What's with the Weather?

With all the crazy weather we've been having it seems a very fitting science topic to discuss this week. Here in Georgia lately it's been rainy one day, warm and sunny the next, and snowing (doesn't stick) the next.

Tie it all in...

Have your students keep a weather calendar for at least 2 weeks. They can do this individually or together as a group. Once they've collected the data, tie in math by graphing the information gathered. Depending on the grade level, you can extend even more on that by finding the mean, median, and mode. With the younger grades it's a good way to practice reading the information from the graph. Another thing I've done with younger ones is an online game What's the Weather? that practices reading thermometers. The student reads the temperature and decides what the fussy bear should wear to go outside. This game can help with the "but I don't want to wear my jacket to recess...it's hot" battle that we face as teachers. Tell your students what the temperature is and ask them what 'fussy bear' would wear to go out.

What do you do with weather in your classroom?

Have you been having crazy weather like us?


~Steph

Podcasts

For our first edition of Tech Wiz Wednesday, we've decided to share something we created in one of our classes our last summer in college. For our online technology class we were assigned to create a "TechCast". It just had to be a podcast (audio), but we both decided to add video to ours. The assignment asked us to discuss 5 top technology resources we could use in our future classrooms. Not only did we enjoy researching the technology to talk about, but we really enjoyed making the podcasts in general. We both could see using podcasts in our classroom as well! Think about those students who just can't stand having to get up there and present in front of the class...let them record a podcast! Or you could stick with the true meaning from which podcast was derived and have "episodes" for different subjects/assignments.

This week we're going to share just our podcasts. Over the next 5 weeks we're going to discuss each of our technology tools a little more.

Here's Steph's TechCast:

Here's Manda's TechCast:

 

 Did you enjoy our podcasts? Could you see using podcasts in your class, either by you or your students? Would you like to know how to make a podcast (with and without video)?

~Steph & Manda

STAR Testing

STAR Testing

Does your school use STAR testing for monitoring? What are your thoughts on STAR? We’ve seen STAR be used well and not so well. Our entire district uses Renaissance AR and STAR, but different schools determine to what level they use it. Some of the schools place a lot of focus on AR, but they don’t focus on using the STAR test. What are they using to determine student levels? Some schools (or at least teachers in those schools) focus on both strongly.

I spent time student teaching in a local school that placed a large focus on AR school-wide. Administration asked that teachers test their students’ STAR levels once a month. The teacher I was placed with at the time would have her students test every two weeks. She used this, along with another program the school had purchased, for progress monitoring. She met with the students and talked with them about how their scores had changed. Seeing what these scores and how it affected them encouraged the students to focus on the tests more.

However, some schools focus on getting AR points and they use the STAR tests to place students in groups. These groupings aren’t always beneficial to the students though. For instance, one first grade student has the second highest amount of points in his class, has the best ratio of test passes to tests taken, and the highest percent of comprehension on his AR test. However, this same student scores continuously early kindergarten on STAR reading and early second grade on STAR math. In this particular case, what can be done to motivate this student? He strongly dislikes taking these tests. He finds them confusing (reading) and boring (math). This student is very strong in math and has qualified for Math Olympics at school both in kindergarten and first. In reading he has simply been placed in the lowest group. The student and teacher both agree that the books in his guided reading group are too easy for him, but the teacher continues to keep him in this group based on his STAR score. What else could be done? What other assessment could be used? Why is he scoring so low on STAR if he’s able to perform well in group?

Again, what do you think about STAR? Do you or a fellow teacher use it? If so, how does it take effect in your classroom?

~Steph

Review that gets your students moving!

 Our first Maniac Math Monday is here and we have been thinking all week about what to talk about with everyone. We want to talk to you about an exciting product we are working on but it isn’t quite finished yet. Therefore instead we decided to think about something fun that could be done in all math classes. 

