STAAR Testing

Tomorrow, my students will be doing STAAR testing, and, as a student teacher, I will be on bathroom duty (aka sitting outside the bathrooms grading papers and making sure only one person goes in at a time).

Mrs. M and I wanted to give the kids a little something to get them pumped for the STAAR. We did our Pinterest research and had a few ideas that all turned out to be too cutsie or creative for the likes of us. In the end, we settled on giving them lucky pencils and presented them in the following hilarious manner:

We cannot stop laughing at ourselves. What nerds!

Mrs. M and I posed for the pictures, then decided it would be even more fun to have pictures with the vice principals and principal too. We're pretty happy with how they turned out, and the kids have loved them. Happy STAAR week Texas! Good luck kids!!!

3rd and FINAL Formal Observation: Transitions

I used blendspace.com for this particular lesson plan, so you can view my whole lesson at this link. It's another website that allows students to follow along and interact throughout the lesson on their tablets. It's pretty user friendly. I especially love the embedded videos and the quizzes for formative assessment. I can see in real time who is not getting the answers as well as who is not participating.

Blendspace was fine for the classroom environment, but I think it would be even better for independent work. I'd love it for homework or an alternative option for students who miss class. Also, after students "join" your class online, they can then turn in their own blendspace assignments... Not sure how I could use this feature yet, but I like the idea of it!

This lesson was mostly a review, but here are the two videos I used to keep my students interested:

Also check out this one- It's AWESOME!

And with that, I am done with my observations! I still have 2+ weeks left in the classroom, but I can now apply for my teaching certificate!!! I can't believe I'm nearly done.

2nd Formal Observation: Active & Passive Voice

I waited until the very last minute to schedule my 2nd formal observation. Luckily, my supervising instructor was available, and I was able to throw together a lesson on active and passive voice. This was a topic I didn't feel 100% comfortable teaching, so I figured it would be a perfect learning opportunity. I went through my normal lesson plan preparation routine (which consists of doing lots and lots of research to ensure that I fully understand the concept and have enticing ways to teach it), and here is what I came up with:

I started by showing my students the quote, "'I must do something' always solves more problems than 'something must be done.'" We briefly discussed the universal truth of the quote as a brief introduction before moving on to my real hook. I showed the students gif files and asked them to answer the question, "What just happened?" by writing two sentences- each with a subject I had provided.

 (source)

Subject #1. The balloon

Subject #2. His face

(source)

Subject #1. The raccoon
Subject #2. The cat food

(source)

Subject #1. The trash truck

Subject #2. The trash

I then had the students share some of their examples. We sorted their answers by whether the subject had been the one acting in the sentence or the one being acted upon. Then, I introduced how active voice is demonstrated when the subject is the one acting, whereas passive voice is when the subject is the one being acted upon. I also think it helped that I used the example of kicking. I would do a karate kick to show myself as the acting subject, and I would cower to show myself as the victim being acted upon. I also included lots of examples and humor to help them make connections.

(source)

To further help them understand, I found the following video clip:

For the remainder of the class, we went over examples of passive and active voice, talked about when to use them and when not to, and I had them create their own passive and active sentences. I got a lot of great ideas from this website. Finally, I had them take a passage that was written entirely in passive voice and rewrite it in active voice as an exit ticket strategy. From this, I was able to tell to what extent each student had grasped these concepts. I talked with the students who had errors and got them sorted out too. So far, it seems like they got it. I've been bringing it up everyday since then to make sure it's set in their minds.

Well, five down, one to go! Can't believe I'm almost done...

Written Conventions Activity

After reading LOTS of student responses over the last several weeks, Mrs. M. and I decided it was about time we reviewed written conventions. Given the mistakes I had seen, I decided to focus on homonyms, spelling/spell check, commas, apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, and verb tense. I created a document for each topic that would require the kids to line edit writing excerpts that were bad examples of each area of written conventions. To make the activity a little more fun, I let them work in groups and only gave them 5 minutes with each document to find all the mistakes that had been made. Also, I included a humorous example of each convention being used incorrectly (because I thought they were funny). Here are a couple of examples of what I used for this activity:

(Source)

Deer Students,

Win your righting something four my class, bee shore that your using the write homophones. Eye cannot tale you enough how sad it makes me win you use the wrong word. Their our know excuses four using the wrong words because you have the education too no better. Your smart enough to no the differences, but if you rush threw you're work, you mite mess up.

Sincerely, Your Favorite Teacher
(Source)

(Source)

Eye halve a spelling checker
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My checker tolled me sew. 

