Week of August 25

At the first meeting that principals had with Dr. Rose,our new FCS Superintendent, he asked us to talk about our "why".  We had to share the reason why we decided to do this work. Why did we decide to become educators?  It is a thought provoking question that can't really be answered with cliche sayings such as "I love kids" or "I always wanted to teach".  Something in our lives influenced us to make this our life's work.  For some, it was a childhood experience or a teacher that made us believe there was no greater calling.  For others, it was later in life as a second career.  It was about making a difference.  While it is important to identify the initial "why" of your journey, it is more important to know "why" you continue to do this work.   Our work is neither easy nor glamorous.  The hours are long and the accolades are few.  However, focusing on your "why" will keep you moving forward when you want to give up.  It has been a great three weeks of school and you are one of the reasons why.



Staff Spotlight
This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Martha Holladay.  As you know, Martha is our new Bilingual Community Liaison. In the short time that she has been here, she has availed herself to our students, staff and parents in a number of different ways.  She spent hours unpacking books in the Media Center on the first day of Pre-planning.  She helped numerous Korean families navigate Sneak Preview Day.  She has made connections with students and she has met with a number of parents to answer questions and translate information.She even attended a PTO Board Meeting to make sure they knew she was a resource for parents.   You would never know that Martha is a new staff member at Medlock.  She doesn't wait to be told what she needs to do.  She sees a need and fills it.  Her energy and enthusiasm is contagious.  Martha thank you for your vision for the position and your desire to get more families engaged in our school activities. 

25 Best Websites for Teachers

How did we teach without the Internet? Our favorite sites simplify lesson planning, keep the classroom running smoothly, and engage students.

By Hannah Trierweiler Hudson

1. Best for Young Readers: The Stacks

At The Stacks, students can post book reviews, get reading recommendations, play games based on the latest series, watch "Meet the Author" videos, and more. It's like Facebook for reading and it's safe for school, too.

2. Best for Finding Books: Book Wizard

Use Scholastic's Book Wizard to level your classroom library, find resources for the books you teach, and create reading lists with the click of a button. You can also plug a title into the BookAlike feature to find books with an easier, similar, or more difficult reading level.

3. Best for Craft Projects: Crayola For Educators

With hundreds of lessons for every grade level, you're guaranteed to find a colorful idea for your class, such as the "Chinese Dragon Drum" for Chinese New Year or the "What Do You Love?" project for Valentine's Day.

4. Best Way to Start the Day: Daily Starters

Establish a morning routine with Scholastic's Daily Starters — fun, fast math and language arts prompts and questions, including Teachable Moments from history and Fun Facts, such as "Before erasers, people used a piece of bread!" Sort by grade (PreK-8), and project them onto your interactive whiteboard or print copies for your students.

5. Best for Writing: Education Northwest

The creators of the 6+1 traits of writing offer a terrific overview of the model on their site, with research to support the program, lesson plans, writing prompts, and rubrics. You can also find writing samples to practice scoring and see how other teachers scored the same piece.

6. Best Online Dictionary: Wordsmyth

Add the beginner's version of the Wordsmyth widget to your toolbar, and students can look up new vocabulary no matter where they are online.

7. Best Math games: National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

At the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, you'll find activities for every area of math at every grade level. Need to teach shapes to preschoolers, for example? Try the Attribute Blocks, which challenge students to sort virtual objects. Working on functions with middle schoolers? Drop numbers into the function machine to identify the pattern.

8. Best for Geography: Google Earth

Zoom over the Sahara desert. Fly past the streets where your students live. Take a tour of the Eiffel Tower. You can do it all with Google Earth, the tool that makes the world feel a little bit smaller with its map-generating capabilities. If you're new to Google Earth, the tutorials offer a great introduction.

9. Best for History: Federal Resources for Educational Excellence

This fantastic site acts as a clearinghouse for all of the educational materials developed by government organizations. You can find primary sources, videos, and photos for just about any topic. And it's all free!

10. Best for Science: National Science Teachers Association

The National Science Teachers Association site is a goldmine for classroom teachers who may not feel as comfortable teaching geology and astronomy as they do reading and arithmetic. You'll find journal articles, experiment ideas, and a roundup of the latest science stories in the news.

11. Best for Current Events: Scholastic News

For topics too current for textbooks, Scholastic News classroom magazines offer engaging nonfiction reading online, drawn from the latest headlines. Subscribe to receive news-related, age-appropriate Common Core lesson plans and skills sheets, and free access to the app that comes with each issue.

12. Best for Middle School: figment

Figment allows young writers to post their work, receive criticism, and read others' contributions. From fan fiction to poetry to novels-in-progress, all types of writing are encouraged and shared. Be aware that not all content is school appropriate.

13. Best for Virtual Trips: Smithsonian Education

The Smithsonian offers thousands of resources for educators, including lesson plans, virtual tours of their latest exhibits, and the opportunity to connect with experts in the field. In one lesson, "Final Farewells," students can see a school yearbook from the Civil War era up close, and discuss how the political climate may have affected the content.

