2Gether We Are Better- Classroom Improvements

      Well July is here and so is another edition of #2GETHERWEAREBETTER!  I am linking up with Ashley over at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Angie at Lucky Little Learners to share an area of my teaching or classroom that I would like to improve this coming school year.  I fully agree with these ladies, that we as teachers always have room for improvement and with the support from other amazing teachers we can do wonderful things!  

      This summer I was lucky enough to attend a Professional Development workshop by my school district.  At this workshop I attended multiple sessions about the integration of technology in the classroom and blended learning.  These sessions truly impressed me and got me thinking about my own classroom at my current school and how I could do things differently.  

      So, let me give you the background...I taught for 8 years near Charlotte, North Carolina.  Over the course of those 8 years I saw the use of technology in the classroom change drastically.  By the time I left NC and moved back to Ohio, two years ago, our students were using technology on a daily basis.  My previous school had two computer labs, multiple carts of iPads and laptops, computers in every classroom, Smartboards and document cameras, and more.  The day I first stepped into my current classroom, I felt as though I was going through a time warp.  There was nothing, or so it felt.  I literally had a chalkboard, two old computers, an Elmo  and an overhead projector!  So, you can imagine my shock and frustration.  This past school year, our building worked hard to get Smartboards in every classroom and purchase a large number of Chromebooks for students to use on a regular basis.  We are getting there and I know that eventually my students will have better access to technology.  

      Here is the problem though...I was SOOOO use to using technology and then all of the sudden it was gone.  So, I went back to teaching without much technology.  Then as we started to get pieces of equipment, I wasn't sure how I wanted to begin integrating it into my curriculum now that I was at a new grade level and had reverted to old methods for a year.  My goal this summer to to find ways to integrate technology into my daily instruction this coming school year.  Here are a couple of ways I hope to do this:

1.  Blendspace- Blendspace is a website that allows you to create online tutorials for students.  Students can watch videos or other online activities in a sequential order that you decide when you create the lesson.  The teacher who taught me about this site uses this site to create lessons for students to do during independent math time, while others are working on math stations or guided math activities.  He also creates lessons that are to be completed for homework.  This website can also be used as a way for teachers to compile resources and then share this with teammates, so that all resources are available to each other.  

      What does this mean for me?  I know that all of my students typically do not have computer access at home.  So, I am not planning on having them use this as home as mandatory homework, however, I will let parents know about the lessons I create so that they can use them at home for extra practice, if they choose to do so.  I am also hoping to create lessons to use during math, similarly to how the other teacher used them.  I would like to have students who may need additional instruction, use these when not working with me.  

2.  Schoology- Schoology is a website and our school district has a membership. Until this summer, I had only used this to complete online professional development courses, and share some resources with other third grade teachers in my district.  It is basically like a Facebook for students and teachers.  After the PD I went to, I am hoping to create a Schoology page for my teammates. I am hoping to use it to more effectively share resources, lessons, and more.  This site is also accessible for students.  I am hoping to have students use the discussion boards on this site as a way to blog about their independent reading and share their thoughts with peers. 

3.  Kahoot- I was introduced to Kahoot during this past school year.  This is a FUN way for students to review concepts.  This past year we played this game prior to our unit assessments.  We usually played the game in groups.  This coming year I hope to continue to use the game, but also have the students begin generating some of the questions.  If you haven't tried this game, you should.  Your kiddos will love it! Oh, and it is FREE!

4.  Google Docs and Forms- I have used Google Docs for my own use and for team planning/sharing files for years.  This past year our school purchased Chromebooks which do not have Word for processing.  Instead the students use Google Docs to do their word processing.  It was such an effort to get them signed-in that we never really did anything besides publishing our writing.  

      This year, I would like my students to use Google Docs to share their writing with their peers and have their writing partner type comments for them.  I would also like the students to email their writing to their parents and have their parents provide feedback.  

      I'm also using Google Forms this year.  I had never used them before.  This year I am planning to have my parents fill out one Google Form on Meet the Teacher Night, instead of filling out tons of forms before they leave.  I am hoping it makes things easier for the parents and for me!

OK...So, do you have experience with Blendspace, Schoology, Kahoot, or Google Docs?  If so, what advice would you give and/or suggestions?  What other technology sources would you encourage me to use, even with limited resources? 

Don't forget to head over and see how others are improving their classrooms this coming year!

July Currently

       I am NOT ready for it to be July!  At least it is time for the July edition of Currently. I am linking up with Farley, from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade.  Hop on over there to read what everyone is currently doing this summer.  