(Source)

The kids did pretty well, although it was very clear what they were struggling with. Before they left, we talked about their struggles and the things they needed clarification on- Looks like I'll need to concoct a mini-lesson on subject/verb agreement and verb tense! I left them with the fact that they are smarter than Microsoft Word. When I typed up these documents, Word hardly caught any mistakes! They were shocked, so that turned out to be a great take-away.

As for me, I am having trouble with my conventions now after having to type up so many bad examples! I was seriously going cross-eyed and I felt mentally exhausted afterwards... But it was totally worth it :)

First Formal Observation: Setting & Mood

I am so happy with how my lesson came together for my first formal observation. After doing some research online, I knew a lesson on setting and mood would be perfect! I love how it turned out.

I started out by having the kids do a five minute write to introduce how setting and mood work hand in hand. They were to visualize their favorite place, and write about it without mentioning where it is or how it makes them feel by using descriptive and sensory language. Oh man- my students are amazing writers! I was so impressed with what they came up with.

Next, I had them analyze how different settings within The Hunger Games changed the mood throughout the book. We focused on the woods, District 12, The Capital, and the Games. It is possible that this, more than anything, helped prove my point :)

I also wanted them to analyze some writing, so I had them read an excerpt from The Great Gatsby. After reading it, I had them answer the question "What is this place like?" using only one word. Given their answer, we would find words from the text that led us to the answers they gave.

"There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." — The Great Gatsby

In one class, we decided this place was thrilling. To support this, the kids used words and phrases such as champagne, stars, diving, slit the waters, parties, long past midnight, ravages of the night, etc. Thus, they were able to see how words can evoke imagery through descriptive and sensory language without having to blatantly spell out the time and place.

Finally, I had them create an online flyer describing their favorite place as a setting using a website called Smore. They included vivid descriptions, pictures, video clips, examples of how their setting has been used in literature, and examples of how it could be used in writing in the future. Here are some examples of their work:

I never cease to be impressed with them. AND I am loving all these exciting ways to administer formative assessments! 

I am glad to have my first formal observation out of the way- it was a bit intimidating knowing I was being graded. At the same time though, I have quality kids, quality material to work with, and I thoroughly enjoy what I am doing (like wake-up-excited-to-teach-my-awesome-lesson enjoyment). PLUS the observation wasn't scheduled until 7th period so I had all day to perfect it on my earlier classes :) So, 1 down, 2 to go, and I will be certified to do this on my own!!!

Source:

Smore // smore.com 

Characterization

After Spring Break, we started a new unit that focuses on character analysis. Each lesson I teach helps prepare my students to write their own character analysis essay at the end of the unit. As part of my student teaching, I have taken over the planning and teaching in Mrs. M's classroom. This means planning this unit from beginning to end and creating lesson plans for all classes on a daily basis. I thought it would be overwhelming, but I enjoy the work and have Mrs. M to keep me on track. I am learning so much and figuring out what works best for me.

I have really enjoyed teaching characterization, and I am very happy with how my lesson plans have turned out. I have been using Planboard as my calendar and online lesson planning tool- it is AWESOME! It is an online calendar that allows you to divide up the day by your class schedule. For each class, I can type up a lesson outline and attach the standards we will be covering. Sharing my lessons with Mrs. M is as easy as sending her a link. I can also attach the documents we will be using and keep notes and reminders all in the same place. LOVE IT.

Here are a couple of my favorite activities from my lessons this week (I also had them read excerpts from Mark Twain & Charles Dickens, but this was more fun):

To teach voice, I had my students read the following contrasting diary entries (found online):

8am- Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30am- A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40am- A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30am- Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12pm-Milk bones! My favorite thing!

1pm- Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3pm- Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5pm- Dinner! My favorite thing!

7pm- got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8pm- Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11pm- Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Day 983 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed has or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I neverthe less must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today, I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hears, since this clearly demonstrated my capabilities; however, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event; however, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feat as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe... for now.

These two were a great way to communicate voice, and the kids had a lot of fun with them!

My favorite lesson this week was about internal and external reflections. I was able to teach my students a little bit about psychology and the affects of other people's opinions of us (LOVED incorporating my undergrad degree!). Then, after applying what we had learned to a character from a novel we are reading, I had the students do their own internal and external reflections in an activity called "Judging a Book by its Cover."

First, each student created a collage on Pic Collage that symbolized how others see them and how they view themselves. Everyone got really into the assignment and enjoyed the metacognitive aspect of this assignment. They used this Pic Collage picture on their edublogs and wrote a post about what they had learned about themselves and about others by answering several questions in paragraph format. I am loving seeing what they came up with!

