tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16167055386465658832024-03-19T04:48:27.709-04:00Everybody is a GeniusBut if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. -Albert EinsteinSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-48320492012902988512017-08-28T07:30:00.000-04:002017-08-28T07:30:10.995-04:00Transformation LabThis is an extension of an activity that I found awhile ago from Andrew Shauver. He <a href="https://thegeometryteacher.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/right-and-wrong-vs-good-better-best/" target="_blank">turned reflections into a 3Act problem</a>, asking students to use knowledge of geometric properties to decide which reflection was executed the best.<div>
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I thought this was a great activity to go along with <a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2017/08/geometric-transformations-notes.html" target="_blank">these notes</a> which require students to perform their own transformations, much like the pictures from Andrew's lesson.</div>
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When I've done this I like to have the students do the measuring themselves. This could be individually or in groups. I think it's a great way to reinforce the geometric facts of what it means to be a reflection/translation/rotation/dilation and helps to show what a congruence transformation means. Really great conversations happen about side lengths, distances, parallel lines, etc. </div>
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I really like to do this activity using the current students' own work. As they are doing their own transformations I walk around and take pictures of their attempts. Then I choose four and just drop them into a powerpoint to print out a sheet for them to use. I like to use at least two that look pretty good so it's not immediately obvious which is the best.</div>
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Then the next day I'll have ready one of these made using their own work:</div>
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I do strongly suggest using your own student work, but if you'd like a starting point feel free to use the above image and go over to Andrew's post where he's got an image for reflections. I unfortunately don't have any saved ones from rotations or dilation. </div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com86tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-88491804274458030452017-08-27T15:48:00.000-04:002017-08-27T15:48:16.186-04:00Proving Triangles Congruent Tip SheetMore geometry things today!<br />
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I didn't make this up, just reformatted something I found <a href="http://whsacton.weebly.com/uploads/5/8/9/3/58932087/0407.proof_tips.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. Formal proofs are one of the things that I'd avoid if given the choice, but it is part of our testing here so it is a necessary evil. So when we do congruent triangle proofs this is something that they can use to help lay out the logic involved.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FbjXOxf0YHo/WaMhhGAet-I/AAAAAAAAGpo/L16WRgEbg-st02J6li21FdFaROmMuh8MgCLcBGAs/s1600/out.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="835" height="481" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FbjXOxf0YHo/WaMhhGAet-I/AAAAAAAAGpo/L16WRgEbg-st02J6li21FdFaROmMuh8MgCLcBGAs/s640/out.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m0Q1lHAtS-M/WaMhhDsvHfI/AAAAAAAAGps/WPfX6rbnk00iqXbDCCZ2It5MabxDdUOVwCLcBGAs/s1600/in.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="834" height="482" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-m0Q1lHAtS-M/WaMhhDsvHfI/AAAAAAAAGps/WPfX6rbnk00iqXbDCCZ2It5MabxDdUOVwCLcBGAs/s640/in.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Download: <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5RkxMN1ZldTl5YUU" target="_blank">pdf</a> <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5dWhsVFRTeEVDcG8" target="_blank">ppt</a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-24420546717883562002017-08-25T12:53:00.000-04:002017-08-29T19:03:36.128-04:00Geometric Transformation Notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is one that I've had around for awhile but never shared it since I didn't find it all that unique. It is something that I use every year though so thought I'd share. I think it's a good basic page of notes for geometric transformation. </div>
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One disclaimer though is that I don't have any pictures of it all filled in. I'll do my best to describe what goes into each. Something interesting about these files too is that I think they do a good job of showing the direction I've moved with the way I use ISNs (a word I even hesitate to use anymore- but that's a much longer story for another time) and the notes I give. There's a lot less focus on fancy foldables, and fill in the blanks, and things of the like. I've been spending far more time trying to focus on big picture ideas and understanding the major concepts behind how things work. </div>
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These notes are along those lines. There are four, one for each type of transformation. Each is a pretty big idea and is more than one day's worth of work. Usually we'll fill in different pieces on different days, definitely never a whole class period of note taking. </div>
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My favorite part of these and what I spend a lot of time on is the last panels. In the top section I have give kids an already done transformation and we measure different parts and focus on the relationships that exist within each transformation. The pictures below are a bit of what types of things we'll record there.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cscKERasbAY/WaBPBWTYlRI/AAAAAAAAGnM/FC8bBAPOUXg-quTuoY1arO5erSDqknVEACEwYBhgL/s1600/20170825_121558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1600" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cscKERasbAY/WaBPBWTYlRI/AAAAAAAAGnM/FC8bBAPOUXg-quTuoY1arO5erSDqknVEACEwYBhgL/s400/20170825_121558.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one isn't the same picture from the file, but this is the idea of what I'd write in that section.</td></tr>
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Then after that, I have the kids try their hand at constructing a transformation themselves. I really like this because they've all done transformations on the coordinate plane but this is usually new to them. For me, we don't get super accurate but you definitely could. In translating and reflecting they do their best to get their lines parallel. It doesn't work out well for them all but I think they get the idea well enough and also shows that when all those conditions aren't perfect you won't get a perfect copy. My sketching skills are way better so they can see that when you get the conditions right you will get a good copy.<br />
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Once I get back to school and to my notebooks I'll try to update this with filled in copies of these, but I also like that they're open to your own interpretation of important information to include.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Download: <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5TkRxdi03OV81NEk" target="_blank">pdf</a> <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5X1BwR3ltb296X00" target="_blank">ppt</a></span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-59715181705706173502017-08-19T13:30:00.000-04:002017-08-22T07:24:39.415-04:00Teenagers are like soapI read this in a magazine recently:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Think of a teenager as a wet bar of soap. If your contact is too light, it will slip out. If you apply too much pressure, it will do the same.</b></span><br />
(<a href="https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/family/relationships/how-to-love-difficult-people" target="_blank">Source</a>)<br />
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<a href="http://media.istockphoto.com/photos/hand-holding-a-soap-bar-picture-id123343987?k=6&m=123343987&s=612x612&w=0&h=zXw-_LZ5LI0Qb9FHxY8KiANNgHP5HbvBewqZa5lYfHc=" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.istockphoto.com/photos/hand-holding-a-soap-bar-picture-id123343987?k=6&m=123343987&s=612x612&w=0&h=zXw-_LZ5LI0Qb9FHxY8KiANNgHP5HbvBewqZa5lYfHc=" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="612" height="213" width="320" /></a>While this was intended as parenting advice, it is also good classroom management advice. I've taught both middle and high school and while middle school often gets the bad rap, managing high school classes seems to be especially tricky business. It seems often that teachers struggling with classroom management falls under one of these two camps.<br />
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Trying to come in too authoritarian doesn't go over well. Coming in with a long list of rules and making it clear that they're not going to get away with <i>anything </i>doesn't go over well. With these teachers, the kids start to enjoy making them angry.<br />
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The other side is the teacher that too much on trying to have a good relationship with the kids. This may sometimes come from an attempt to show the kids they care, but more often the kids take too much advantage of this teacher and don't respect them at all. These teachers try to address all issues too casually and the kids know there aren't ever going to be real consequences.<br />
