How Will I Create Awesome??

I have a new principal this year. She and the vice principal are new.  They have made changes, they are trying to get to know us, and they are making our new normal.  So far I LOVE them!

The first week we came back as teachers our principal, Mrs. West, asked us to show her how we will "create awesome" and "change the world this year.  We were tasked with using apps or website things to show her.  My mind wondered what I needed to change to "create awesome."  I feel like after 16 years of teaching - I must do SOME things right.  As a teacher I know that if I am not learning or updating my craft - I will not get better.  If I don't get better I will be ineffective.  I am constantly learning.

This is how I feel at school.  Different. 

I decided to ask the students I had taught their opinions.  I asked kids who I still had contact with their parents.  I asked these students to meet me at the local library.  We met in the maker space.  The background is messy, but the content of what they said was AMAZING.

I videoed for THREE HOURS.  I cut down the movie to about 5 min.  Now - the teachers at my school gave the principal a picture with a quote on it.  My principal got 3 lunch tables FULL of quote pictures.  I felt silly for doing something else.  My editing took longer than I thought it would - so I turned in a quote picture like everyone else on the due date.  I changed the focus on the video to show to an audience of my student's parents.  I showed the video at "3rd Grade Parent Night".

 Create Awesome Video

What I learned from my former students -
1.  Making them feel like they belong goes a long way to getting them to school everyday on time.
2.  How I treated them is what they remember the most.
3. Using their interests got them excited and they even took what they learned home to learn more.
4.  They enjoy working together and feeling like a family.
5.  They like choice.  We had a lot of choice in reading.  My students voted on what they wanted to hear most of the time.
6.  Listening to kids that I taught tell me that I made a difference in their life = very humbling.

My advice to you?  Listen to your kids.  Let them help you guide their days.  Listen to them on the way they learn.  This was a wonderful activity assigned to me by my principal.  I will use it for parent nights.  It helped me reinforce what I thought was good and I will change based on what my current students let me know.  Feedback will help me to become awesome!

Also - don't worry about being different than your fellow teachers.  Sometimes weird is what works.  Kids will adore you for not being like the rest.  Kids love passion and energy.  Don't be afraid to close your door and teach!

Enjoy your year and create awesome!

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost - Sometimes they take FIELD TRIPS! - PMNS

5 Tips to Make your Field Trip Worth it! 

1.   Before you go on the field trip - learn what you are going to see as a teacher and have a lesson or two so your students will not be walking in with no prior knowledge.  
The "lesson" I created for my hypothetical field trip would be for students to read any 3 Little Pigs Versions.  

 

Photo from: TeacherLady on Twitter.  Kids had to make houses to stand up to blowdryer.

After reading the stories - my kids would talk about buildings and why different buildings are made out of different materials.  We would speak about some natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, storms, tsunamis and tornadoes.  

The activity would be for the students to get into groups with materials.  Using what is in front of them they will have to create a structure or house.  When finished we will use a hair dryer to see which one will stand up the longest.  

2.  Count and recount.  Make sure everyone has a buddy.   (2nd photo- the picture of MY BUDDIES for our field trip to the Perot.)                                                                                    

3.  Get to know your bus driver.  They are the ones that are transporting you and they will keep you safe and pick you up at the end of the trip!  OUR bus driver for the day was JAMES!  

4. Make sure your kids have at LEAST one activity to do while wandering the museum that will be turned in our that they know will be talked about upon return to school.  

Museums are full of wonderful information.  BUT - they can be overwhelming.  To help your students get the most out of the field trip - have a structured activity they can complete on their own or in their group while at the museum.  

Back to the hypothetical field trip.  My kids have completed the Three Pigs literature "unit" and have explored the activity to build a structure that withstands pressure or wind.  Now they are at the Perot.  At the museum on the 2nd floor they have a section for robotics and other experiments.  The first activity there is one that talks about the effects of an earthquake on structures and bridges.  The kids will explore and play at this station.  They could draw or take photos about what they did.  Then they would share their findings when we return to school.  

5.  Wrap up - When back at school make sure that you are able to tie everything together to finish up their learning journey.  You could even print the photos from the museum and have the kids write about their favorite parts or tell about what they learned.  They could even string their photos together and make a video telling about their time for kids who could not attend.  It is a GREAT idea to have your students with devices like iPads on the field trip to collect photos and information.  

Hypothetical field trip - My students would come back and tell about what they learned.  I then would introduce the book Zane and the Hurricane.  It is a historical fiction story about a boy and his dog who visit Louisiana  during Hurricane Katrina.  

Coming soon to this blog - Virtual Field Trips - Tips, tricks and how to find good ones.  

Cats Are Liquids- Right?? PMNS

Hello, all!

I wanted to let you know I am still teaching 3rd grade at Miller Elementary in Midlothian, TX.  I have a 1:1 iPad classroom.  I work with all subjects.  I also have been working with the Perot Museum in their STEM Teacher Academy.  This is my 2nd year to attend their academy and they would like for me to share/log my science teaching along with my technology journey.   I am trying to stretch into a "STEM" teacher.  We can learn and grow together!

Day One of our Kosmos STEM Teaching Academy -

Questions like these - that you THINK you know - Perot makes sure you question what you know and are able to prove your answer.  My goal with this institute is to be able to teach my students with more depth and make sure they know the WHY behind science.  

We are learning about Chemistry this year.  We were given an AWESOME  book to make chemistry "easy" for us.  

I have read the first chapter.  It is an easy text to read with labs all though the book to make understanding concepts easier for the reader.  This author also has Stop Faking it Math books.  

We learned from a nice man this morning.  He taught us all about Thermochemistry.  It was interesting, although I was not good at plugging the numbers into the equations.  

My favorite lab that we completed with him was called "Flaming Cheeto!"  We got to weigh a Cheeto and then put the Cheeto under a can filled with 200 ml of water.  We then burned the Cheeto to deturmine the amount of heat energy released per gram when burning.  

The afternoon continued with a LOT of fun.  A nice lady showed us how to make our very own bouncing ball!

Although the video might lack spunk - you can see that the ball DOES work!    The recipe for the lab is below!

This is a wonderful - not too messy lab for kids.  Enjoy!  More tomorrow!