Here are two examples of their responses:

Other people normally see me as a clam, gentle and as a funny person. They wouldn’t expect me to go all silly and talk weird. But, they are wrong. I act like this because I don’t know the people that very good. The way I see myself is that I am wild, crazy and jumpy. Yet, I am very calculated and organized and try to be perfectionist. I find myself to be cunning sometimes too.

There aren’t many similarities between the two, but there are many differences. Crazy and wild are the exact opposites of peaceful and calm. Almost everything is different but I am funny and happy in both ways.

I think people see the way they do because of my actions and my words. When ever I do something, I think twice before I do it. I also talk politely to people so that they would like me. But, internally, I think about all the risky things that I could do. When I am alone I don’t always think before I do something. I go straight to it. I am very different externally and internally.

And this one is simple, but straight to the point:

It has been really interesting to read their responses and get to know them better. I am also happy to see them applying these important concepts to their own lives.

I am also excited about what I have planned for next week! On Monday I'll have my first formal observation (!!!), but I'm feeling ready for it.

Sources:

Planboard // planboardapp.com

Pic Collage // pic-collage.com

Edublogs // edublogs.org

The Divergent Series

I've finished the Divergent series and several people have asked me what I think about them. These books are pretty popular right now and are getting pretty mixed reviews, so I figure I should share my two cents. Divergent is another dystopian novel that I highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games. And you know what? I think I liked this series better than The Hunger Games (!!!). I realize this is a big confession, and trust me- it was a decision I did not take lightly, so I guess I better explain myself :)

One of the big deciding factors for me has to be that Tris is a better heroine than Katniss. Time and time again, Tris chooses her own fate, chooses to be a leader, chooses to be courageous. There is something innate within her that makes her divergent, but still- she chooses to act. Katniss wants to save her sister, save her family, save her loved ones. Leadership and responsibility are thrust upon her, whereas Tris has hardly anyone left, and yet she's willing to risk everything for what is right.

Then there is the romance aspect. Sure, Tris and Tobias had some a pretty volatile relationship with plenty of issues, but I enjoyed reading their love story so much more than the whole Peeta, Gale, Katniss love triangle. Plus, I had a little crush on Tobias- did you see who is playing him in the Divergent movie?!?!

And then there is Allegiant. EVERYONE I have talked to dislikes how the books ended, but I have to disagree... for the most part. The change from one narrator to two did not go over well with me. I understand why she had to do it, but it was done poorly. Each character did not have their own distinct voice, so I often found myself questioning which point of view I was supposedly following. The change in setting also threw me for a loop. For a while there, I felt like I was reading a book completely independent from this series- something inspired by The Truman Show (1998) and The Island (2005), making it feel much less original and losing all of its Divergent appeal. Still, I got through it and thought the overall story was worthwhile.

Now, as for the "twist" at the end, you'll have to ask me in person. I will NOT be spoiling these books for anyone! One of my students spoiled it for me and that's the worst! I will say that I agree with the author's decision and think the books ended well.

So there.

Can't wait for the movie to come out on March 21st!!!

UPDATE! I just read the author's own character analysis of Tris that she wrote following reader's reactions to the end of Allegient. It is so well written and perfectly describes why I loved Tris as a character and a heroine. IT CONTAINS SPOILERS so don't read it until you've finished the series. You can find the article on her website.

Spring Break Reading Challenge results

Here are the results from the Spring Break Reading Challenge:

Isn't that impressive?! There were also plenty of students who read but didn't submit their results.

I also got lots of pictures of students reading throughout Spring Break.

And I participated too!

The 6th Floor Museum, The Fundamental 5 by Sean Cain & Mike Laird

Fort Worth Stockyards, Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Cowtown Goes Green, Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Overall, this was a very successful initiative. My students all had fun with it, and I will definitely do something like this again in the future!

Spring Break Reading Challenge

Before all my students headed out on Spring Break, I invited them all to participate in a Spring Break Reading Challenge. The rules are simple- as they are reading books on Spring Break, they are to record the number of books and pages they have read. They submit those numbers through a google form Mrs. M and I have created, and the class with the most books/pages read by St. Patrick's Day wins! Here are the results we have as of today:

As a fun addition to the Spring Break Reading Challenge, I also encouraged my students to take books with them where ever they go. Because I want to see what they are up and AND what they are reading, I also asked them to send me pictures of the many exciting places they took their books. Here is the first picture I received earlier this week:

Blurred for student privacy!

I think the kids are having fun with it, and I can't wait to see all the reading the did AND the pictures they send in! I will keep you posted about the results.

