Blue Egg 3

...a fourth grade Florida teacher and mother of 3 sons....

[blueegg3]

Growth Mindset Bulletin Board

I created this bulletin board last year based on one I had seen on Pinterest. In my opinion, it was the BEST bulletin board I have ever had in my class! Why you ask? We (both the students and I) referenced it all year as we endeavored to “Change Our Mindsets”! Having the growth mindset language “in our faces” really helped us to internalize the LANGUAGE! As we all prepare to start back to school, I though I would share it. I am attaching the text pieces so that you can create it yourselves. Copy center in my school district printed the brain enlarged for a nominal fee in black and white. I then colored the one side of the brain using markers. I backed the non-growth mindset sayings on gray paper and the growth mindset sayings on colored paper. I would highly recommend kicking the school year with the Growth Mindset lessons contained in Mary Kay Ricci’s book - https://www.amazon.com/Ready---Use-Resources-Mindsets-Classroom/dp/1618213962/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1470536053&sr=8-2&keywords=mary+kay+ricci

Here are the resources you will need to create the bulletin board:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kZdaIBU2LIPvZfQbdJ1smfEYD-4SaxsMpHTaa6zGR6E/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WSu3nTP2rF7oZB3qHHBKOGHSpjUB6Gbpswe43-jKtgk/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F-xsz7OC2z03KHsE4BiNT9yB_Fi4x5Ki1RPJ8cYPfLc/edit?usp=sharing

[blueegg3]

Vocabulary Visual Dictionary Strategy

I recently read a tweet with a vocabulary idea that I LOVED and tried out the last few days. It’s very easy and yielded such great learning opportunities. After reading a non-fiction article, my students paired up and choose one unknown word from the text. Using technology, they created a visual dictionary of the word by doing the following. 

The steps to create the visual dictionary were as follows: First, they predicted what they thought the word meant using the context of the text. Next, they checked their prediction using a dictionary. Third, they choose a picture that they felt represented the word. Fourth, they used technology (Powerpoint slide, Skitch app, Keynote) to create a slide with the picture, the word, and the definition. Finally, they presented their words to the class. 

When presenting the words, I realized that it wasn’t quite as simple as I thought!  I had the presenters share the paragraph where their word occurred when they displayed their visual dictionary. What we quickly discovered is that although many of the teams had a correct definition for their word, it was not correct according to the context of the text. For example, one group used the word “breed” and had the definition as “a breed is specific domestic animals having homogenous appearance behavior and or other characteristics”. The context, however, did not fit this definition because it was actually referencing reproduction. When the students looked closely at context, their revision stated “when animals breed they mate and produce young”. This was a great opportunity for us to discuss the multiple meaning of words and the necessity of writing a definition that is kid-friendly. I love the Longman Dictionary for kid-friendly definitions! http://www.amazon.com/Longman-Dictionary-American-English-paperback/dp/1447948106/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462415215&sr=8-1&keywords=longman+dictionary

We also talked about the “Word Role Strategy”. This strategy directs the reader to think about the unknown word’s job - noun, verb, or adjective - as they try to predict its meaning. This is an excellent strategy to help students determine an unknown word using context clues. This strategy is taken from The Common Core Guidebook: Informational Text Lessons 3-5 pg. 90 – “The word role strategy is used when you get to a word or phrase that you don’t know, but you know all of the other words in the sentence. You remove the word by covering it up to determine what role the word plays. Is it describing (adjective)? Is it an action (verb)? Is it a thing (noun)? This helps readers make some predictions about how the unfamiliar word is used in the sentence.” 

Below are the samples my students created: 

[blueegg3]

Breakout EDU - I’m in Love!!!

Last week I finally got to try out Breakout EDU and as my title states, “I’m in LOVE!” and so is my class! We’ve played two games and they are begging for more! I’d like to introduce you to this marvel of a classroom game that can be used from 1st grade - adult learners (maybe even kindergarten)! The gist of this game is based on the concept of “Escape Rooms” where the participants have to solve clues to “break” out of the room. In the context of the classroom, the students are breaking out a box by solving clues to unlock their box. The box has multiple locks on the box. Students typically have 45 minutes for the breakout. Educators have designed all different sorts of breakout games targeting different academic areas to be used. 