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The trick is finding a very careful balance between the two. Find a few (2-4) issues that are important to you and create clear policies with them. Enforce them every time, for every kid. Don't make a huge deal out of everything. The more often that a tactic (the talk in the hallway, the whole class guilt lecture, etc.) the less effective it become. Kids like and respect the teacher that seems approachable and expresses their personality while also holding them to high standards. Not too light, and not too strong of a hold.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-97598947432650082017-08-18T19:51:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:41:16.291-04:00Organ Function Grinder Machine<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is an activity that I really like but forgot about for awhile. One of my projects for this summer was to clean up all my files and I recently rediscovered this. After starting this post, I even rediscovered that I blogged about this awhile ago right after I made it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since then I've refined it a bit so I thought it was worth sharing again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A bit of background is that this idea came from the <a href="http://mathmidway.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #6c83ad; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Math Midway</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #313131;"> exhibit which was here at the Liberty Science Center awhile ago. My favorite was the </span><a href="http://mathmidway.org/math-midway-activities-organ.php" style="background-color: white; color: #6c83ad; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Organ Function Grinder</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #313131;">. This is the </span><a href="http://mathmidway.org/pdf/teachers/guide/Organ_Function_Grinder.pdf" style="background-color: white; color: #6c83ad; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">activity guide</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #313131;"> that goes along with the exhibit. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This activity is my attempt at recreating the exhibit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The basic idea is a three function machine where the kids needs to play with the dials and choose input numbers to try to make goal numbers. I really like that they include some interesting functions, especially invert. I also like that there are more than one way to get the answers, that's always a huge plus.</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a>The activity gives a list of available numbers that can go into the machine, and a list of goal numbers. The students choose an input number and decide what functions to use in order to make the target number. The activity begins by having them only use one function and then progresses to using all three. Using multiple functions starts to get especially interesting and leads to good conversation about how the order of the functions used changes the output.<br />
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Below are the tables that can be used for the activity, or this could easily be split up a ton of different ways. On the handouts (download link at the bottom of this post), I also included a picture of the machine above each table.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lnLzQRcKsoQ/WZd7FyNrsqI/AAAAAAAAGmY/LthW0rlusSEvSGd3JRX4_6sftiYn19_bACLcBGAs/s1600/1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="742" height="403" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lnLzQRcKsoQ/WZd7FyNrsqI/AAAAAAAAGmY/LthW0rlusSEvSGd3JRX4_6sftiYn19_bACLcBGAs/s640/1.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Use only one function</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Use two functions</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Use three functions</td></tr>
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Just a word about the layout of these- I originally had the goal outputs filled into the output column instead, but I changed it thinking that especially in the more complex ones that I wanted the kids to go across the row and apply the functions in order to calculate the output for themselves and check that it worked.<br />
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This could easily be modified a bunch of different ways. Some of the ideas I had were:<br />
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<li>Changing the inputs to create different problems.</li>
<li>Choose one goal number and challenge kids to find as many ways possible to make it.</li>
<li>Choose one input number and have kids choose 3 functions. Investigate what happens when the functions are applied in different orders.</li>
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If anyone else has other ideas I'd love to hear them.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5ZlExcTVXR2NuZW8" target="_blank">Download</a></span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-13036949167269107492017-08-10T08:00:00.000-04:002017-09-04T14:40:15.811-04:00SBG Score PostersIn the past, I've hung up a "What does my grade mean?" poster, that was too small to be usable.<br />
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This year I hung these up instead:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRJ-TK0vYkw/WYcEvDzQhsI/AAAAAAAAGlg/0MyJMfDTW1QRj0iy1IatC1FDAEoa2Sk8wCLcBGAs/s1600/1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="716" height="206" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JRJ-TK0vYkw/WYcEvDzQhsI/AAAAAAAAGlg/0MyJMfDTW1QRj0iy1IatC1FDAEoa2Sk8wCLcBGAs/s320/1.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hANEbnWSpI8/WYcEvAXHjZI/AAAAAAAAGlo/YPMzWL8cbZMyzjRA8Om-4-elMHZbn8fPQCLcBGAs/s1600/2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="718" height="206" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hANEbnWSpI8/WYcEvAXHjZI/AAAAAAAAGlo/YPMzWL8cbZMyzjRA8Om-4-elMHZbn8fPQCLcBGAs/s320/2.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjBuV70hqpY/WYcEvEJwc8I/AAAAAAAAGlk/pBiv8Y1SPqw8IcEcdzB0yLh-EIg7OEZNwCLcBGAs/s1600/3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="716" height="206" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sjBuV70hqpY/WYcEvEJwc8I/AAAAAAAAGlk/pBiv8Y1SPqw8IcEcdzB0yLh-EIg7OEZNwCLcBGAs/s320/3.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X4zZjcsQ4YA/WYcEvSKVdkI/AAAAAAAAGls/oytacgQuEWc0d9FIek8tysuozInHJuqTwCLcBGAs/s1600/4.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="718" height="207" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X4zZjcsQ4YA/WYcEvSKVdkI/AAAAAAAAGls/oytacgQuEWc0d9FIek8tysuozInHJuqTwCLcBGAs/s320/4.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(the typo is corrected in the file below)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5SWJldG1Pdll1Sk0">Download</a></span></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-46292597007894736062017-08-09T14:05:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:41:36.832-04:00Some classroom finds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Within the past couple years I've been making an effort to spend less money and time on decorating my classroom. I've accumulated so many things that I really don't need any more. It is hard though when I find pretty things to not buy them all. These are some fun things I've found lately that I wish were going to be in my classroom.</div>
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These I was really surprised to find at Ikea. I'm not sure if they're intended to be motivational posters or if they're just playing into the typography trend, but they're perfect for the classroom.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm0lnoK-6sA/WYYIDkgYFHI/AAAAAAAAGlA/AMKaM9arLTk-AxX279t9kR10_sgZYK-hQCLcBGAs/s1600/20170803_165924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="1600" height="196" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cm0lnoK-6sA/WYYIDkgYFHI/AAAAAAAAGlA/AMKaM9arLTk-AxX279t9kR10_sgZYK-hQCLcBGAs/s640/20170803_165924.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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These I came across at HomeGoods and also really wanted, especially the one about staying humble. I advise a group of students where we have a group of officers that we try to develop leadership skills in and I find that I talk about this a lot.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byL72ryMhYY/WYYFRX81f-I/AAAAAAAAGkw/tnP1y_4F7B47gI-ZBBpwUl_amcuXfPelwCEwYBhgL/s1600/20170805_111017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1600" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byL72ryMhYY/WYYFRX81f-I/AAAAAAAAGkw/tnP1y_4F7B47gI-ZBBpwUl_amcuXfPelwCEwYBhgL/s640/20170805_111017.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This one I couldn't pass up. A desk calendars is one thing that does run out so I can justify buying and this one is just so much fun. Each page is hand lettered and has fun little sections all around the page. Each page also has a matching page for notes and with a whole bunch of adorable little coupons and notes. (I got excited and started to fill out September before I took the picture).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TpRVYDGmuUQ/WYYFR4ee1TI/AAAAAAAAGks/rbzaj-gYRRMm07RLUnOn6-8PTZciOF25ACLcBGAs/s1600/20170805_133917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1600" height="490" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TpRVYDGmuUQ/WYYFR4ee1TI/AAAAAAAAGks/rbzaj-gYRRMm07RLUnOn6-8PTZciOF25ACLcBGAs/s640/20170805_133917.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Work-17-Month-Desk-Jotter-2018/dp/1523500417/ref=pd_ybh_a_13?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HFSRGETD0JFMYQS9WZGN">Amazon Link</a></td></tr>
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ps- mentioning this because people have asked before- I do not just love Rutgers football games (I don't really like sports at all) as a fundraiser I work with a group of kids running a concession stand at every game<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-72093697272776111412017-08-08T10:00:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:49:51.365-04:00Course Guide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is a super old post that for some reason I never published. I do still use this as my syllabus posted on my website. I also still use the one black and white version for the kids' notebooks. So while it's it's an old post it's still relevant. </div>
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<b>Old post:</b></div>
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Last summer I revised my syllabus into this <a href="http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/new-course-guide.html" target="_blank">one page course guide</a> which I really like. Well I came across this <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/276478864598609139/" target="_blank">awesome syllabus</a> on Pinterest and which made me want to revamp mine yet again. </div>
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In the past I've always made different versions for my different courses but really my class policies and information is the same in all my courses so I decided to take that out and just make it a general information sheet on the highlights.</div>
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In the tweet below, Rob Patin shares the Photoshop template he used to create his original version.</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/MrsGanley">@MrsGanley</a> Thank you! I used Photoshop. There is a PSD template here: <a href="https://t.co/Pgvdm0iGn4">https://t.co/Pgvdm0iGn4</a><br />