Third Informal: Limericks

For my 3rd (and last) informal observation, I taught a lesson on limericks. I knew this would be a fun topic, but at first, I had no idea what to do for my lesson plan! I had to do a lot of research to find ways to teach it without being boring or obvious, and I am pretty happy with how the lesson turned out. I started by asking my students what the definition of a limerick is. To provide an example, I showed this clip of "The Brothers Limerick":

Then we discussed the defining qualities of a limerick, such as rhyme, rhythm, and how to properly use inflection, pitch, and rate. For examples, I used poems written by Edward Lear, author of A Book of Nonsense (1845) and Limerick legend.

Finally, I showed this clip from Spongebob Squarepants to demonstrate the proper way to perform a limerick:

The students then had to make their own limericks, so I figured we'd have a little fun with it. I had them download a picture of Gary reading a limerick into Pic Collage and insert their own limerick. Here are a few examples of what they came up with:

They then memorized their limerick, and recited it to a group of students in class with proper inflection, pitch, and rate. Overall, it went very well! We had a few technical glitches the first time around, but it all came together. The kids had fun and I was happy with how it turned out!

Sources:

Pic Collage // http://pic-collage.com/  

Springboard, level 1, lesson 5.9 

Second Informal: Tone

Got my second informal out of the way today! Once again, I think it went well and I had a lot of fun with it.

To bridge the gap between the poetry we've been analyzing and the drama unit we are about to start, I taught about Tone. We defined tone as a speaker's or writer's attitude toward his or her subject. We also clarified the difference between Tone and Mood- Tone shows the emotions of the speaker, whereas Mood is how we feel when we read and react. I also used a tonal scale worksheet to make sure the students had vocabulary to express the tone.

We also discussed the difference between reading tone and speaking tone. We understand tone and "hear" tone as we read through the descriptive language, punctuation, and figurative language that the author uses. When we perform, we can further convey tone using our voice, facial expressions, and body language.

I had a lot of fun with our first activity. I randomly selected a student using an App called GroupMaker. The student then picked a number, 1-12, which corresponded with a picture of a person or animal whose expression portrays a certain tone. The students then draw a sentence from and must read the sentence in a tone that matches that of the picture. The students loved it!

Next, since we had been working on "Sonnet 130," I used that poem to look at different interpretations of tone. We discussed what Shakespeare intended the tone to be and then compared that to three different performances of the poem.




While the kids listened to the interpretations, they used todaysmeet to contribute what they thought the tone of each version was. Todaysmeet allows all the students to simultaneously contribute to an online forum. As a teacher, I can then make sure everyone is participating AND I can use their comments as a means of formative assessment. With this transcript, we had a class discussion to pin point the tones of each video clip, as well as which clip best matched Shakespeare's tone.

Finally, I had the students write their own sentences conveying tone using descriptive language and figurative language. This, again, was a great formative assessment to help me see if they are grasping the concept.

The lesson went well and I had a lot of fun planning it AND teaching it!

Ozymandias

Mrs. M taught a great lesson on "Ozymandias" and poetry analysis. She started out by having the students listen to "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. As they listened, they used Padlet to record words and phrases that stood out to them during the song (Padlet is like an online corkboard that allows each of the students to post notes simultaneously).

After they listened to the song (which they loved), Mrs. M pulled up Padlet on the smart board and organized the posts they had all contributed to give the class an idea of what had stood out to everyone. Next, the class had a discussion on the meanings of the words and phrases they had written to figure out what the song was about. They also went through the lyrics and identified figurative language. The kids made great connections and got a lot out of the song.

Next, Mrs. M introduced Ozymandias by first talking about the author's background as well as the background of the poem. Ozymandias was written by Percy Bysshe Shelly as part of a bet with his friend and fellow poet, Horace Smith. When the bust of Ramses II was shipped to a London museum, Shelly and Smith made a friendly wager to determine who could write the better poem about the Ramses the Great, or Ozymandias.

Here are their two poems:

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelly

I met a traveler from an antique land  

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone  

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, 

  Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, 

  And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,  

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read  

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,  

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; 

  And on the pedestal these words appear:  

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:  

Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”  

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay  

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare  

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

"Ozymandias" by Horace Smith

In Egypt's sandy silence, all alone,
Stands a gigantic Leg, which far off throws
The only shadow that the Desert knows:—
"I am great OZYMANDIAS," saith the stone,
"The King of Kings; this mighty City shows
"The wonders of my hand."— The City's gone,—
Nought but the Leg remaining to disclose
The site of this forgotten Babylon.

