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Showing posts from 2018

Breaking Out to Break In

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Breaking Out to Break In Building class community, learning about your students, and creating a fun environment to learn are a few of the goals we have as teachers when we begin the school year. So what better way than to participate in a Breakout Edu? This September, teachers in our elementary and middle school buildings have been taking this opportunity to create their classroom culture. By using Breakout Edu games, teachers have seen an increase in communication and collaboration with their students. The skills they practiced through the games transfer to other disciplines and give all students a chance to feel successful. Breakouts can be used throughout the year, in any subject, and at any level. Garnet Valley teachers continue to innovate and provide students with opportunities to build their 21st Century skills, making them Future Ready! #GVFEELING ************************************************************** Here is what Garnet Valley Teachers had to say: What
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Gradual Release of Responsibility: A Parody Taken from Laura Numeroff’s successful story, When You Give a Mouse a Cookie , here is a parody to demonstrate the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. When you talk to a teacher in a grocery store, She will want an idea. When you give a teacher an idea, She will ask for a day to learn. When you give her a day to learn, She will create a lesson. When she creates a lesson, Her students will struggle. When her students struggle, They will learn how to create. When the students learn how to create, They will ask for more projects. When you give them more projects, They will want to share. When the students begin to share, They will want to ask questions. When the students ask questions, They will want to research. When the students begin to research, They will want to create. When the students create a second time, They have learned independence, collaboration and problem-so

Taking Learning to a New Level with Dash

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This image can be found on this site. Dash can Take on any Task Did you know? That 90% of parents want their child to study computer science and only 40% of schools teacher computer programming? Computer Science takes up close to ⅔ of new jobs in STEM.   With the statistics provided by CDSEWeek.org we need to ask ourselves, “How are we preparing our students for what’s ahead of them?” “Are we leading them to be future-ready?” The answer is YES in GVSD. Our elementary teachers in GVSD are providing students opportunities for learning computer science by using Dash the robot. Are you familiar with   Dash and Dot , from Wonder Workshop ? If you haven’t explored robots for elementary students take a moment to explore Wonder Workshop . These robots have provided so many learning experiences to our elementary classrooms across the district.  Students are learning how to code in Math, ELA, Science and Social Studies. Teachers are using their content and standards

A Flipped Flip Grid

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How do we make instruction more accessible to all our students? How do we make makers of them all?  Thank you, #FlipGrid!  Mrs. Munro's 3rd and 4th Grade students participated in a Mystery Bag Design Challenge today!  They were each given a bag with mystery supplies in it.  They chose a design challenge "card" and solved the problem using their mystery materials.  Here's how we did it: 1. Instead of making paper cards with written words, we created individual Flip Grid Videos with each of those cards instead. That way all students could listen, visualize and plan without any worry of skill or ability. 2. Each student chose one of those "cards" and made an incredible design. See pics below! 3. When they were done creating, they used Flip Grid to "respond" to one of the challenges. They took a video explaining and showing their designs. 4. Now they are able to listen to each classmates response on their own individual iPads. He

Blog #3 The Power of Technology

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Blog #3 This blog is a reflection of the video posted below. It was put out by Microsoft and it certainly makes you think. Watch this video. What are your thoughts?? Tech Coach Response #1 I am truly amazed at what we are able to do with technology in today’s world. Technology today was only dreamed of when I was growing up. We did not have mobile devices and almost everything was somehow connected to an outlet. One thing is for sure, you don’t have to go to the library or the computer lab to get work done. Work can happen from anywhere and any place. I do believe we need to remember the power that technology has and not let it take power over us.  We need to be mindful of how we use it, remember that anything can be tracked and traced and use it to do good.   Currently, as a teacher, I have found the good that technology can do.  With my students, I have been able to connect them with classes all around the world. As a professional, I have been able to connect with o

Blog #2 Poem in the Pocket

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There are so many fun poems out there to read, but honestly, I never really like poetry growing up.  I was never into the famous poets like Elizabeth Browning or Walt Whitman, although they are amazing writers.  It was hard for me to understand the meanings behind their words and understand their imagery.  I "wrote" off poetry and had no interest in it what so ever. And then I became a teacher in April...National Poetry Month!  Oh no!  What was I to do?  I couldn't hide, I wouldn't lie Oh no, what was I to do?!  Corny, I know, but the feeling was true!  It wasn't until I began teaching Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, and Shel Silverstein that I realized how funny it could be.  Then I began to enjoy poetry.  One of my favorites as a kid and even now is Shel Silverstein's "Sick" and my favorite line is the following: "What's that? What's that you say? You say today is...Saturday? G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

Our 15 Blog Challenge

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At GVMS, Mrs. Dean is challenging her students to post 15 blog entries by May 24th.  Here are the parameters: May either be on a topic of choice or a topic from a given list.  Must be done by May 24th. You can see that Mrs. Dean values student choice and voice in this assignment.  Students may write all 15 in one day or spread it out.  They can write about something they show passion or interested in writing. Furthermore, she is teaching the students life skills they will need as they enter post-secondary schools or employment.  Have a digital portfolio of writing that shows growth over time is a powerful tool that will help them stand out among other candidates.   As Tech Coaches, we want to help support the students and model this process for them as well.  Therefore, we are taking the challenge!  We will have 15 posts after this one. Some on topics of choice and others that we choose from the list. Also, you'll hear from different voices to mix it up a littl