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Take it up a notch…just a notch! Easy lesson upgrades…

April 27, 2014 by Amber 1 Comment

How can you easily take an assignment you’ve already got in your lesson plans and kick it up notch? Here are some easy ideas for those who need a spark to kick it up a notch!

Pick three – five students to ask to create a lesson on what you’re learning about, instead of completing your assessment. Let them choose the grading scale, manner of delivery. Allow them then to pick three – five students to share it with, while you’re going over what you had planned to assess with the rest of the class.
Vocabulary Expert: Let students choose vocabulary words from the lesson you’re about to teach that they feel they know so well they could teach them. Match partners and allow them ten minutes to teach what they know. (What better way to start a lesson then with students feeling successful?)
Let Ss create their own assessment. One of our amazing teachers let her students do this as a cumulative activity and she was blown away with how well they did. She then let them exchange their assesments to keep the lesson going. Check out their question formats!
Take the five different activities you were going to do for the week and turn them into centers. Upper grades should be scaffolded this way as well! This is a GREAT way to make sure that differentiation occurs in your classroom. If students are broken up into “centers”, it will be more difficult for each student to know what others are doing. You can work remediation lessons into the students who need it, and allow your higher performing students to work on extension skills/concepts.
Turn whatever activity you’re working on into a classroom jigsaw activity. Give groups of students the different questions to answer separately and then come back together as a group to debrief.
Think flexible learning spaces and environments. How can you mix it up, even just for a class period? Let Ss move around, go into the hall, computer lab, library…an opportunity for your “rock stars” to get a change of (s)pace!
Recognize that lower level types of questions only have one answer, but higher level questions can have several “right” answers. Watch this video and evaluate the power of the “correct” answer.

Lesson upgradeN,

Amber

Make an intentional DIGITAL difference!

January 28, 2014 by Amber 2 Comments

Digital Learning Day is about giving every child the opportunity to learn in a robust digital environment everyday, with the goal of success in college and a career. On Wednesday, February 5, tens of thousands of teachers and millions of students across the country will participate in the third annual Digital Learning Day—a national celebration of innovative teaching and common-sense, effective applications of digital learning in America’s schools that support teachers, improve learning, and help students achieve at their highest potential. We here at Watson MST have a higher cause to celebrate this day, this is the style of learning we are leading our MST charge with. To make this day stand out, I am offering different ways that you can add some digital spice to your classroom. I’ve attached a digital challenge bucket list…if you can complete 5 of these activities through the month of February, I’ll either do a week of your duty or teach your class for three hours. Your choice! Now, 5 out of the list…that will require some extra effort on your part, but I think you can do it! Set a personal goal..can’t handle 5? Do one, do two…just make a digital difference, intentionally, this month! Day 1, I gave ya yesterday via email:

Virtual Valentines

The K-12 Virtual Valentines Project designed to teach students geographical awareness and cultural understanding while connecting classrooms all around the world for Valentine’s Day. Our goal is to circumnavigate the globe with virtual Valentines. Whether your students are in kindergarten or are seniors in high school, this project will help them learn something new. This project is being organized by the EdTech Chat ‘n Chew Podcast Team. Our mission is to help you empower your students through 21st Century learning. Throughout the year we’ll be sharing opportunities for your students to learn by connecting with others around the world. Feel free to use the twitter hashtag: #k12valentines Day 2: Have a conversation about DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP and what it means to be active learners in a world full of other people’s creativity. Start conversations about what it means to be a digital citizen from this poster, print it out, and hang it outside of your classroom.

Here is the bucket list….game on! Amber

Voxer: an Edcamp on my phone

November 24, 2013 by Amber 2 Comments

What do you get when you combine a free walkie talkie app, a New Yorker, some Wisconsins, a Missouri-an, and a Texan?

Day after day after day of professional advice, personal support, and a LOT of smiles.

Jessica Johnson introduced me to Voxer while planning our Indiana Leadership presentation. I have to admit, I didn’t quite get the point…why couldn’t we text? or email? or tweet?

Did I really need another techie tool?

Thank goodness she was persistent! Daily now I am in conversation with Jessica Johnson (principalj), Curt Rees (@curtrees) Tom Whitford,(@twhitford), Leah Whitford (@leah_whit), Jay Posick (@posickj ) Joe Sanfelippo (@Joesanfelippofc) Tony Sinansis (@TonySinanis) and Melinda Miller (@mmiller757).

From the crazy events that happen throughout our days to the how would you handle this moments, we have a group to add ideas,thoughts, and advice. Tony mentioned today that these convo’s have become mini edcamps on our phone and I completely agree. We throw out random questions or thoughts and get feedback from in a safe, non-judgmental, different perspective environment.

What have I gained from random, when we have time, less than a minute each (Curt’s rule) messages? Well, considering that this is a group of rock stars…a lot. All principals and a superintendent….I’m literally hanging with the cool kids!

“That’s me!” An activity in whole group settings where you ask questions and the participants all say, “Hey, that’s me!) A great way to show that we all have more in common than we think…
How to handle staff situations gone awry
Instructional writing programs, a debate on a package versus organic teaching/learning
Inspirational videos on demand
How to get out, take a break, reflect on difficult situations
Ways to support our teachers and provide communication tools to help them connect with parents
Social media management, handling multiple accounts for a campus and a personal one
That the FC crickets are THE team! (And I have the tee shirt to prove it!)
That seasoned, experienced administrators struggle, that we all have bad days, but that we do all LOVE our jobs!