We wonder,—and some Hunter may express
Wonder like ours, when thro' the wilderness
Where London stood, holding the Wolf in chace,
He meets some fragment huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

The students analyzed "Ozymandias," compared "Ozymandias" to "Viva la Vida," Red Scarf Girl, and Smith's "Ozymandias" through class discussions held over a couple of class periods. Does that give you a good idea of how impressive my GT kids are??? I have also seen Ozymandias taught a couple of other ways. In my Literary analysis course through BYU, we compared Ozymandias to "On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness" by Arthur Guiterman, and then had to describe which was better poetry. This poem would also be very appropriate for younger audiences.

OZYMANDIAS COMPARISON POEMS. State, of these two poems of similar theme, which contains the more excellent poetry. Then, briefly, tell whether the other is bad or whether it can be praised for achieving something different.

"On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness by Arthur Guiterman 

The tusks that clashed in mighty brawls

Of mastodons, are billiard balls.

The sword of Charlemagne the Just

Is ferric oxide, known as rust.

The grizzly bear whose potent hug

Was feared by all, is now a rug.

Great Caesar’s bust is on the shelf,

And I don’t feel so well myself.

A couple of my classmates at UTD also taught lessons on Ozymandias and included this interpretation by Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad).

We weren't sure about using this one with 6th graders because of the association they may discover...

Sources:

Padlet // padlet.com

Viva la Vida // http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE

Brian Cranston recites "Ozymandias" // http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3dpghfRBHE

TPCASTT

To teach our students poetry analysis, we are using the acronym TPCASTT:

• Title: Predict what the poem will be about by analyzing the title.
• Paraphrase: After reading the poem, paraphrase what it is about by putting it into your own words. Who is the speaker?
• Connotation: Look beyond the literal language and assign additional meaning by focusing on figurative language
• Attitude: Identify the tone of the poem. Does the author's attitude mirror the speaker's attitude?
• Shift: Look for transitions within the piece that occur in tone, setting, etc. When do they occur? Why do they occur? What is the effect?
• Title: Revisit the title to determine further meaning.
• Theme: What is the overall message? Identify literal and abstract ideas.

To help drive this practice home, we analyzed "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes with our classes. We went through the poem using TPCASTT and used the smart board to annotated it. I love poetry, and I was impressed with how this activity made meaning more accessible to these young readers. They really got into it!

"Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

First Informal: Website Credibility

Throughout student teaching, my supervising teacher from UT Dallas, Mr. D., will be coming to observe me while I teach. Today was my first of three informal observations that will take place before spring break, after which I will have three formal observations as well. My lesson plan was an introduction to research. These students have just recently finished doing a research project, so the purpose of this lesson was not to introduce my to research journals and the like, but rather to help them understand the need for research in their daily lives.

For my anticipatory set (or introduction) I had the students analyze this quote:

The meaning was pretty clear :) From this, we discussed the need to be active learners who seek out correct information, not just passive learners who believe everything they see at face value. I had the students log onto nearpod.com for a quick activity to drive this idea home. I presented them with two different pop culture news headlines I saw online this weekend and they used the information given to guess whether the story was true or false. They had a lot of fun with these two articles, and the connection to their interests really caught their attention. Here are the articles:

1. "Justin Bieber to Attend BYU by Court Order"

-thebunYion.com

 

MIAMI — Canadian-born pop sensation Justin Bieber was arraigned early Thursday morning under charges of intoxicated driving without a valid license. As part of a court-ordered remedial program, Bieber will be moving to Provo, UT to attend Brigham Young University.

2. "JK Rowling says Hermione should have married Harry Potter, not Ron."

-cnn.com

The majority of the kids caught on to the Justin Bieber article (duh), but the class was pretty split about the JK Rowling story (which is true, by the way!). We talked about how they came to their conclusions and what further research they could conduct to discover the validity of these stories. Does it seem legit? Where is the information coming from? Can we trust the sources? If you don't know, look it up!

Following this activity with nearpod.com, we had a class discussion wherein we discussed the need for research and sited sources, and the effects faulty stories can have on individuals and society. Most of the classes were able to link false reports to panic and ignorance. They really are bright kids for their age, allowing me to ask higher level questions throughout the lesson.

Finally, I split the class into groups by their table clusters and had them evaluate two opposing articles online about causes of cancer and cancer prevention. I used a link that was going around Facebook a little while back claiming to be an update about cancer from Johns Hopkins and the rebuttal from Johns Hopkins University. Within their groups, they were to consider the following:

• Does it seem valid? What specific language makes you think this information is valid or invalid?
• What specifics can you use to determine whether this article is a primary or secondary source?
• Analyze whether the website and sources look legitimate
• Do some research of your own. What can you learn about this topic to help you analyze whether or not this information is accurate?