When I heard about the concept, I was very excited about it because I thought it would be engaging and content rich. What I didn’t really recognize, was the valuable team building and social skills that would also occur from doing Breakout EDU. We played our first game last week - The Swamp. I have two kits so I split my class in half and ran two teams at the same time. One of my teams was dysfunctional for the first 15 minutes. Kids were quitting, saying it was too hard, or squabbling with each other. Some of the students on this team rallied their forces & amazing things happened. The team succeeded and broke out at 33 minutes. The other team worked together with some struggles and broke out at 37 minutes. After the game we came together and debriefed the game. This is the POWER of the game - students assessing themselves! What were the pros for your team and what could you have done better? Wow! They blew me away with their honesty and recognition of pros and cons! One of the teams listed pros like “We did good listening and spreading out”, “We did not let XXXX walkoff when he wanted to give up”, “We encouraged each other”, and “We did good on communicating”. The other team stated that their pros were listening, using hints, solving the words on the wall, and finding the nouns. The areas of improvement listed by both teams were “Working on taking turns”, “Not arguing”, “Not yelling at team”, “Not giving up”, “Sharing ideas”, and “Taking turns distributing the candy prize instead of snatching it”.  

We made a video about why we liked the game. One of the things that one of my students said about why she liked the game was, “I like this game because like when we was struggling and when we are struggling on a test we can go back in the story and find more clues. And I also like this game because the tests may be hard but they will get easier after awhile like this game.” This is a struggling student saying basically, “Hey this game taught me not to give up! That yes it was hard at the beginning and I wanted to give up but in persisting we broke out!” GROWTH MINDSET! This was said by a student retained two times and reading far below where she should be! What an important life lesson she learned from this game! Other students said, “I like this game because it encouraged us to work together and not give up”, “I like this game because it was fun and it can help us in life and when we get older if we have a problem we can use it to solve it” “I think this game helped us cause when my team was about to give up, our coach said not to give up, keep trying”, “It told us to never give up, not like to quit what you are doing”, “Uhhh, I like this game because if somebody felt left out you can invite them back in”, “Umm, I think this game was really fun because it was educational and it taught us to work together and to use teamwork”, “I thought this game was a really good game because sometimes things can be hard, you can find out what they mean, and how like some parts required math and spelling which was something that we do in school”, and “I like this game because like the partners of our groups gave us information and clues so we could unlock things”.  

Another amazing thing about this game was that students who are not the “top” achievers in the class shined forth with talents no one knew that they had. During our debriefing, one of the students commended one of those students for their awesome problem solving skills. The funny thing was that very student had groaned when she saw that this particular student was on her team. It was so exciting to see her outwardly commend this student and recognize that even though we are not “best friends” he was an invaluable part of the team! This led to other students giving “Shout-Outs” to their team members for their contributions. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE! We will continue this each time we play! 

My students begged for another game so the very next day we played “Candy Caper”. I am sad to say that my intern and I had low expectations for my class. We wondered if they would break out in the allotted 45 minutes since the game was harder. To our amazement, the students broke out in 25 minutes! After just one game, the teamwork had improved by LEAPS AND BOUNDS! I can not say enough positive things about Breakout EDU! It is a MUST for your classroom!!!

Check it out at breakoutedu.com! 

[blueegg3]

IXL-FSA Self-Assessment Tracker

Today I had a brainstorm when my students were working on IXL. Thinking about the importance of students taking control of their own learning and setting goals, i decided to create a form that the students could use to track their learning progress. I want the students to focus on the standards that are covered on the FSA. There are many IXL skills for fourth grade that are not aligned with Florida math standards. On IXL there is a tab that shows the alignment with the FSA learning standards. Using that page, (https://www.ixl.com/standards/florida/math/grade-4) I created a form students could use to track their progress. Students can color each skill as they master it on IXL with 100%. This will allow students to visually see their progress and note what they need to do to complete that section. I was amazed how enthusiastic and excited my students were to color in their skills! There was high motivation to complete additional skills and check them off! The kids did not want to stop! As a parent of a fourth grader, I know that this will also help parents visually see what their children can do to review for the FSA. 

Here’s a link to what I created if you would like to try it out! https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1irY2HtwFMdMml5eVAwOWpObTA/view?usp=sharing

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The Cat in the Hat Game - A Classroom Favorite

I would like to introduce a game that I stole from a youth pastor. It has been a classroom favorite in my class for 5 years. I only roll it out on special occasions! It’s called “The Cat in the Hat Game” It's played like upset the Fruit Basket. It starts with the students in a circle seated in chairs. There is 1 less chair than students in the game. The extra student stands in the center of the circle. Next, assign students one of the following: Sally, Fish, or Mother. The teacher then reads the book, “The Cat in the Hat” out loud. When students hear their assigned name (Sally, Fish, or Mother) read out loud during the course of reading the book, they have to get out of their seat and go to another seat. When "Cat in the Hat" is read, everyone must switch chairs. Each time students switch because key name is called (Sally, Fish, Mother, or The Cat in the Hat) someone is left in the middle. This game is all about fun - there is no “winner”. My warning is that students are told that they cannot smash into each other as they switch seats or “jump” into the chairs when claiming one. This has been an ultimate treat in my class for years! We played it today in honor of Dr. Suess’s Birthday!