— Rob Patin (@talkEDtv) <a href="https://twitter.com/talkEDtv/statuses/465671322262327296">May 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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I discovered this far too late and it could have made my work in recreating this way easier, but oh well. Below is what I came up with. All the information is my own except for the section on Remind101, that is taken from the original. I loved pretty much everything about it so I didn't change all that much.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FHrlKZ5WNkc/U8AG67EviII/AAAAAAAADdU/UczrOrIsYcw/s1600/Photo+Jul+02,+9+38+32+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FHrlKZ5WNkc/U8AG67EviII/AAAAAAAADdU/UczrOrIsYcw/s1600/Photo+Jul+02,+9+38+32+AM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>I also use Photoshop to create almost everything I make but in case you don't have Photoshop, I included a basic template below that I think should be pretty easy to use. It's saved as an image so you can put it into whatever program you use. Easiest I think would be to put it into Powerpoint and then just put text boxes on top of it to type whatever you want. I included one version with the pictures I used and one without if you'd like to add your own.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SmGyawTogAM/U8FPdi7vkyI/AAAAAAAADfs/kOVJErqXme0/s1600/Color+Block+Template+boxes+only.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SmGyawTogAM/U8FPdi7vkyI/AAAAAAAADfs/kOVJErqXme0/s1600/Color+Block+Template+boxes+only.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5eVNFNkd1N0tZV00" target="_blank">download here</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MxW_qQ05Jgs/U8FPdveagoI/AAAAAAAADfw/FCDP7duqUE4/s1600/Color+Block+Template.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MxW_qQ05Jgs/U8FPdveagoI/AAAAAAAADfw/FCDP7duqUE4/s1600/Color+Block+Template.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5SmF5VHRBMUdjMm8" target="_blank">download here</a></td></tr>
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I don't think that I really want to print color copies of these to put into the kids' notebooks so most likely this will be for my website and possibly one to hang up in the room somewhere. Many thanks to Rob Patin for the awesome idea!</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-47862091185627611092017-08-07T09:41:00.000-04:002017-08-07T09:41:00.170-04:00Metric Conversion PostersThese are some other ones from the archives (aka folders I'm cleaning out and forgot I ever made). I know the multiply/divide by 10 is a bit of a trick (I like to convert using proportions), but maybe someone might like them.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6AvHgsr7TmQ/WYXKn7VpTjI/AAAAAAAAGjk/WYZCpewbhh0GBYEp5JKGihsidCWhehaGwCLcBGAs/s1600/convert1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="882" height="236" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6AvHgsr7TmQ/WYXKn7VpTjI/AAAAAAAAGjk/WYZCpewbhh0GBYEp5JKGihsidCWhehaGwCLcBGAs/s400/convert1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bhlso7xQkh0/WYXKn_pSGfI/AAAAAAAAGjo/YX-QBkJRMPIpMTRmrLhJoFUGBJ7PgVnkACLcBGAs/s1600/convert2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="405" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bhlso7xQkh0/WYXKn_pSGfI/AAAAAAAAGjo/YX-QBkJRMPIpMTRmrLhJoFUGBJ7PgVnkACLcBGAs/s400/convert2.PNG" width="258" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5MEMtRW5uVWgyTVk">Download</a></span></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-86319777639649483082017-08-06T08:38:00.000-04:002017-08-06T08:38:00.782-04:00Hang in there<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yE9KsSB35_c/WYW3yMA0YhI/AAAAAAAAGjQ/XJgAX3oh7Msi_wW0gRvvEPHrQxJkJ934gCLcBGAs/s1600/Minion%2BPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1036" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yE9KsSB35_c/WYW3yMA0YhI/AAAAAAAAGjQ/XJgAX3oh7Msi_wW0gRvvEPHrQxJkJ934gCLcBGAs/s400/Minion%2BPoster.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
This is super random, but I came across it while cleaning out an old folder. It was someone else's idea and was intended to be reminiscent of the old kitten poster. I never did print it out but thought maybe someone would like to.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5QjhPd0JSV1UwUzA">Download</a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-68425711887122037612017-08-05T08:38:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:50:08.366-04:00SBG Updates- GradingFollowing along with how I changed <a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2017/07/sbg-updates-assessment-question-design.html">the way I write questions</a>, I have made a couple changes to my grading system.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Change #1: Getting a 5</b></span><br />
<a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/sbg-grading.html">Before</a>:<span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-family: "calibri"; font-size: 15.4px; text-align: center;"><b>"A 4 means pretty much perfect and the only way to get a 5 is to get two 4's."</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #313131; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">When I started </span></span><span style="color: #313131;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;">including</span></span><span style="color: #313131; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15.4px;"> a reach question on each assessment I started letting students get to a 5 right away. I did really like the previous system, but this is just how I'm doing it now and I do really like including more challenging questions. There typically aren't that many students that receive perfect scores so there is still a lot of reassessing that occurs. Also, the difference between a 4 and 5 is only five points (95 vs 100) so I do still feel like it's fair for all students that I'm including a question that might be beyond the reach of some students. I feel that the fact that there are always some students that get the harder questions means that I should be including them.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #313131; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Change #2: The point system</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-size: 15.4px;">This one is a seemingly minor change, but had pretty big implications. I use a five point scale where 3 is considered basic proficiency. My school uses a traditional gradebook system so I need to translate the scores into what I call gradebook grades. This is explained fully <a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/sbg-grading.html">here</a>. All I changed was the grade translation on a 2. Before it was a 65 which was the lowest passing score. I didn't like that it felt like students could still obtain a passing grade without being proficient so I changed it to a 60. This was a new change for this past school year and especially first marking period it meant that at the halfway marking period point I had <b>way </b>more students with failing grades than before. This was not particularly popular, but ultimately it made the students work harder and learn more than then had before with I do feel good about. I plan to keep this up this year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-size: 15.4px;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">Change #2a: Another point system (not mine)</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #313131;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.4px;">Another idea on the point system is the way that a colleague is doing it. He also was concerned with grade inflation of students that are not yet proficient. The first time around, everything below a 3 receives a gradebook score of 0. It's a bit of a shock for kids who are used to getting credit (and sometimes passing a course) just for trying but it's an excellent way of assuring that anyone not proficient will give it another shot. If they try again and are still not proficient then they receive the 50. </span></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">Change #3: "Buying" notebook use</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-size: 15.4px;">This one I've played with in prior years but never settled on a policy I really liked until now. I teach special education resource math. The students are absolutely capable of more than most people think which is why I maintain higher standards for them than most. Ultimately though, some do need more accommodations than others. In the past I would allow some of my more struggling periods the use of their notebooks during assessments. None of my questions are ever information that they could just look up and copy so they are really just using them for support on the processes. I was always hesitant on this though because in all my classes there was always a kid or two that could do the work without the support and I would prefer to push them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-size: 15.4px;">What I started this year was letting students "buy" the use of their notebook for 5 quiz points. The idea is that they can sacrifice the five points if it will help them pass, but there will not be any way to get a perfect score with support. I now print each skill on a separate sheet of paper and don't staple them so if they want to use their notebooks they can do so only where they really need it. They first do all that they can do without their notebook, hand those in, and then can use their notebook on the rest. I have a little stamp that I stamp pages with that they had the assistance on. I like it because it allows for different levels of accommodation in the same classroom without me having to be the one that makes the distinction of who is and isn't allowed (which I would never do). I know this one may not be a great option for everyone since the kids won't have this support on standardized assessments, but it's what works for me.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-78134050595021456772017-08-04T09:05:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:50:39.921-04:00SBG Assessment File OrganizationAfter using standards based grading for five years now I have accumulated quite the bank of assessment questions. I didn't really have a good way of saving/organizing them and it started to get hard to find what I was looking for. I reorganized things and it made things much easier for me this year. Like my last post, I feel that there is a good change everyone has already been doing this and I'm late to the game yet again.<br />
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This was what my files looked like:</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRTaoe3_e_Y/WX1MrZpRfYI/AAAAAAAAGgg/zAROAiA0le4_4jslVJkbhu3rUoKCWA7UwCLcBGAs/s1600/old%2Bassess.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="207" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRTaoe3_e_Y/WX1MrZpRfYI/AAAAAAAAGgg/zAROAiA0le4_4jslVJkbhu3rUoKCWA7UwCLcBGAs/s1600/old%2Bassess.PNG" /></a></div>
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Each was an assessment I gave. In theory I planned to assess the skills in the same groups but in reality that didn't happen. So every time I gave a new quiz I'd have to look for questions from all over and then piece together a new assessment. Questions started to overlap and it was getting frustrating.</div>
