Amber — Page 82

Dum da dum dum…

March 7, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

That’s not a lolly pop offer, 🙂

I’m talking mysteries! Came across a great scholastic site this morning, that has entranced my Lion Leaders. It combines problem solving with their natural mystery loving tendencies.

It’s a great site for teachers. It offers audio support for those who have difficultly reading and has the option to print each mystery out. Differentiation is offered in the form of different levels of mysteries.

These would be great centers, a homework alternative for problem solving practice, or a great way to close out a classroom lesson.

Enjoy!

Sherlock Amberolmes

LO’s, SE’s, and all that implies

March 7, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

We’ve been talking about writing LO’s and I walked around and saw some REALLY good examples on campus yesterday! I know that many of you are still unsure of what you’re actually writing so I did some research. I found many sites that supported the use of LO’s in the classroom, and even some tips on how to most effectively write them for your classroom. I also found these great sample pics from Pinterest, 🙂

There is an argument on the “twitterverse” (@8Amber8) that the more a teacher “instructs” a student to become curious, the less likely that student is to become authentically curious. While I can see this for a high school student, I think the clarity provided with the LO for our elementary students is unarguable.

However, the same as with ANY tool, if the written objective is nothing more than something that looks good in the classroom but is not actually used to enhance learning, like a word wall that is never touched by teachers or students, then it defeats the purpose. INVOLVE your students in understanding the LO. This would be the L in the more traditional KWL chart.

Anywho, off rant.

Here are tips for writing effective LO’s…make them as grade level as possible, without losing the intent…

1. Create a stem. Stem Examples:After completing the lesson, the Lion will be able to . . .
After this unit, the Lion will have . . .
By completing the activities, the Lion will . . .
At the conclusion of the course/unit/study the Lion will . . .

2. After you create the stem, add a verb:analyze, recognize, compare, provide, list, etc.

3. One you have a stem and a verb, determine the actual product, process, or outcome:After completing these lesson, the Lion will be able to recognize foreshadowing in different stories.

ELA examples:

re-tell in his/her own words _____.
summarize the plot of _____.
make inferences from the text . . .
demonstrate understanding by writing three facts about . . .

Math examples:

use collected data to answer the question(s): _____
construct _____ (picture graphs, bar graphs, etc.)
create a series of mathematical steps to be used to . . .

Science examples:

demonstrate an understand of _____ in terms of _____
create a visual representation of _____ (the water cycle, etc.)
understand the basic structure of _____ (an atom)
identify states of matter . . .

objectively,

Amber

The 2012

March 7, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

We’re back, it’s calm & quiet, and its like we haven’t ever left!

🙂

I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions, mainly b/c I never seem to follow them, 🙂

What I do believe in is making positive changes that will impact my life. That being said, my list of 8 (duh!) goals does involve some professional statements. One is to maintain and continue BEING POSITIVE. We started our year with bucket filling, and somehow, over the past semester I think I lost my focus. Be it the stress, the sickness, or the fast pacedness of the fall, I ‘m not sure. I do know that I like me more when I’m chipper and happy. 🙂 Being positive isn’t just an attitutude, it an be a life uplifting direction. Check out these tidbits I came across from Twitter:

( I love Twitter. @8amber8)

1. Positive People Live Longer – In a study of nuns, those that regularly expressed positive emotions lived on average 10 years longer. (The Nun Study)
2. Positive work environments outperform negative work environments. (Daniel Goleman)
3. Positive, optimistic sales people sell more than pessimistic sales people. (Martin Seligman)
4. Positive leaders are able to make better decisions under pressure. (Heartmath.org)
5. Marriages are much more likely to succeed when the couple experiences a 5 to 1 ratio of positive to negative interactions whereas when the ratio approaches 1 to 1, marriages are more likely to end in divorce. (John Gottman)
6. Positive people who regularly express positive emotions are more resilient when facing stress, challenges and adversity. (Several Studies)
7. Positive people are able to maintain a broader perspective and see the big picture which helps them identify solutions where as negative people maintain a narrower perspective and tend to focus on problems. (Barbara Fredrickson)
8. Positive thoughts and emotions counter the negative effects of stress. For example, you can’t be thankful and stressed at the same time. (Several Studies)
9. Positive emotions such as gratitude and appreciation help athletes perform at a higher level. (Heartmath.org)
10. Positive people have more friends which is a key factor of happiness and longevity. (Robert D. Putnam)
11. Positive and popular leaders are more likely to garner the support of others and receive pay raises and promotions and achieve greater success in the workplace. (Tim Sanders)

I’m ok with ALL of these things!!

(I’m pretty sure Troy Aikman agrees with #9. IJS.)

Add being positive to your 2012 list…let’s see if our buckets can all over flow!

Positively,

Amber

a “timely” piece…

March 7, 2013 by Amber Leave a Comment

In the same spirit my positive piece was yesterday, James and I would like to share an article that our esteemed Assistant Superintendent, Phyllis Parker, shared with us this week. I’m going to ask in this week’s Lion Bytes, that you not only take the time to read, but also to respond via a comment about your reactions to this compelling article. We’ll be checking back and responding, creating a virtual conversation that will take place at your leisure.

Every student struggles with something. No student has a perfect life. Every student needs an education that interests and challenges them and helps them learn more about their possibilities. It’s been revealed that more and more students are struggling with reading making the implementation of any supportive strategies as important as ever. In fact, “at-risk” readers are in many instances becoming the norm. Struggling readers and English language learners are among the entire student population that are “at-risk” and we’re regularly working through ideas to help make them successful. By using these same strategies with every student from the start of their education there will be less “at-risk” readers and teachers will have more time to focus on some of the other factors that make every student “at-risk of not developing their potential.” We do that well here at Luna, but again, we want to hear your thoughts about ways we can maybe do it better here in the 2012.

sharingly,

Amber