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Questions

Okay, yes, I am that annoying person at a professional development that asks what seems like a billion questions! It’s not that I intend to drive my fellow educators crazy and I truly only allow myself to ask my most burning questions. A questioner is not always a popular person. It is true that the spirit of the questioner is important. Questioning should not be a quest to elevate oneself by catching someone else’s mistake. Nor, to just be irritatingly obtuse.  However, at the heart of any innovation or personal growth, lies a question. Why am I doing this? Is there a better way? How can I improve? What could I do differently to improve my practice? Is this the best method? Who could help me improve? Where can I find better ideas? Questions like these cause teachers to be reflective practitioners - seeking growth and improvement in the art of teaching. 

Sometimes asking questions can be hard even if done with the right spirit because they challenge the existing status quo. They can take us out of our comfort zone and cause us to make changes we might resist. There are many historical examples of people who asked hard questions and changed our world; men and women like Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai to name a few. 

My challenge to myself in 2016 is to both embrace my questioning nature as a means of both personal and professional growth and lead my students down the path of being a questioner. Albert Einstein asked, “What if I could ride a beam of light across the universe?” The New Year holds endless possibilities if we ask the right questions….

Favorite Question Quotes: 

“Knowing the answers will help you in school, knowing how to question will help you in life” - William Berger

“In all affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the thing you have long taken for granted” - Bertrand Russell

“Questions are the engines of intellect, the cerebral machines which convert energy to motion, and curiosity to controlled inquiry” - David Hackett Fischer

Books I am Reading about Inquiry:

Creating Innovators - Tony Wagner http://amzn.to/1JLPX6h

The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity - George Couros  http://amzn.to/1JLPO2Q

Pure Genius: Building a Culture of Innovation and Taking 20% Time to the Next Level - Don Wettrick  http://amzn.to/1P2BGnz

Blog about Questioning: http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/blog-2/

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Math Test Creator

For all my teacher friends in Volusia County (or any teachers who are frantically scrambling to create their own assessments aligned to Common Core), I discovered an excellent resource recently that is super easy for creating your own reviews, quizzes, and/or tests. This AMAZING site is commoncoresheets.com and is for K-8th grades. I literally created a quiz in less than 10 minutes tonight!!!  

This site also has ready made worksheets targeting the standards. The best part of all is that it is FREE, FREE, FREE!

I'm in LOVE!!! Now I can go enjoy my novel instead of laboring over test making for hours.... 

[blueegg3]

Differentiation & Tiered Assignments

So I'm out on a limb this week trying to differentiate in my classroom. I recently did two online courses through my district that introduced and gave strategies to differentiate. They were very informative and got me primed to start putting my learning into practice. One of the major things that I took from the courses was that to differentiate, you have to know your students. Kind of basic, right? Yet, honestly I don't typically pre-test students aside from the beginning of the year type of stuff.

I purposed before Christmas break that I would try it out. Focusing on one subject area to begin with seemed a little less overwhelming, therefore I am targeting math. Using the Test Specs for the new Florida State Assessment, I created a pre-test for decimals. Lo, and behold I had 5 students who have already mastered the majority of what I'm getting ready to teach. In my typical teaching pattern, these students would have breezed through the work and I would have been so PROUD of my teaching impact on them!

Here's my big aha about these type of students after reading Amanda Ripley's "The Smartest Kids in the World" (which I highly recommend) - Smart kids need to experience rigorous, hard assignments which cause them to think deeply and struggle. So many of our top students are used to coasting through elementary school without much true "work". When they get to middle or high school or maybe even college, they finally encounter something "hard" but may have never developed the problem solving skills and attitudes necessary to "stick with it" and not give up when the going gets tough.

Now I am working on creating tiered assignments targeting my students based on what they already know about decimals. 

More to come as I travel down the differentiation road.......

[blueegg3]

10 Words - A Summarization Strategy

Last week I tried out a strategy from "The Common Core Lesson Book K-5" by Gretchen Owocki called 10 Important Words but I modified it for my purpose. It is listed as a vocabulary strategy (Reading Anchor 4 - Intrepret words and phrases ...) on page 219. In the book, the gist of the strategy is to have the students read a particular text, choose the 10 most important words, put them on post-it notes, graph the words whole group and discuss, and finally have the students write a short summary using the words.

I used this as a summarization technique and have to say that it is the BEST strategy I have ever used for summarizing. Here's what I did:

1. Introduced non-fiction text - discussed the text features with students. 

2. Targeted the first section of text according to the subheadings and had students read it (This is a good way to scaffold this strategy as opposed to starting out with the entire text. I will eventually use this with text in its entirety). 