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Last summer and throughout this year, I started to open them all up and reorganize them. By the way, this process is incredibly unpleasant. I have SO many assessment files and the questions are ALL over the place. I'm currently in the process of doing this job for my geometry files and it is terrible. However, it's worth it because the results are so neat and organized.<br />
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Now they look like this:<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o5emPpyTKyk/WYRwotMFleI/AAAAAAAAGjA/GyIMLJle4zwU0Ni0J3RPD4bSeJ6w09yYwCLcBGAs/s1600/1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="306" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o5emPpyTKyk/WYRwotMFleI/AAAAAAAAGjA/GyIMLJle4zwU0Ni0J3RPD4bSeJ6w09yYwCLcBGAs/s1600/1.PNG" /></a></div>
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Each one contains multiple versions of the same skill. It makes it far easier to see what version 1 looked like when I want to create version 2 (or 3 or 4). It makes it so easy to print out a requiz for a kid. If I am giving a quiz on four skills I do have to open four files but it's not nearly as annoying as I thought it would be (that's what kept me from doing this originally).<br />
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Also in case you're wondering why the numbers skip, it's because our scope and sequence includes a skill list and these numbers are aligned with that. I don't assess on every single skill listed because it would be too much.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-70071465907764344912017-08-03T10:31:00.000-04:002017-08-05T08:54:41.653-04:00SBG InfographicA couple years ago I found this and thought it was so fantastic:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kxuffx853nI/WX3rLN3Y_FI/AAAAAAAAGg8/RqWOw4K6Ly0A3kNgi87kc7xADJqp_XmjACLcBGAs/s1600/188b2533013cfe16d89f31b9c9d58ff7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="429" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kxuffx853nI/WX3rLN3Y_FI/AAAAAAAAGg8/RqWOw4K6Ly0A3kNgi87kc7xADJqp_XmjACLcBGAs/s1600/188b2533013cfe16d89f31b9c9d58ff7.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cvulearns.weebly.com/sbg-infographic.html">Source</a></td></tr>
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I modified it for my own use and hand it out now and back to school night and anywhere else I need to explain standards based grading:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mFy7ryAzqaA/WX3rkLX06UI/AAAAAAAAGhA/r1mNXc7O_NMYKZ0BFV3JaFCO2qFmKg7NQCLcBGAs/s1600/SBG%2Binfographic%2Bpage%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1037" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mFy7ryAzqaA/WX3rkLX06UI/AAAAAAAAGhA/r1mNXc7O_NMYKZ0BFV3JaFCO2qFmKg7NQCLcBGAs/s640/SBG%2Binfographic%2Bpage%2B1.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">front</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cEFfbeYtyMc/WX3rkbe_MjI/AAAAAAAAGhE/_n_6C9NwRBM0TQ3e8mm_VtrRTameo_pBACLcBGAs/s1600/SBG%2Binfographic%2Bpage%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1237" data-original-width="1600" height="494" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cEFfbeYtyMc/WX3rkbe_MjI/AAAAAAAAGhE/_n_6C9NwRBM0TQ3e8mm_VtrRTameo_pBACLcBGAs/s640/SBG%2Binfographic%2Bpage%2B2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">inside</td></tr>
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I print it double sided and fold it in half, like a pamphlet. On the back I include another page relevant to my class. Unfortunately I do not have editable files to post. Like <a href="http://cvulearns.weebly.com/">CVU Learns</a> I used piktochart and then copied it into pieces into Photoshop.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5b0RUemI1QzVXaG8">Download</a> (not editable)</span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-19850412157306081512017-08-02T10:07:00.000-04:002017-08-02T10:07:01.348-04:00SBG Updates- Student Record Keeping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I don't remember if I ever shared the original, but this is the updated version of the record sheet my kids keep track of their grades on. I used to fill in the skill # and description myself and give them copies of all that filled in but things would sometimes end up changing and it was too much to keep up with. </div>
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Now I use this version which is just general and easy to keep a bunch of on hand.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4-zDopNGwXU/WX3kQNZvvFI/AAAAAAAAGg0/V6vXgDeTseA1JAP9mpF9CY6JDGr8pSJcwCLcBGAs/s1600/RECORD%2Bsheet.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="1527" height="192" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4-zDopNGwXU/WX3kQNZvvFI/AAAAAAAAGg0/V6vXgDeTseA1JAP9mpF9CY6JDGr8pSJcwCLcBGAs/s640/RECORD%2Bsheet.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Basic layout idea from <a href="http://mathmadegr8.blogspot.com/2014/07/data-tracking-20.html">here</a></td></tr>
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Every time I hand back assessments they fill in the skill # and description from the quiz and then record what score they got and color in if they need to. The solid line between 2 and 3 is because that's the proficiency/passing line. If they score lower on a requiz I do not lower their score, but I do want them to record it so they can see that they did go down in understanding. Likewise, I want them to see if they keep scoring the same thing over and over.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Download: <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5RWQ4cmZJenM3dm8">doc</a> <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5cDd3ZVY2Zkh5ajA">pdf</a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-36108105666100707522017-08-01T08:47:00.003-04:002017-08-22T06:51:00.535-04:00My take on the growth mindset posters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Over the past few years my classroom hasn't changed all that much, but last year I hopped on the growth mindset trend and added something new. After seeing tons of those "Change your words change your mindset" bulletin boards (originating <a href="https://mathequalslove.blogspot.com/2014/08/growth-mindset-and-sbg-bulletin-board.html">here</a> it seems) I wanted put my spin on it.</div>
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A few years ago when I hung up my <a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/new-rules.html">simple rules</a> posters I found that I got a lot more use out of them than I'd anticipated. When kids try to give up I point to the wall and tell them that unfortunately it's a rule that they're not allowed to give up. It seems to be lighthearted and they don't get as angry as if I just tell them they have to keep working.</div>
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So I liked the growth mindset posters for the same reason. While I really liked them all, for me nine was just too many. I feel like the more stuff that goes up around the room, the less kids are able to focus on it all and it's less meaningful. So I took out the four that I thought I could get the most use out of and made this poster:<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w7OVIBoGkmY/WYBy8ezGEoI/AAAAAAAAGho/9EA4CWIstpAAqL5bBd09lbXqY2da0ToFwCLcBGAs/s1600/gmbig.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="547" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w7OVIBoGkmY/WYBy8ezGEoI/AAAAAAAAGho/9EA4CWIstpAAqL5bBd09lbXqY2da0ToFwCLcBGAs/s640/gmbig.PNG" width="478" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a>I printed it at Staples as a 24"x36" engineering print (under $10). The color ones are more expensive so that's what it's black and white. I did however figure out that those big prints take watercolor paint really nicely so I used watercolors to color in the letters. I'm not in school so I don't have an actual picture, but imagine it something like this.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fhtShw-4vNQ/WYCDPbCcszI/AAAAAAAAGiI/B1aDX3fCAewxAd7dAO3IXtXgQv4OdJ8zACEwYBhgL/s1600/growth2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1448" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fhtShw-4vNQ/WYCDPbCcszI/AAAAAAAAGiI/B1aDX3fCAewxAd7dAO3IXtXgQv4OdJ8zACEwYBhgL/s640/growth2.jpg" width="578" /></a></div>
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I also really liked those bulletin boards with the brain and found an image I really liked to do that with. I colored in the left side to be just grey and then colored in the right side. It was like a giant watercolor coloring book, it was great. I don't have a picture of it done, but below is during.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R6IEynQFbU4/WYB1A7vjBvI/AAAAAAAAGhw/HJN5MuK6rBAuHiX0SS9ggW5QOHDUgLeGQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/brain%2Bwires.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1327" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R6IEynQFbU4/WYB1A7vjBvI/AAAAAAAAGhw/HJN5MuK6rBAuHiX0SS9ggW5QOHDUgLeGQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/brain%2Bwires.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/human-brain-engineering-processing-machine-sketch-217116262">source</a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d1-N3xCmA0E/WYB1qknNtZI/AAAAAAAAGh0/C_a2HTQ0liEQ1oZtXDMJAhxVIEZCdmSDwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d1-N3xCmA0E/WYB1qknNtZI/AAAAAAAAGh0/C_a2HTQ0liEQ1oZtXDMJAhxVIEZCdmSDwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/painting.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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All done, picture something like this.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UGFd_MlMkEA/WYCIjpIHzPI/AAAAAAAAGiY/dhCIv0BbepMzDzQRVl8ChKqKMF2uKN9OgCLcBGAs/s1600/growth3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1448" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UGFd_MlMkEA/WYCIjpIHzPI/AAAAAAAAGiY/dhCIv0BbepMzDzQRVl8ChKqKMF2uKN9OgCLcBGAs/s640/growth3.jpg" width="578" /></a></div>
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Before settling on that, I started making something along the lines of all the bulletin boards everyone else has. I didn't end up hanging them up, but this is along the lines of what I had in mind.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V-GNDbnPuko/WYCDPdCLCqI/AAAAAAAAGiM/UHXUXJnFG1wUTX7rS0gQiwi7Arkh9TicgCLcBGAs/s1600/growth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1448" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V-GNDbnPuko/WYCDPdCLCqI/AAAAAAAAGiM/UHXUXJnFG1wUTX7rS0gQiwi7Arkh9TicgCLcBGAs/s640/growth.jpg" width="578" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Downloads:</b></span></div>