They did great! They noticed the differences in tone and researched each source's credibility. They even recognized that the hoax was really just an advertisement trying to sell them a product. My supervising teacher loved the lesson and was happy with how my very first observation went. I definitely felt this lesson was a success, and I thoroughly enjoyed teaching. I've found my calling!

Sources:
Justin Bieber Story // http://www.thebunyion.com/2014/01/23/justin-beiber-to-attend-byu-by-court-order/

JK Rowling Story // http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/02/showbiz/rowling-hermione-ron-revelation/

Johns Hopkins Hoax // http://www.facebook.com/notes/earth-patriot/johns-hopkins-medical-hospital-cancer-research-update-alternative-natural-soluti/202417983157665

Johns Hopkins Rebuttal //http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/kimmel_cancer_center/news_events/featured/cancer_update_email_it_is_a_hoax.html

Apps

Next week, my students will start reading Red Scarf Girl: a Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang in our class and studying the Chinese Cultural Revolution in their social studies class. I spent the weekend learning about the Chinese Cultural Revolution and looking for lesson plan ideas. I've searched Google, Pinterest, and Teachers Pay Teachers. I've watched documentaries and read additional texts. I even listened to traditional Chinese music while I did my research. Admittedly, I've gone a bit overboard, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. Plus, Friday is the Chinese New Year, so it feels appropriate.

If you are interested in seeing what I've put together so far for an introduction to the book, you can view my notes through Evernote. Turns out, Evernote is pretty amazing. I am using it for all things student teaching lately. Today, I also learned about 4 additional websites that I will definitely want for my classroom:

Nearpod // Mrs. M introduced me to this one. With Nearpod, teachers can create interactive presentations. Imagine a Powerpoint-type presentation that students can pull up on a tablet and follow in real time as you present. Additionally, students can take notes on the actual presentation and teachers can monitor each student's notes. Using Nearpod, teachers can also have students participate in polls and answer questions embedded within the presentation. Pretty cool, huh? I think I'll use it for my next lesson plan...

Kahoot // This website was recommended by one of the technology specialists at HMS. Kahoot is a game-based classroom response system, used to create quizzes, discussions, surveys, games, etc. that allow student participation and competition through their handheld devices. This looks like it would be great for reviews, and the students I talked to said it is a lot of fun.

Membean // Membean is a vocabulary program that HMS is piloting. For each new vocabulary word, students learn its roots, how to use it in context, pronunciation, and more. Each word also has a video associated with it to enhance long-term memory. Because of this, I especially enjoyed the "plethora" page :)

Touchcast // The technology specialist suggested this website as a tool for our news broadcast project. Touchcast is an app used for making movies, but these aren't just any movies. While you are recording, you can also add writing, pictures, video, and even web browsing to enhance meaning. Our students will be using the news broadcast theme, the teleprompter feature, and the green screen effect to further cater this app for our needs. I played around on became acquainted with this app today in order to be able to help my students use it, and I can't even tell you how cool it is.

I'm not kidding about any of these websites- GO CHECK THEM OUT!!! (I'm talking to you, UTD friends)

My day ended with an assembly on bullying by Jon Pritikin of "Feel the Power." He holds a few Guinness world records for strength, so his presentation includes feats of strength like ripping phone books in half and rolling up a frying pan like it's nothing. It was at this assembly that I again realized that middle school is the place for me. As everyone was chatting and piling onto the bleachers, I couldn't stop smiling as I watched the young friendships, the abundant awkwardness, and the abandon with which the girls were singing along to the Justin Bieber song that was blaring through the loud speakers. People have often questioned my desire to purposefully teach this age group, but I'm in love and there is no place I would rather be.  

Sources:
Teachers Pay Teachers // teacherspayteachers.com
Nearpod // nearpod.com
Kahoot // getkahoot.com
Membean // membean.com
Touchcast // touchcast.com
Jon Pritikin // feelthepower.org

Grading

Graded my first stack of homework. Mrs. M agreed that it was a moment worth documenting :)

This is only a 6th of the assigments; Mrs. M did the rest. The grading took a long time, like ALL DAY. I was super slow at first, but was cruising by the end. The biggest thing I struggled with was assigning the grades- I tend to grade a lot more leniently than harshly and want to make sure I'm doing right by the students. Luckily, Mrs. M has a grading policy that is both fair and forgiving. Want a better grade? Do the assignment over again and show you've learned the material. Grades in her class truly are a reflection of what you know. Everyone said student teaching was going to be exhausting and the hardest thing I'll ever do... Still not sure what they're talking about! One week down, and I don't even care that it's the weekend. Can't wait to get back to work on Monday!