3. Students reread text and choose the five most important words in that section. (Because it was a short section of text, I had the students choose 5 words instead of 10). 

4. As a group, discussed the word choices and had students state evidence from the text that supported their word choices. The discussion was a great opportunity to explore misconceptions some students had as was reflected in their word choices. Other students presented why they agreed or disagreed with chosen words which provided authentic deep textual conversation amongst students. 

5. Next, I had the students number the words according to their order as they appeared in the text. (This helped students when they went to write their summary to make sure that it was in order. I found that for some students this was a crucial step). 

6. Last, students wrote a summary of the text using the words they choose. 

Summarizing has always been a somewhat nebulous process. Choosing the main ideas and boiling it down to just the most important concepts can be very challenging (for adults as much as students)! I found this technique to be extremely beneficial to students. I personally did it along with my students and found it to help me as well! I would recommend it for college students! it provided a framework for summarizing a section of text which with practice could become automatic. Below you will find several examples completed by my students. They represent all three levels in my class demonstrating how beneficial this strategy is to all: 

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Japanese Erasers & Reading Motivation

I am an avid reader (honestly I would stay up all night with a good book if given the opportunity) and I work very hard to create this passion in my students. With that being said, I have no problem rewarding my students for their reading. Despite the nay-sayers who believe that external rewards diminish internal motivation, I have ABSOLUTELY NOT found this to be true with my reading program. I wish you could visit my classroom to see how honest I am being about this! My students all read without much pushing from me once the culture of the class takes over. Here's part of what I do:

To begin with, I give my students 30 minutes every day to read during which time I conference with the students. Every time that my students pass a Reading Counts test, their name goes into a drawing. Friday is the big day for the drawing.  Prizes range from a can of Pringles, miscellaneous candy, bookmarks, or other intermittent odds and ends. One type of item my students are in love with are Japanese erasers. Originally I purchased them at a local book store but a month ago I discovered I could get them a lot cheaper from Amazon. They are the hot RAGE in my classroom! Here's a link for one of the packs I have purchased: http://www.amazon.com/Iwako-Erasers-Animal-Overstock-Pack/dp/B00MH9RLAE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1420685800&sr=8-3&keywords=japanese+erasers

Another motivator that is important in my classroom involves group goal setting. Each month my class confers and agrees upon a goal for the amount of points they want to earn. Then I offer a reward if they achieve the goal. Typically it involves food - like my secret family recipe for homemade hot fudge sundaes. (This is always a hit!!!) The students work very hard to achieve the group reward. 

My belief is that as I battle the lure of video games, tv, and movies with this generation of children, extrinsic motivation can be the means to capture an unwilling reader and turn them into an intrinsically motivated READER! 

So, with that being said, I will leave you with an example from one of my former students who fits this bill.....

[blueegg3]

Free Preschool Units

If you know me, you know that I tend to go overboard with things at times. I do realize this!  When my boys were preschoolers, I made some pretty amazing thematic based units (I know that sounds braggadocious but they really turned out good). So for those of you who have preschool aged children, you might just want to check them out! They are free!!! (My favorite poor teacher word!)

I targeted classic children's literature like Owl Babies http://www.homeschoolshare.com/owl_babies.php and Mrs. Wishy Washy http://www.homeschoolshare.com/mrs_wishy_washy.php.  For the train enthusiast, I created a lapbook and unit - http://www.homeschoolshare.com/trains_lapbook.php. Here's a youtube video of a little boy that did my lapbook - http://youtu.be/XQsDsffot9w. I also did a lap book based on Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz - http://www.homeschoolshare.com/hello_ocean_lapbook.php. I coauthored some as well. If you search for Diedrichs on the site, you will see the rest.

These are all housed at homeschoolshare.com which has some pretty awesome resources for the homeschooling crowd. Hope some of you try them out! They were so much fun to do when my boys were little!!!

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The Crazy Professor Reading Game

So I discovered a new reading comprehension strategy over Christmas break that I tried out today. Let me just say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVED it!!! The gist of the strategy is that students are engaged in comprehending text through dramatic reading and body movements. It is so much fun and the best part is that the students do all the work! You absolutely MUST watch the video explaining the game - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xFcUPQ_z_8 .

There is a very good powerpoint on Teacher Pay Teacher that can be used to introduce the strategy  and it is free! (My favorite part of course!) http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Crazy-Professor-Reading-Game-Introduction-696488

Excited to continue experimenting with this strategy! 

[blueegg3]

Let me introduce myself....

Based on the advice of friends, I have decided to start a blog focused on teaching. I will begin by saying that I am NOT a great writer. My aim is to share my love for  teaching with those who are interested. Reading, reading, reading, and more reading. Welcome to my world!