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<li><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5Wkp6NG5pSjhTX0k">big poster</a></li>
<li><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5OGhkbkhnTTlyYlE">brain</a></li>
<li><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5WGVxVXZxMHJIS3c">fixed/growth letters</a></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">growth mindset pages: </span><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5RV94N29STUdzMWM" style="font-size: x-large;">pdf</a> <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5NFoyRUFwd2MyR00" style="font-size: x-large;">ppt</a></li>
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<i>fonts for the powerpoint file: The Skinny, KG Empire of Dirt, A Love of Thunder (all free to download)</i><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-21762732177199120562017-07-31T08:59:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:51:23.914-04:00SBG Updates- Assessment Question DesignOverall the way I'm using <a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/search/label/SBG">standards based grading</a> hasn't changed all that much but I have made some changes to things that I'm pretty pleased with. The main things that have changed are the way I design assessment questions and last summer I changed the ways that I organize the skill quizzes. Both have helped me quite a bit. Right now I'll explain the question design, more on the organization later.<br />
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Like much else, this idea wasn't my own. For all I know this could be how everyone else is already writing quizzes and I was just out of the loop. A coworker and I attended an NCTM workshop a couple years ago and went to a session on SBG. It was a great one because it was a district that uses it district wide and were explaining their system. A decent amount was similar to what we were already doing but they had a really great system for how they design assessments. (I wish I could credit who this came from but it was nearly 3 years ago at this point and I just have no idea)<br />
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<a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/sbg-assessment-questions.html">Before</a>, I don't think there was any rhyme or reason to what questions I included. I tried to cover a variety of different aspects of the skill and would then <a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/sbg-grading.html">grade</a> based on what I saw.<br />
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The suggestion was to create each skill with questions of increasing difficulty to make it easier to determine what the student does/does not understand. Each skill contains five questions ranging from the absolute basics needed for the skill to a challenge question that requires the student to apply the skill to something not explicitly covered in class. And what I found most helpful was that they said they begin by writing the middle question. So for each skill they think about what does basic proficiency looks likes and make that the middle question. Then from there it's easier to scale the skill up and down. I don't always stick to exactly five questions, but the idea did help me to write quizzes easier.<br />
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This one is a good example of what it looks like on one of my assessments:<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C2h4Yn7FhEs/WX1Hg4gX9hI/AAAAAAAAGgE/JAm4lxr7lGcP7To34k-8FvDp2SOIOKT-QCLcBGAs/s1600/quiz3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="477" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C2h4Yn7FhEs/WX1Hg4gX9hI/AAAAAAAAGgE/JAm4lxr7lGcP7To34k-8FvDp2SOIOKT-QCLcBGAs/s640/quiz3.PNG" width="502" /></a></div>
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First questions is on there to see if the student understands the idea of distance. If this question is not correct, then I know right away what the problem is and where to start. The third question is the basics of what I want them to be able to do. The fourth puts words in to see if they get scared. If they can do the 3rd but not the 4th I know the words threw them.</div>
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I wish I could say that all followed this structure as well, but they just don't. I already had most of the assessments done when I heard this idea so I've been updating things since then. Like the ones below, some have fewer questions but follow the same idea.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b0vTo7VuArU/WX1Ij6QfUVI/AAAAAAAAGgU/xOOQHzUS5ikvf20jacPhMBMTF3AyULC-ACLcBGAs/s1600/quiz%2B2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="527" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b0vTo7VuArU/WX1Ij6QfUVI/AAAAAAAAGgU/xOOQHzUS5ikvf20jacPhMBMTF3AyULC-ACLcBGAs/s640/quiz%2B2.PNG" width="510" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The challenge question here presents more of an idea and less of a problem/answer type question.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YS7BgLE9PWE/WX1IiiljCfI/AAAAAAAAGgQ/BvrK9ds-KAE7oH4FMV4dW_NpRbFvVDjGgCLcBGAs/s1600/quiz1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="539" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YS7BgLE9PWE/WX1IiiljCfI/AAAAAAAAGgQ/BvrK9ds-KAE7oH4FMV4dW_NpRbFvVDjGgCLcBGAs/s640/quiz1.PNG" width="522" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This one also uses error analysis as the challenge question, I've noticed that <br />sometimes that type of thinking is hard for my kids so I like to work on it.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzK1uYF5GQA5anlpRmVWUDdibDA" style="font-size: x-large;">Template Download</a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><i>(fonts are Aldine401 BT, Bebas Neue, Abel, Segoe UI Light)</i></span></div>
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This is just from Microsoft Word using a table. Included are 6 boxes, that is the general starting point but from there I'll merge boxes, hide borders, and/or play with the box heights to create the different layouts like I've got above</div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-35106548959305949572017-07-30T09:04:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:52:29.232-04:00Still hereHey, it's been awhile. Checking in here because a couple people said they missed me and I appreciated that very much. I do have a few new things that I've wanted to share, but before that here's a quick recap of what's been up lately:<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What's new:</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li><b>My time management (aka probably the reason I don't blog anymore)</b><br />A few years ago I was spending all my time doing work and it wasn't working out well for me. I'd bring work home at night, I'd work on things during the weekend, I'd spend all summer making posters, buying things for my classroom, blogging about work, etc. It just got to be too much for me so I don't do it anymore. I'd write more about this but I fear that it might come off too negative sounding.<br /></li>
<li><b>This guy</b><br /><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePDJEdEgzfQ/WX0u0LDEqNI/AAAAAAAAGf8/xTkuf2LP38QguYYtS-H5OjVZtzqfT5iQgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_20160829_094903%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1168" data-original-width="1600" height="464" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePDJEdEgzfQ/WX0u0LDEqNI/AAAAAAAAGf8/xTkuf2LP38QguYYtS-H5OjVZtzqfT5iQgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_20160829_094903%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />His name is Snoopy and I adopted him about two years ago. This is him last summer hanging out with me while I set up my classroom. He's super cool and helps greatly to occupy my time outside of school so that I can't spend all my time doing work. So he's not school related, but that picture is so that counts.<br /><a name='more'></a></li>
<li><b>The amount of time I spend advising/coaching</b><br />So while I said up there that I haven't been spending time outside of school working I should probably amend that to working <u>on math teaching things</u>. I haven't really talked all that much at all about the group that I advise/coach (SkillsUSA) but in the past few years the amount of time I spend on it has increased exponentially. Much of this time is spent working with students fundraising and preparing them for state championships though so it's much different than sitting home doing teacher work. It takes up a ton of time and drives me absolutely nuts at certain times during the year but is incredibly rewarding.<br /></li>
<li><b>Grad school (aka another reason I haven't been here)</b><br />During 2016 I started work on my masters in school administration (principal and supervisor certifications). Over the past five years I've been doing increasingly more work on developing curriculum and have found that I really enjoy planning things like that and doing work on that scale. Ultimately I'd like to move on to be a mathematics supervisor.<br /></li>
<li><b>Some things with how I use standards based grading and interactive notebooks</b><br />I'm planning to share some of what I think are the more interesting things that I'm doing.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>What's not:</b></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Where I teach</b><br />Still at the same vocational school and it's still a great place to work!<br /></li>
<li><a href="https://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/classroom-6.html"><b>My classroom</b></a><br />Prior to this room, my classroom got moved on me every two years. This year will be the fourth that I've spent in this room so that's cool. At the end of last school year someone that I work with forced me to declutter and get rid of a bunch stuff which made setting up and cleaning up my room last year a breeze. Again on the topic of time management, previously I used to spend a bunch of time in August setting things up but now I've gotten it down to about one and a half days. And this year I (along with the help of a few awesome kids) packed the whole thing up in one day too.<br /></li>
<li><b>What I'm teaching</b><br />This may also be a reason I haven't been around here. Lately there isn't a whole bunch of new stuff that I'm doing. Right now this is the longest that I've been at a school and I'm fairly consistently teaching the same courses. I have a bank of things that I really like using and while I do add in new stuff here or there it's nothing major. Most of the newer stuff that I do use is things I get from other people's blogs.</li>
</ul>