Meetings

Mrs. M and I only stayed on campus first the first half of the day. During those class periods, I realized how much I will be learning by observing how Mrs. M teaches. I would really love to emulate her in my own teaching style. She handles herself with poise, and demonstrates an admirable balance of love and discipline within her classroom. This is the kind of stuff they can't teach you in a text book!

Good news is, I also used this time to get to know the kids names- I thought that might come in handy!

After lunch, we left HMS for a district wide GT Professional Development Meeting. It was AMAZING. The district invited Lisa Van Gemert from The Mensa Education and Research Foundation to present ideas on how to enhance teaching for GT students. She had such positive energy and was full of great ideas for the classroom. Mensa is an organization for individuals with high IQs, and Mensa for Kids online provides children, parents, and teachers with reading suggestions, lesson plans, TED Connections (TED talks adapted for classroom use), activities, strategies for poetry memorization, educational games, and even Pinterest ideas for the classroom.

In addition to introducing us to all that Mensa has to offer for our students, Lisa also shared a lot of her own tried and tested ideas, as well as additional websites that can be used to enhance lesson plans. A few of my favorites are listed below:

• Slideshare // a website that allows you to upload and share your Powerpoint presentations online.
• Morguefile // a free online photo archive
• Infor.am // online infographic production
• Picmonkey, Photofunia, Big Huge Labs // image editing and manipulation online
• Bitly // a website that allows you to shorten and personalize and link in order to make them reproducible for students.
• Library of Congress Teacher Resources // online lesson plans tied to Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) by grade level
• Flipsnack // a way to upload pdf files and make them into digital flip books

After school, I stayed late with Mrs. M and attended a newly formed Book Club with some of the other English teachers from the district. They were discussing The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller and Book Love Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers by Penny Kittle. Both books call for more reading in schools and presented various ways to encourage students to read for pleasure. I can tell this is a priority in this school district, and I will be interested to see how they implement these ideas. In the meantime, I've reserved The Book Whisperer at our local library :)

  

So lots of new information to sort through and overall a great day. Can't wait to go back tomorrow!  

Sources:
Mensa for Kids // mensaforkids.org
Mensa Pinterest // pinterest.com/brightkids
Slideshare // slideshare.net
Morguefile // morguefile.com
Infor.am // Infor.am
Picmonkey // picmonkey.com
Photofunia // photofunia.com
Big Huge Labs // bighugelabs.com
Bitly // bitly.com
Library of Congress Teacher Resources // loc.gov/teachers
Flipsnack // flipsnack.com

Allusion

Day 2 of student teaching is done and I still can't believe this is my life now! I have definitely found the right career for me. Mrs. M and I didn't have anything planned for me to do today, but after I'd seen her give a presentation on poetry for one class, she let me take the reins and teach the other classes later in the day. I introduced the students to several poetry conventions while they took notes on their ipads using Evernote. I quickly found that I need to be paying more attention to timing, that I really need to know my stuff before I get up in front of students, and that I need to do a lot less of the talking! I am used to being the student, so I find myself wanting to share my thoughts and ideas when I should be seeking to help these students cultivate their own.

My favorite part of the lesson had to do with teaching allusion. The students enjoyed my example of how the main character in the book Wonder references "the cheese touch," which is an allusion from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We discusses the following quote from A Christmas Carol as well:  

Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail...  

The mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. If we were not perfectly convinced that Hamlet's Father died before the play began, there would be nothing more remarkable in his taking a stroll at night, in an easterly wind, upon his own ramparts, than there would be in any other middle-aged gentleman rashly turning out after dark in a breezy spot -- say Saint Paul's Churchyard for instance -- literally to astonish his son's weak mind.

This was a perfect example and led to the discovery that many phrases we use today were coined by Shakespeare and, in fact, allude to his great works. 

For the second half of class, Mrs. M introduced a new project the students will be working on in relation to what they are studying in Social Studies. This requires some additional explanation. These GT students are a part of a "Discovery" program. They take GT English and GT Social Studies, and their teachers from both classes work collaboratively to create projects that encompass both subjects. Their Social Studies teacher has them doing an assignment wherein they will be thoroughly researching a country in Africa. Using Smore, the students will work in groups to create an interactive flyer about their country's geography, travel, government, foreign policy, economy, social and ethnic groups, religion, language, country flag, traditional holidays/festivals, traditional clothing, food, history, and notable people. For English, the students will use this information to create a news program wherein they will be writing, recording, and presenting four different topics about their country in both hard news and soft news formats. The kids seem pretty excited about it, and I love the way they connect the different subjects!