I am SO thankful that I have this group daily to hear from, learn from, and laugh with. Considering that I’ve only “met” Jessica, it sure is ironic that I talk more with these “online” peers than I do some of my closest friends.

Thank you, Voxer fam, you are such a great addition to my PLN world!

beep beep,

Amber

Three ways to keep your head above water! & an Erin Condren Giveaway

November 17, 2013 by Amber 29 Comments

Have you ever felt like things were moving too fast? Like things weren’t getting your full attention? Like you were overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start?

Three “strategies” I’ve employed this year to help me “manage” the workload have made a difference in keeping up with my whirlwind of a world.

The first mental saver has been placed email efficacy. My email in box is my todo list. If I have 30 emails in there, that means there are 30 items that require some kind of action, which will stress me out completely. I’ve doubled the amount of folders I have, because I am now sorting them into clearly named folders, as soon as I read them. It makes it so much easier for me to find things if I’ve filed them appropriately. I’ve added sub folders to help! As an example, within my 4th grade folder, I’ve got a field trip folder & a parent contact folder. No more “missing” or “where I’d put that” searching! I’ve also started making items that require a follow up within my inbox. Things I may have sent out but need to make sure we’re taken care of, I change to a different color using the “categories” feature within our email system. At a glance, my inbox is kept current and color coded so I can immediately evaluate what needs to be done.

The second mental saver was the adding an Erin Condren planner to my plate. Rather than try to articulate the greatness that is this planner, just watch this.

While it may seem contradictory to “add” something to help me simplify, this planner has made a huge difference. Our campus calendar can get so crammed, sometimes with activities that don’t involve me, so I needed a place where my responsibilities were clear & detailed. Even the items that did require effort on my part on the campus calendar didn’t have “all” the details I needed. This planner solved that problem.

post its Last but not least, prioritize a to-do list. I keep a stack of the longer lined post it pads on my desk at all times. As I’m asked to do something or have a project in place, I add it to a list I have going. Task completed? Cross it off. Decide there are multiple steps/tasks to a project? Create a new page. One of my mental stressors is that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I have something that needs to be completed. Writing it down, identifying what needs to be done to get it completed, and keeping track of my progress takes the stress level way down. When my list gets ragged, I transfer it over to a fresh new page and seriously, it takes away my feelings of things being unmanageable.

Education is hard enough these days. Not letting our organization get out of control is an easy way to regroup, refocus, and recommit.

Here’s your chance to win a $50 Erin Condren gift card to get YOU on the path to be fabulously organized!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep calm & organize on,

Amber

How using Dropbox changed my life!

October 14, 2013 by Amber 2 Comments

I know that sounds a lil’extreme, but seriously, it did.

Dropbox is a storing/sharing place in the cloud that allows you to keep up with all of your files,where ever you are, even across platforms. I love this blurb I came across:

“This program acts as a “magic pocket” which is always with you and contains whatever you place in it. Put a file into your Dropbox and it’s on all of your computers and mobile devices.”

Who doesn’t want a magic pocket? The genius of this for me is that I use a number of different devices for a number of different things. I take pictures on my phone, I take notes on my iPad, I do appraisals on my Mac, and then will write a blog post on my home PC that needs ALL of those things. Having a place that I can easily access ALL of my “stuff” is crucial for the efficacy of what I do throughout the day.

How to get started/going?

Step one: Go to Dropbox and set up an account. I just use the free one because with as many times as I downloaded it, I got a couple free GB just for multiple downloads. Next, download and install the Dropbox app. Put files and folders that you need to access from various locations and devices into your new Dropbox folder. Then repeat these steps on your other Mac, PCs, and iOS devices. (Again for me, that was two ipads, a phone, two PC’s, and my macbook.
The account that you create automatically includes a Dropbox folder and it shares files with any other devices that have Dropbox and are connected to your account. (PS: you don’t HAVE to download it, but it does make life easier. Anytime I’m working with a file I know I’m going to need later, I just toggle and save in my “Dropbox” folder so I can get to it later.
Now, anytime, you go to SAVE something, you have the ability to add it to your Dropbox. Easy peasy, I tell ya!
Many of us store the files and folders for active projects on the desktop. Put them in Dropbox instead. On your phone and take a pic? Click the + sign on your app and choose what pics you want to add to your Dropbox. It will then be available from any of your devices. Working online? Fabulous! The “files” tab on the website will bring you to your Dropbox folder. This folder is exactly the same as the folder on your devices; any files that you’ve placed into your folder on your computers are accessible through this part of the web site.
Want to share files? BIG Files that you couldn’t send via email without crashing the world wide web? Presentations for parents? Set up separate folders in Dropbox’s Public folder for different people, and then send the separate URLs to each. Or set up a different shared folder for each project, and then distribute that URL to all project participants.
Want to share amazing classroom pictures, but not make them “public public”? Copy photos to Dropbox, and share the URL with family and friends. (I’m going to use this for our family involvement activity next month!)
Feeling adventuresome? 62 things you can do with Dropbox suggests this: Go to the Send to Dropbox Website (sendtodropbox.com), click on Connect To Dropbox, and provide your Dropbox credentials. You can now email files to Dropbox. That makes all sorts of scenarios possible. For example, create a document in Google Docs and then opt to share it. In the Share drop-down menu, select Email As Attachment and provide your Send to Dropbox email address; the Google Doc will appear in Dropbox’s Attachments folder.” (WHOA BABY!)

It’s a very intuitive tool to use and following through some of the getting started tasks easily explains it as well as earns you more “free” space, 🙂 Nothing to lose there!