I began thinking about ways for the students to review topics covered earlier in the year. As the school year gets closer to all those end of the year test teachers are constantly faced with needing review games and activities to keep students thinking as well as keep them engaged. When I was student teaching I used activities my supervising teachers called “Gallery Walks” to review with my students. These “Gallery Walks” were a great way for students to review any topic but I always enjoyed how they worked in Math.

The teacher would post up word problems around the room. Each word problem had a corresponding picture on the page as well. The teacher would give each student a paper with the pictures from each word problem; this served as a reference for how many problems they had to find. The students would then have to “visit” each picture in the “gallery” and solve the word problem. The students would be checked off by the teachers and be given a sticker or signature marking the picture they completed. The students were told that they were to act as if they were in a real art gallery and they could not talk. I never had a problem with this activity getting out of hand because the students enjoyed getting out of their seats and doing this type of activity.

I feel that this is a great review activity for students and it also allowed students to work at their own pace. It also gives teachers a chance to check the student’s ability in a wide range of topics.  

Have you done any activities similar to this in your classrooms? Do you think it could be beneficial for reviewing topics with your students? We want to know what you think!

-         - Manda

Facebook

Just a quick post to say that we've started a Facebook page for our TpT store and blog! We're excited to start this adventure and connect with our readers even more! Visit our page Rock Stars in the Classroom Facebook Page and 'like' our page. We are going to do a giveaway when we reach 30 'likes'!

Schedule

We're not happy with the lack of posting taking place. So we've decided to design a schedule of weekly posts to keep us on track, as mentioned in the Excitement post. (We're determined to start getting organized in life!)

Our posts will consists of information, ideas, stories, etc from Steph's adventure as a long term EIP sub, our student teaching adventures, things from our TpT store, and general experiences.

Here's what the schedule will look like:

Maniac Math Monday will consist of posts of math activities, worksheets, ideas, etc that we have seen, used, or made. Being an EIP math sub will play a big part in this. Also, both of us have spent a lot of time with math in student teaching! 

Too Much To Talk About Tuesday will be our random day. We'll talk about whatever this day! For things that don't seem to fit into a subject category such as classroom management or just the funny, crazy, and strange things we've seen and heard!

Tech Wiz Wednesday will be where we share ideas of how to implement different technology into your instruction. We'll also have weeks where we share technology tips from our many adventures. Computers, tablets, Microsoft Office, blogging, various websites, etc if it's technology you can bet there's a chance you'll find it here!

Through Time and Space Thursday will be our day to talk about all things Science and Social Studies. We'll discuss different activities and resources we've come across that help make learning (and teaching) these sometime seemingly tedious subjects.

Friend or Foe Friday will be our day to discuss Reading and Language Arts. Many people either LOVE or HATE one or both of these subjects. Teachers struggle with ideas for instruction and students struggle with remembering all the rules. Each week we'll discuss various topics for these subjects and you can decide if it's your (or your students') friend or foe.

We will be starting these posts on Monday, March 4th, 2013! If you have an idea for something you'd like for us to discuss, we'd love to hear it! Comment below or send us an email!

~Steph & Manda

Excitment

I’m so excited to get started with my long term subbing soon! I start on March 13^th! I’ll be in an EIP classroom for 9-10 weeks.

When I’m in the classroom every day, I’m hoping to be able to post more regularly. I would like to post daily. I’m hoping to have themed weekly posts. I am trying to decide what we're going to do though since I’ll just be doing EIP math. I will pull a group of 1^st grade, then go into a 4^th grade class, then go into a 1^st grade class, then I pull a group of 2^nd grade, and then a group of 3^rd grade.

In other news…

I’m kind of curious what our readers think about something. What do you think about Teach for America? Have you or anyone you know ever been a corps member? I applied about two weeks ago to join the corps. It would mean a lot of big changes for our family if I am offered a position and take it. It’s both exciting and nerve racking. I found out today that I move on to the next step in the process…

~Steph