Smore looks pretty cool. It's a website where you can make interactive flyers with links and pages for additional information. They are artfully created and easy to share online (and they're printable). I'm very interested to see how they're used within the classroom!

Mrs. M is also involved in a GCISD program called VALOR. Essentially, she is involved in a group of teachers who observe, critique, and assist one another. While she instructs her class, she has other teachers come into her classroom who identify where she is excelling and provide strategies that could improve her effectiveness. I sat in while she received some feedback, and I think this is a great program. This is a way that Mrs. M can make sure she is always learning, growing, and being the best teacher she can for her current students.

I am also getting ready to help Mrs. M start grading student work (!!!). I love her grading philosophy. She is trying out Standards Based Grading (SBG). Here is the gist:

• Grading policies reflect academic achievement ONLY (behaviors are not factored in)
• Formative assessment is used throughout to help teach and prepare students for summative assessments.
• New evidence of mastery of standards replaces old evidence (grades should reflect latest learning)
• Assessment is most effective if done with students rather than TO students
• Grades are extrinsic motivators and can destroy intrinsic motivation. Poor grades have NO motivational value
• Make sure students know from the beginning what they will be graded on
• GIVE FEEDBACK THROUGHOUT
• Students should always be given opportunities to make-up assignments. Zero's are not an option!

2 days down and I've already learned so much! And I'm excited to come back for more :)

Sources:

Smore // smore.com

Character

Today was my first day as a student teacher (!!!) and I am LOVING it! I am at HMS in a 6th grade GT classroom, and I am very impressed with my students. My coordinating teacher, Mrs. M, is the perfect match for me, and I couldn't be happier with my situation! Today, I taught the first half of each class. I introduced myself using a slideshow of pictures and my results from several quizzes showing what characters from The Hobbit, Harry Potter, and Hunger Games my personality most resembles. If I were a LOTR character, I would be a Hobbit. If I were in Harry Potter, I would be Dumbledore (?). Here are my Hunger Games results: 

 

I was pretty happy with my results :) I think they're pretty accurate... expect for Dumbledore. I am flattered, but I don't quite see the resemblance! After I finished introducing myself, I had the students take the Harry Potter quiz for themselves, an activity which they all really enjoyed. When they were finished, we shared different character profiles and talked about whether or not the students thought their results were accurate. To finish, I had the students use their student blogs to write about their quiz results. They included their character profiles on their posts and answered the following questions:

• Which character did you get as a result of the survey?
• Do you agree or disagree with the result? Be sure to explain why or why not. Give examples of how you are the same, or how you are different.
• What are the key character traits for the character that you most resembled?
• Name another character from a book that you've read who has opposite traits. Explain what a meeting between the two characters might be like.
• What is the difference between "Character" and "Character" (person in a novel/play vs. qualities distinct to an individual) as discussed in class? How do you define your own character?

The whole lesson plan went very well and I am amazed at how much I have learned already! I need to keep better track of time, I need to expect less validation, and I am simultaneously under- and overestimating these 6th graders. The best part of the lesson was the technology. Each student had access to a class set of ipads. To give them access to the quizzes, Mrs. M created a QR code, embedded it on my Powerpoint, and then the students scanned it from their ipads. SO COOL. Once the students had determined their character, I called on a handful of them to share their results by linking their iPad screen with the projector screen so the whole class could view and read along with them.

Then, the students used their personal edublogs to show their quiz results and respond to the prompts listed above. As an avid blogger, I am so in love! After I finished my lesson, Mrs. M had a class discussion based on a the weekly online class discussion through a website called Schoology that was due 1/17 (they just finished reading A Christmas Carol):

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." ~Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) 

 1. Please paraphrase King's statement; what does he mean?
 2. Knowing Martin Luther King, Jr., why did he make this statement?  
3. How does King's statement fit, or not fit, with the topic of ignorance in A Christmas Carol? Make a comparison.  
4. Knowing what you know about MLK, Jr. and what you know about why Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, do you think the two men would have something in common to talk about? Explain.

Last of all, the students continued an introduction to poetry that they started last week. They took notes on their ipads using the Evernote App, which looks pretty amazing, although I don't know much about it yet! Can't wait to see what other Apps and gizmos this class uses to enhance education in the classroom.  

Sources:
Character Quizzes // zimbio.com
Student Blogs // edublogs.org
QR Code Generator // qrstuff.com
Schoology // schoology.com
Evernote // evernote.com