Listening:  I just finished watching a cute/cheesy little love story on Netflix.  In the past few months, one could say that I have more than gotten my money's worth of Netflix. 
Loving:  I am loving summer.  There's really nothing more to say.  I have seen the pictures floating around about teachers being solar powered.  I am pretty sure that goes for me.  
Thinking:  I am taking a PD class, Making Thinking Visible, for college credit this summer.  I just got back from a second little trip and over these past few trips I have been neglecting reading the book for my class.  SO, last night I ended up reading two chapters and having to complete a bunch of work for my class.  I think I might start getting ahead and reading the next few chapters today.  
Wanting:  Please, SLOW DOWN!  Summer is flying by and I have a lot still on my to do list, plus I just really love relaxing.  I really have to find a way to relax like this during the school year.  
Needing:  I just got back from being out of town for my cousin's wedding.  I did well running and eating healthy the first few days I was out of town.  Then the wedding happened and the next few days I didn't eat so healthy!  Ha! Earlier this summer I was doing a great job eating healthy and working out, so I need to get back into that routine.
ALL Star:  Creativity- I love being crafty and when I take my time or am in the right mood, my work tends to be better.  Reader- Hmmm....This summer I have been reading a lot and I think I do a pretty good job staying up late, reading by the pool, reading on the plane. Haha!  :)  Making and Checking off Lists- I am a professional list maker.  I have large lists for things to do, TpT, etc.  I have daily lists that I check off throughout the day.  If I do NOT have a list, I won't get much done.  The best part is crossing things off those lists!

TpT Seller Challenge Week 2- Dare to Dream

      It is the second week of the TpT Seller Challenge.  This week's theme is called Dare to Dream.  I am linking up with Sparkling in Second, Third in Hollywood, Teach Create Motivate,  and Peppy Zesty Teacherista for this next challenge.  

      I started my TpT journey, like many of you.  I was simply introduced to the website and I began purchasing items that I could use in my classroom.  After purchasing items for a while, I knew that I could begin creating items.  I have always been creative and I felt like this would be the perfect new adventure.  So, originally, I was making things I needed for my classroom and wasn't concerned about the profit.  As people started purchasing items from my store, I realized that I could really turn it into a business, in which I could make somewhat of a profit.   I am no where near the level of seller as many on TpT, but my little store is working for me.  I have enough products, that I can go for periods of time without creating new products, and still make money  That is one of my favorite things!!    

      This past school year was my best year yet on TpT.  With that being said, here are my "dreams".  

1.  My boyfriend and I are currently house hunting.  We have looked at a few houses, but mostly have been searching online or through the links our realtor sends us.  I have been saving most of my TpT money at this time, to go towards a down payment on a house.  

2.  I love traveling.  Whether it is a one day trip or a long vacation, I enjoy traveling.  I love having my TpT money in a Paypal account, so that if I want to book a plane ticket or hotel room, I can use this money for those purchases.  I hope to continue to save this money and use it for other fun adventures in the future.  

3.  As, I just mentioned, currently, I am using little bits of these profits for traveling/fun adventures and the rest is being saved to go toward a down payment.  So, I hope to later on, down the road, build up a savings with this money. 

4.  Last, I use my profits on TpT to purchase other products on TpT!  Even though I create my own products, I still purchase many other products, especially when I want/need something last minute.  I have found so many amazing products on TpT.  I also enjoy using this money for other shopping expenses on Amazon, etc.  

     So, while my dreams for my TpT account aren't crazy, I hope to continue to build a business that allows me to save and spend on items that I may or may not have had the ability to do so other wise.  I can't be MORE THANKFUL for my TpT followers and customers.  It truly is an amazing community.

Monday Made It- Fixing Up Last Year's Project and a New One!

     It is Monday again and I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made It addition.  I don't know about you, but I love my summer craft projects.  They always seem to be better, though, as ideas in my head, versus the real thing.   
      

      For example, last summer I was SUPPPPPER excited to purchase stools from IKEA.  I spray painted them, put little numbers on them, and couldn't wait to set them up at my guided reading table.  Well, they were cute, and they looked GREAT at my guided reading table, until...the kids came in!  Oops!  I sort of forgot to factor in the kiddos and what would happen when they got their hands on them.   
     Here are some pictures from last year.  Click on the first picture and you can go back to my original post, last summer. 

     I tend to get a lot of fidgety kids or students with sensory needs.  So, my cute little stools turned into not so cute stools.  The students picked the paint away and left them looking like pretty rough.  Not to mention that my wiggly kiddos liked to wiggle on these stools.  Unfortunately, they aren't the best for wiggling and they started getting pretty loose by the end of the year. The picture makes them look better than they really look. Here is how they looked by the end of the year:

     So, today's project was to get these babies looking new again.  They are spray painted and and drying now. I haven't decided if I want to put the numbers back on them or not.  I will figure that out later.  For now, I am glad to see they are painted once again!
     