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Also noteworthy: I am working on fixing links to stuff. Unfortunately the site that I used to share files a couple years ago has stopped working and the process of fixing everything is just too overwhelming. I fixed some of the most requested files so if there is something you were looking for (and it's not too late) please go give it another try. If there is something else that you see and would like please leave me a comment on the post and I'll try my best.</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-82198077776933654362015-08-13T15:10:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:53:39.865-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 13<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span id="docs-internal-guid-ceb16d07-9cd5-d1a9-b849-336ad3463f68"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Day</span> 13: </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Name the top edtech tools that you use on a consistent basis in the classroom, and rank them in </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">terms of their perceived (by you) effectiveness.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For anyone keeping track, I've missed some days here. I'd apologize but I was out doing more fun things so no apologies! And maybe this wasn't a great day to come back to because I've written about this before but oh well. Also, like I've said before I'm extremely picky about edtech. I won't use it if it doesn't enable me to do something better than I could do without it. So while things like edmodo, plickers, or socrative are extremely cool they just don't have enough pay off for me. I teach small classes so it's not hard to get quick feedback from each kid. So if you're looking for some new, undiscovered edtech tools I'm sorry to say you won't find it here. These are the tried and true ones that you probably already know about and use.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">So in order, these are my top 5 at the moment that I actually use.</span></span><br />
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<ol>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><b style="font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Dropbox
</b><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Nothing has made my life easier than dropbox. I got a promotion that gave me a lot of space for free for 2 years and after that I signed up for an account because I saw the value in it. It's on all of my computers and devices and I use it pretty exclusively instead of any hard drive. I know everyone says google drive can do the same thing but for now I just still prefer Dropbox.
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</span></b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222;"><b style="font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remind101
</b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I wrote about this one last week or so but it's worth mentioning again because it's definitely at the top of my list. It's just one that makes my life so much easier. I seriously use it all the time. I started using it to text the homework so they didn't forget but now I just use it for any little thing. I also run a club where I need to stay in touch with kids I don't teach so it's perfect for passing on information to them, telling them when meetings are, or when I need help with stuff. I send a text and within minutes kids show up to help with whatever I need.
<i>Sidenote: I do know that it's only called Remind now, but I like the 101. It makes it super hard to search for help or things using just Remind since it's a common word.</i>
</span></span></li>
<li><b style="color: #222222; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Weebly
</b><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;">I use this for my class website and it's great. I used to use Yola and really liked it but one of the new teachers last year suggested this one and I think it's much better. It's simple to use and so far I haven't come across anything it can't do that I need.
</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-size: x-large;">IXL
</b>I use this one pretty often because the kids generally like it. It doesn't offer rich open ended questions but I think it's good for skill practice. My district has a subscription so that's really where the value is for me. I wouldn't use it as much as I do if I only had the trial accounts. It tracks everything and progressively makes the questions more challenging as the kid progresses. The kids usually like when I give them a handful of sections to choose from and let them work on the areas where they need work.
</span></li>
<li><b style="color: #222222; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Google Drive
</b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">It's not far enough up on the list to top Dropbox, but still has a place as one of my most used. I probably love using Forms the most. It's the best, quickest way for me to gather information from a group. Sharing and being able collaborate on Docs and Sheets has been very useful to use with my club officers. I'm also liking that Docs can be saved to PDFs and I like their attempt at offering to convert Docs to Word documents but it still doesn't work seamlessly enough for me.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-10879272895747797612015-08-06T10:43:00.003-04:002017-08-22T06:59:42.411-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 6<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span id="docs-internal-guid-ceb16d07-9cd3-8bbe-0ed5-bc29d813b28f"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 6: </span></span><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;">Explain- What does a good mentor “do”?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.listenandlearn.org/the-teachers-handbook/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/20-things-new-teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.listenandlearn.org/the-teachers-handbook/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/20-things-new-teachers.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://www.listenandlearn.org/the-teachers-handbook/how-should-i-gain-experience-as-a-beginner-teacher-with-no-students/" target="_blank">source</a></i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Initially when I read this I thought of a teacher mentoring another teacher. In New Jersey part of getting our teaching certificate is going through a year of mentoring. A more experienced teacher gets assigned to each brand new teacher to help them out. The mentor teacher gets a stipend to do this, some districts pay for it and in others the new teacher has to pay the mentor </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">them self</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. (sidenote: I'm actually quite curious if this is a common practice across the other states? Or if not, what do you do instead?) I'm actually not too sure of how many effective mentoring relationships I've seen. In my experience, the official mentor doesn't always seem to be the one that helps the new teacher the most. Also I've never officially mentored another teacher so I can't really speak from the other side. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">So what I'd guess is a good teacher mentor would do is to just really to support the new teacher without being condescending. And I think that new teachers are an especially interesting bunch of people to mentor. As a brand new teacher we're put in front of a group of kids who we have to seem like an expert in front of, even if we're far from being experts. Sure we're most likely an expert in the content, but that is also like the smallest part of teaching. So it seems some new teachers end up having a hard time really asking for help and admitting that they don't really know quite what they're doing yet because they feel like they have to be experts already. Consequently, I've seen new teachers that feel like they need to come across as if they already know everything. By the way, I think I was a "new teacher" until like year five and I was definitely one of those people that thought I knew way more than I really did so please don't feel like I'm </span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">criticizing</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> anyone. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">And I'm not trying to fault anyone. Being a new teacher is a tricky. Seem too insecure and the kids are going to pick up on it and you'll lose your authority. Come across as too authoritative and the kids will pick up on that too, they'll realize you're new and over compensating and they won't respect that either. And honestly, I don't really know what the answer is. I wasn't great at classroom management for quite awhile. My 5th year was the year I finally <i>really</i> got the hang of it. Kids see right through us. I've talked at length with kids about this stuff and trust me, they pick up on every little thing.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Sorry, I went off on a bit of a tangent here but what I'm trying to say is that mentoring a new teacher is sometimes tricky. Sometimes we think we know more than we really do and can be hesitant to really listen to someone trying to tell us what we should be doing. We think we've got this under control. And since I've never done it I guess I don't quite know what the right answer is!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">When I think of a good mentor though, I think of the cooperating teacher I had when I did my student teaching. She never directly tried to tell me what to do or teach me how to teach. She made me feel way better than I probably was at the time. She got really excited about new things that I tried and made me feel like I was doing a good job, which made me want to keep trying. She acted like I was her colleague instead of someone that was there to learn from her. I definitely wasn't her equal, but it felt like it.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">She had a phenomenal relationship with her students so I learned this just from watching. She never talked down to the kids, she joked around with them, she was always smiling. I can't remember her ever really getting super angry or yelling or threatening anyone but the kids still all behaved for her and respected her.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;">So in the spirit of advice, I'll share some of my favorite bits of "new teacher advice" I've found. I've come across these on pinterest so you may have already seen them but there's tons of advice there and I feel these ones ring especially true. And if you are new, my biggest bit of advice would just be to keep an open mind. Try to be the expert in front of your classroom, but find some experienced teachers that you respect and try to learn all that you can from them. Don't ever feel like you can't admit that you need help because as teachers we're usually a pretty willing and helpful bunch.</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://dailygenius.com/tips-for-new-teachers/" style="white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">5 Effective Tips for New (and Experienced) Teachers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://teach4theheart.com/2014/10/20/the-7-bad-habits-of-ineffective-teachers/?utm_content=buffer677c0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer" style="white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">The 7 Bad Habits of Ineffective Teachers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://teach4theheart.com/2014/03/31/do-teachers-really-need-to-dress-professionally/" style="white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">Do Teachers Really Need to Dress Professionally?</a></li>
