grade!

Welcome to Third Grade!

Last week I started my second placement at Brewer Community School in Mrs. MacInnes' third grade classroom. Brewer is very different from Asa Adams, the building is much bigger (I may or may not have gotten lost a few times already), and I have had the chance to get to know a brand new group of colleagues and students. Fortunately, I was able to dive right in and start teaching straight away and I have already been given the task of teaching math every day (for the rest of the semester.) Brewer uses EnVision Math, a program I had never used before coming to Brewer. The students are currently learning about fractions, which has never been my favorite content area, but I'm trying my best to be enthusiastic about it. It's harder to explain fractions to kids than I thought it would be (and yes, I've been using the pizza method)... but so far we're all doing alright. I even got to try out my mentor teacher's new document reader which is a little camera that projects things up onto the board! So cool.

Right now my mentor teacher is doing a unit on space! They have been learning about each individual planet by doing a T chart (what we know/ what we learned) and listening to read-alouds. The students are also taking charge of their own learning by reading through packets and answering comprehension questions (a very important skill to have.) I'm excited to see what else third grade has in store for me... stay tuned!

Week 8 (My last week at Asa Adams)

My Final Week in 2nd Grade

Last week was extremely bittersweet because I had to say goodbye to my second grade kiddos at Asa Adams Elementary. But before I get into that, I have to share something exciting that happened at the beginning of the week—the kids finally got to perform the “What Does the Owl Say” song for the first and second graders. If you have been following my blog, then you probably already know that this has been in the making for awhile, but I'll catch you up a little:

For part of my integrated Owl Unit I had the kids listen to different owl calls and come up with onomatopoeias for those sounds... afterward, we applied those onomatopoeias to a new and improved version of the ever so popular "What Does the Fox Say" song (now known as "What Does the Owl Say")... Have a listen. The original song might be unbearable, but I promise the second grade version is unbearably cute!  Watch "What Does the Owl Say" here!

(I should probably copyright those lyrics, eh?)

Literacy Lesson: Enemy Pie

This week I planned a fun literacy lesson in which we listened to an online read-aloud of the book Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. It is a story about getting to know people before you jump to conclusions about them (or make them your enemy.) It's really cute and the kids loved it! After we watched the Youtube video (watch it here), we had a discussion about the moral of the story and the kids did a turn-and-talk with their friends about a time they might have "judged a book by its cover" so to speak. Then, we mixed in a little bit of math by using some cooking terminology and the kids each wrote up a Recipe for a good friendship. The things they came up with were great... for example: "Add two cups of love, 5 tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of playing soccer together..." etc. I wrote a list of words on the board (for spelling purposes) that they could include in their writing.

 

Farewell Room 8!

My mentor teacher was out on Friday (and I actually substitute taught on my last day) so on Thursday, while she was still around, the class threw me a little farewell party! I was doing a great job keeping my cool at first because I knew I would be coming in the next day, but reading through their cards and hearing their kind words made me a little emotional. I'm definitely going to miss those goobers, I learned a lot from them. I can't thank my mentor teacher, Deb White, enough for her wisdom, guidance, flexibility, and sense of humor (which kept me sane most days) during my time at Asa Adams.

One of my students even made me a cake! 

(If you can't read it, it says "GOOD BYE M M" in chocolate chips and jelly beans)

Along with a few other gifts, I received the book Owls by Gail Gibbons, to go along with my owl unit so I can teach it again sometime in the future! The students all signed the inside.

My favorite gifts of all, though, were the homemade cards I got from the kids. My mentor teacher had to kick me out of the room while they made them, so during that time I observed a 5th grade class and a preschool class. The cards came out fantastic! Owl themed and all :)

 

   

I also got a couple of other notes that I just had to share with you. They are from two different students (although their handwriting looks incredibly similar)

 

And last but not least, the oh-so necessary farewell group photo (serious and then silly, of course)

I'll be moving on to my second placement at Brewer Community School in a third grade classroom next week. Although it's difficult to say goodbye, I'm excited for a fresh start and a new experience. So, stay tuned for more adventures!