       The other project I worked on this week was really easy.  I saw it somewhere recently and I decided to try it out as well.  This coming year, I will have at least 5 Chromebooks in my classroom. So, on Meet the Teacher Night, instead of having parents fill out multiple forms telling me about dismissal, email, phone numbers, etc., parents will fill out one Google Form with all of this information.   Then the information can all be compiled for me.   This was super easy to create and it shouldn't take parents long to complete.  This way, they don't have to worry about completing multiple forms and asking figuring out which ones to turn in, etc.  I am hoping this works out well! 

Do you use Google Forms with your parents at school?  Have you used them with your students?  If so, how have they worked for you? 

Summer Saleabration

     While browsing through blogs today, I found a Summer Saleabration over at Teacher Treasure Hunter.  I decided that I will join in the sale.  

      For this entire week, the product below will be on sale for 50% off!  This product is a book study that compares multiple texts to the original story of The Three Little Pigs.  Click HERE to go grab this product for 50% off.  

Stop over at Teacher Treasure Hunter to grab some great products that will be on sale all week long. 

Five for Friday with Makeover Madness!

      I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday.  I am also linking up with Sparking in Second Grade for their Makeover Madness TpT Challenge!

1.  This week I was away from my computer.  I took a road trip down to Charlotte, North Carolina.  After living there for 8 years, it is like another home to me!   While in Charlotte, I was able to visit with one of my friends that I taught with for 6 years! You know those people that make going to work that much better!  I definitely miss working with her.  We didn't take a picture, though!  Then I took a beach trip with one of my best friends!  For the past two years we have gone to the beach and camped.  Although I miss hanging out with these girls, now that I am in Ohio, I LOVE having friends down south to visit with!

 2.  We spent three days at Hunting State Park in South Carolina!  It was fabulous! 

 3.  I had planned on reading Word Nerds while at the beach, but ended up reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand.  Both were great, easy beach reads.  So, I guess I will be reading Word Nerds now that I am back at home.  I just couldn't put down by easy reads!

4.  I came home from my trip to see two letters from my one of the schools I worked at in Charlotte.  Two of my former students wrote to me. I loved reading these letters!  So sweet. :)

5.  I saw the posts about the TpT Seller Challenge, while I was away. I really wanted to join in on this fun, but didn't have my computer with me, so I had to wait until I got home!  This week's challenge was to makeover a product.  I decided to makeover two of my first products.  These were created using Microsoft Word.  I didn't know how to use Powerpoint at the time that I created these products.  Here are the two that I have updated, as of now.  One of them didn't even have a cover.  This has motivated me to makeover a few other products, as well!  One of the products aligns with the Common Core Standards.  The other product is aligned with Common Core, but also matches with the first grade Reading Street Unit 1.  Click on the pictures below to grab a copy of these updated products! 

Happy Friday!

Five for Friday- Saturday Morning!

      While some of you, along with my friends down in NC, are just wrapping up their year this week, I am already three weeks into my summer vacation! Between PD that I signed up for, leadership team meetings, getting work done on my car, etc. the time is just flying by.  Summer needs to SLOW DOWN!  I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share what I have been up to during my third week of summer vacation!

1. On Monday I had a Professional Development class that I signed up for this summer.  Our district has courses that are mostly online and only require one face-to-face meeting.  The courses are informative and based on concepts or books that are current and popular in the educational community.  This past year I was able to take a variety of courses.  Some of them were on Number Talks, Notice and Note, Autism OCALI training, etc.  I am currently taking a couple of courses this way. Monday I started a class for Making Thinking Visible.  This is a great book and so far I am able to see how this will transform the parts of my day which need a change!

2. Not much more to say than that I have spent 3 or 4 afternoons this week running at this amazing park!  I have almost 30 miles so far this month!  Once I saw that, I decided that I would set a goal to run 70 miles in June!  I think this goal will push me to have some  longer runs a few days a week!  

3. The SUMMER heat is here!  People are already complaining, but not me!  I have not forgotten that about 4 months ago it was still snowing and frigid outside!  There are parts about each season that I truly enjoy and that is what I try to remember!  So when it is 90 degrees outside, instead of complaining, I spend my afternoons by the pool. :)

4. I've spent a ton of time this summer watching Netflix.  When I'm working on projects, folding laundry, etc. that is usually playing in the background. I never watched Parenthood while it was actually on T.V., but I recently started watching it on Netflix.  I just finished the last season that is on Netflix and am SO eager to see the final season!!!!

5. I had the privilege of going to a district-wide PD recently. The keynote speaker was Jason Hillman, head of the Literacy Collaborative as Ohio State and a previous teacher and principal.  He has had a lot of success turning around schools that were in need of a change. He was an amazing speaker with great ideas and motivation to change the culture for students and teachers, within our schools.  He suggested reading the book, Transforming School Culture.  I ordered a copy to be picked up at Barnes and Noble this week.  When I arrived, it wasn't there!!  They couldn't find it anywhere.  So, I ended up buying a digital copy and am really looking forward to reading this book!