<li><a href="http://i0.wp.com/50.87.248.166/~theclay0/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/new-2Bteacher-2Bthinking.png" style="white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">New Teacher Thinking vs. Veteran Teacher Thinking</a></li>
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If you recall, in the beginning I said that <i>i</i><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>nitially </i>when I read this I thought of a teacher mentoring another teacher. But then I rambled on about that for far too long and never got to the other part I was going to talk about- which is mentoring students. So perhaps I'll save that for another day because I have quite a bit to say on that too. Or maybe I won't get around to it, who knows!</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-75616957099039194342015-08-05T08:53:00.000-04:002017-08-22T06:59:56.177-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 5<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ceb16d07-9cd3-4a7a-2e1e-305af16f5cd5"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">Day</b><b> 5: </b></span></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;">Post a picture of your classroom, and describe what you see <span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;">–and what you don’t see that you’d </span><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;">like to.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This is what my room looked like on June 16 right before I started to pack stuff up for the summer. These are not the nice, clean, staged pictures that I <a href="http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/classroom-6.html" target="_blank">posted last August </a>before all the kids came. These are closer to the reality. You'll notice my desk is messy. The tables are filled with stuff. Posters are falling off the walls.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I don't really know what I'd like to see, I'm pretty happy with how it all worked out. I loved my new room this year. Having the sitting area behind my desk was my favorite part I think. It was a very comfortable room to be in and we had a lot of fun there this year.</span></span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-69167081899898694172015-08-04T08:38:00.002-04:002017-08-22T07:01:06.883-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 4<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a></span><br />
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ceb16d07-9cd3-12c4-f9cf-c8605b9df921"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">Day 4: </span></b></span></span><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What do you love the most about teaching?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well this one is easy, the kids! This has always been my answer to this question, but this year it rings more true than ever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I started this blog the summer before I started at the school I'm presently in. I had taught for the previous six years in middle school, two years in 7th grade and then four years in 8th grade. When I taught 8th grade graduation was always bittersweet. Sure the kids drive me nuts at times but it always made me sad to see them go. Being in 8th grade, they were going off to high school and it meant not seeing most of them again.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In moving to high school and teaching underclassmen I was excited to not have this happen. And then my first year here I got the most awesome group of sophomores. And it was great because they weren't going anywhere! (do you see where this is going yet?).</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">So for all three years that I've been at my school I've gotten back this same group of kids each year. And I teach small classes, so it's been a group of around 10 kids. This year they weren't required to take math but I asked to teach an elective math course and most of my group of kids signed up to take it. We joked through the year that I was the Mr. Feeny of their group. Towards the end of the year they'd ask if I was <i>sure</i> that I wasn't coming to college with them. I taught them in class but also for the past three years some of them also spent lunch in my room, we started a bunch of school spirit stuff the school never had, we did community service (voluntarily just because they wanted to), many of them joined the club I run, they stayed after school to do work with me, they came to hang out in the morning, they had designated cubbies in my room that they used instead of lockers, helped me out countless times, and the list goes on and on. They've stayed in touch via e-mail each summer with anything exciting that happened. When they had issues with other teachers they came to me and I stood up for them. When they were upset or frustrated or just in a bad mood they came to me. When they were really excited about something they came to me. Whenever I needed help or came up with some crazy new idea these were the kids that were with me. And when I got the most frustrated, it was also probably because of them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Pretty much every teacher and counselor that has had this group talks about how they're just the best kids ever. They've been a teacher's dream and I'm so grateful to have been able to be their teacher for so long. Graduation this year was very tough. </span></span>If I thought that seeing my 8th graders off was hard, it was nothing compared to this year. I opted to write them letters as a way of saying goodbye. They signed my yearbook and wrote me letters. There were tears (theirs and mine). I had expected that graduation itself would be hard but what was harder was the morning. They got to leave school at lunchtime and almost all of them came to say goodbye to me before they went home. It was one of the hardest things ever.<br />
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So that's what I love most about teaching. I know people say that great groups come along all the time, and as one leaves you usually get another one. We'll see how true that is. But I know that I've been doing this for almost a decade now and I've never had a group like this. Next year won't be the same without them but I'm looking forward to hearing about all their next steps. <br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-53607584520533449942015-08-03T11:17:00.000-04:002017-08-22T07:01:23.066-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 3<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 3: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Discuss one “observation” area that you would like to improve on for your teacher evaluation.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Well I think this one goes back to my goals for the year. It's also something that we (in NJ at least) are required to do each year. It's called our Professional Development Plan (or PDP because we love acronyms). At the end of the year we look at our final observation and choose two standards that we'd <span style="font-family: inherit;">like to improve further on and then outline a plan to do so. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So below is the standard I chose: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold;">Standard 5. Teachers reflect on their practice</span></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold;">A. Teachers analyze student learning. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Teachers think systematically and critically about student learning in their classrooms and schools: why learning happens and what can be done to improve achievement. Teachers collect and analyze student performance data to improve school and classroom effectiveness. They adapt their practice based on research and data to best meet the needs of students.</span></span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the evaluation criteria: </span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"><b>Distinguished: </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Recognizes the need to improve student learning in the classroom.</span></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Developing: </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Provides ideas about what can be done to improve student learning in their classroom.</span></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Accomplished: </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thinks systematically and critically about learning in their classroom: Why learning happens and what can be done to improve student achievement.</span></li>
<li><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Distinguished: </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Provides a detailed analysis about what can be done to improve student learning and uses such analyses to adapt instructional practices and materials within the classroom and at the school level.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">And this is the personal goal I created:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Refine standards based assessment methods in the Algebra 1 and Geometry courses. Create assessments with scaffolding to represent the different proficiency levels to better help the students and the teacher determine a student's level of understanding and what they can do to improve.</span></span></blockquote>
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Really <span style="font-family: inherit;">it's just the same thing I said a couple days ago about how I want to improve what I'm doing with SBG. A little more specifically, I'd like to try to start doing something I heard at a AMTNJ workshop</span> this past January.<br />
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A group of teachers and administrators presented a session on Standards Based Grading. They had switched over as a district and worked together to develop a consistent system that they're all using. One thing they stressed was the need for collaboration. Or maybe not the <i>need</i> per se, but how much easier it made it. I attended the session with an awesome teacher from my school who had heard about SBG from me, but wasn't completely sold on it quite yet. The session got him a lot more excited about it though and now he wants to implement it next year. So this will certainly be a help for me. We're both teacher Algebra 1 & Geometry so having help with both will be super helpful.<br />
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My big takeaway, however, was the way that they designed their quizzes. Up until then I had put on a good mix of questions for each skill and graded over all their understanding. There wasn't a real system, just whatever I felt like belonged. What they do though, is more of a template for skill quizzes. All of theirs have five questions. They start their designing with the middle question and make that the most basic level of proficiency. Then they create two questions that get progressively more basic, and two that get more advanced. So instead of just a mix of basic questions, they have scaffolded quizzes. First of all, it makes it easier to write quizzes this way. I did it for the rest of the year and really liked it. Second it makes it easier to grade. By including the basic questions it makes it easier to determine if a students has some sort of idea of what they're doing, even if they're not yet up to being proficient. <br />
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I'm hoping that this will be manageable this year being that I'll have someone to work with and less courses to keep up with.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-65903382448950020822015-08-02T09:53:00.000-04:002017-08-22T07:01:35.187-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 2<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span id="docs-internal-guid-ceb16d07-9cd2-17b5-3884-1eb243ec0851"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Day 2</span><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">: </span></span><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also </span><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">write about what you’re hoping to see out of this edtech integration.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hmm, ok so prompts like this might be more of an explanation of why I haven't been blogging. I can't think of anything new. I've got a routine going with technology that I'm pretty happy with. Also I'm super picky about technology. Whenever I hear about a new app or program I look at what it can do for me that I couldn't do without it. If it doesn't offer anything that I can't currently do I usually won't use it. I absolutely can't stand using technology just for the sake of technology. I don't like it when teachers use it just for the cool factor. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you came into my classroom you'd probably think that I don't actually use all that much technology. I don't show videos everyday. I don't post my handouts online instead of printing them. I don't use edmodo to post class announcements or have discussions.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remind101 is still my favorite piece of technology. It lets me do something I otherwise couldn't do- get in touch with kids outside of class. I like my <a href="http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/extra-help.html" target="_blank">extra help livebinders</a>. They let me offer help outside of class. I love <a href="http://ixl.com/" target="_blank">IXL</a>. It lets all of the kids sit in the same room and practice different things and get instant feedback on how they're doing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is something new I'd like to start, it's not new technology but just a new (for me) way of using it. I advise a school group (SkillsUSA- it's awesome, look it up!) and every year we've been expanding the group and what we're doing. This past year we implemented student officers that were thrilled to be so involved in all the planning parts of running the group. This year I'd like to do more of that. I want to start using google docs a lot more with them. This year they were responsible for creating meeting agendas and it was great for us all to be able to open the document and work together. This year I want to get a spreadsheet up and have them take over doing the financial record keeping as well. Have them manage all the income and expenses and decide if we have the money to do things. I also want to have them take over more of the website planning. We have a website and a blog that I didn't do a wonderful job of updating regularly so I want them to take over this part too. Give them a schedule and update it every week on what we did that week. I had them write a couple times this year and they loved the responsibility of it. The big thing that I saw this year was that the more responsibility we gave them, the more they rose to the occasion and became leaders that I was really proud of. So this year that'll be my goal. To turn over the technological responsibilities to them as well (while I keep a close watch over whatever goes up of course!).</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-4676393686971955732015-08-01T09:10:00.000-04:002017-08-22T07:03:07.346-04:00Blogging Challenge Day 1<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hey, remember me? Well I've gotten quite a few e-mails lately asking if I was ever going to blog again so I thought I'd check in and assure the ten people that are still reading this that I am in fact alive. So there were a bunch of reasons that things were so quiet around here all year, some of which I'll probably talk about. I do like blogging though, especially before school starts, because it does help me process all the things that went well and not so well during the year and helps to get ready for the new year. This year though I didn't really know what to blog about or where to start thinking. I was tired of feeling like I was posting the same things over and over (notebook pages and posters) so I decided I'd try out a blogging challenge I found. It's from last year, and not specific to math but I thought there were some interesting prompts in there that were things I'd like to think about. So if anyone else is stuck in the same rut as me, I'd love it if you joined me!</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/reflective-teaching-30-day-blogging-challenge-teachers/" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1.2em;" target="_blank">Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge For Teachers</a><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large; line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DAY 1</span><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">: </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">Write your goals for the school year. Be as specific or abstract as you’d like to be.</span></b></span><br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Do a better job at SBG<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">Three years ago I started using </span><a href="http://everybodyisageniusblog.blogspot.com/search/label/SBG" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">Standards Based Grading </a><span style="font-weight: normal;">(and wrote a bunch about it last summer) but this year I don't feel like I did as good of a job with it as I could have. I still think it's great and does great things for my classroom but this year I feel like I got way too overwhelmed and just didn't do as well with it as I could have. I taught four different courses this year and just had too hard of a time trying to keep up with four sets of skill lists, quizzes, re-quizzes, and all that. This upcoming year I'll only have two courses to keep up with (cross your fingers for me that nothing changes in the next month!) and I also have an awesome teacher at my school that is going to try it with me this year so I'm hoping that it'll be more manageable this year. I also went to a workshop during the year that talked about SBG and had some really great ideas I plan to implement (more on this another time).<a name='more'></a></span></b></li>
<li><b>Find a good work/life balance</b><br />This one is part of the reason I stopped blogging this year. In the past, I haven't done a particularly job of having a non-school life. I'd spend all day at school (usually getting there early and staying late) and then come home and keep doing work, or thinking about school, blogging about school, etc. This year I got out of this rut and did a much better job of leaving work at school. I left my work at school when I went home for the day and had more of a non-school life when I came home. I've spent the past couple summers doing work at home all summer and going into my room as often as possible. I'm pleased to say that I've not been into my room once yet and I have no plans to go there anytime soon (we don't start until September). This year was extremely stressful for me so in part this was necessary for my sanity, but it's something that I'd like to keep up. So if you were hoping for more regular posts from me once school starts, that may not happen. But when things are all quiet here it usually means that I'm out doing more exciting things, which is a win for me.</li>
<li><b>Grad School</b><br />This year will be my 10th year of teaching and I'm finally getting the itch to go back to school. I always figured that I would someday but still wasn't sure what I wanted to go back for and I definitely didn't want to change my mind once I started. I also didn't want to go back and then get too overwhelmed trying to manage work and going to school I found a great program that will give me lots of options and because it's online I think it'll be manageable while I work.</li>
</ol>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616705538646565883.post-69439649565656087932014-08-30T07:00:00.000-04:002014-08-30T07:00:04.666-04:00Classroom #6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
My classroom is finally done! I moved rooms this summer which was quite a task. Moving rooms is something I've gotten quite used to, I just counted and over the past 8 years I have had 6 different classrooms. I have also accumulated a ridiculous amount of stuff. I tried really hard this time to actually clean stuff out instead of just finding a place to stash it. I finally parted with a bunch of papers, lesson plans, transparencies, old handbooks and just so much.</div>
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It's kinda hard to take good pictures with all the windows so ignore the not wonderful lighting. This is the view when you walk in the door. </div>
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It took a good amount of time and effort but I'm happy with it.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/jaus6u.jpg"/></div>Sarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14839097475307093993noreply@blogger.com8