14. Best Multimedia Tool: Glogster

Glogster bills itself as a tool for making interactive posters, or glogs, containing pictures, text, video, links, and animation. A glog on To Kill a Mockingbird might contain a link to the Scottsboro trial, a clip from the Gregory Peck movie, and a drawing of the tree where Boo Radley leaves gifts for Scout. Fun!

15. Best for the Interactive Whiteboard: SMART Exchange

Go to SMART Exchange before creating any lessons for your interactive whiteboard from scratch. Chances are you'll find an existing lesson ready to grab and go, or inspiration from other teachers who've taught the same material. Plus, the customizable Whack-A-Mole game is a must-have for test prep and review.

16. Best for Interactive Whiteboard Help: Promethean Planet

Even if you've deemed yourself an interactive whiteboard pro, Promethean's teacher community offers a boatload of tips and practical advice you'll find useful. Find help the next time your toolbox goes missing, or if you want to punch up a lesson with cool graphics.

17. Best for Online Classroom Workspaces: Wikispaces Classroom

Wikispaces Classroom walks you through process of creating an online classroom workspace that's private and customizable. It works across browers, tablets, and phones, and can be used for day-to-day classroom management, tracking formative assessments in real-time, and connecting with students and parents in and out of the classroom.

18. Best for Video Clips: TeacherTube

TeacherTube is the best source for instructional videos in a safe environment. We especially love the clips of teachers showing off the catchy rhymes they've made up to teach certain topics — check out the "Mrs. Burk Perimeter Rap" and the "Mr. Duey Fractions Rap."

19. Best for Moviemaking: PowToon

Moviemaking has never been easier than it is at PowToon. To create a short animated clip, all you have to do is write a script and choose characters and other graphics using a simple drag-and-drop tool. The classroom possibilities are endless — challenge kids to write an additional scene for a book you are reading in English class, or have one character explain the water cycle to another for a science project.

20. Best Standards Help: Common Core State Standards Initiative

This site not only offers an overview of the Common Core State Standards, but provides a thoughtful framework for how the standards were determined and what we can reasonably expect students at given grade levels to achieve.

21. Best for Tough Topics: Teaching Tolerance

Along with an excellent blog that tackles some of the more difficult aspects of education, Teaching Tolerance offers activities and teaching kits on topics ranging from the civil rights movement to the separation of church and state.

22. Best Professional Development On the Go: Annenberg Learner

Many of the PD series from the Annenberg Foundation are available on demand here, with videos on teaching measurement, writing workshop, and more. You'll see master teachers at work and undoubtedly snag an idea or two for your own classroom.

23. Best for Your Career: National Education Association

In the hustle and bustle of the classroom, it can be easy to lose track of the outside forces affecting education. The National Education Association explains how to take action regarding the issues you care about most — including merit pay, the No Child Left Behind Act, and funding for education.

24. Best for Inspiration: Scholastic Top Teaching Blog

Reading the Top Teaching blog is like paging through a cooking magazine. Just as you might be inspired to try a 12-course meal instead of your usual mac and cheese, you'll leave wanting to push your teaching to the next level. No matter what you're interested in — Pinterest-worthy bulletin boards, savvy tech-integration tips, or how to save money on classroom materials — these veteran teachers' wealth of experience and knowledge will leave you satiated.

25. Best of Facebook: Scholastic Teachers

So we may be biased, but we think you'll find our page your most useful one on Facebook by far. Each week, you'll find free printables, lesson plan and craft ideas, frequent giveaways, and note-worthy news. All you have to do is "like" us. And stand by for the fascinating discussion that happens on our page, including the 10 O'Clock Teacher Question, posed by — and answered by — teachers like you.

Week of August 18

                Thursday Thoughts August 18

I was talking to a colleague the other day and we were reminiscing about a time when elementary school was fun for students AND teachers.  We were able to teach the basics while challenging our students through fun activities.  When my former students contact me now, they still talk about the economics unit where they made and sold their own products.  They talk about the scripts that they wrote to change a particular story into a play (that was performed in class).  They can even remember the different roles that they held in our classroom "city".   I was proud to tell my colleague that we are striving to get back to those good times here at Medlock.  I am excited about our students' opportunities to do more with STEAM and technology and I love the fact that we encourage student creativity.  I believe that this will be the year that we can get back to the joy of teaching and our students will truly enjoy learning.

Staff Spotlight

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Pam Martin.  It was a couple of weeks before Pre-planning that I called Pam and told her that she would be moving to First grade.  While I anticipated that we might lose a Kindergarten classroom after the 10 day count, I needed Pam to move grade levels due to the resignation of a First grade teacher.  No one wants to be told over the summer that they need to move to another grade level.  Teaching a new curriculum and bonding with a new team can be quite stressful.  But Pam took it in stride and immediately began working with her new team.  She has connected with her grade level and her classroom looks like she has always been in First grade.  It is easy to be positive and have a good attitude when things are going your way; however the true test comes when the unexpected is thrown at you.  Pam, thank you for what you are doing for our students.  It's going to be a great year!

12 Things That Will Disappear From Classrooms In The Next 12 Years

By Terry Heick

April 16, 2016

TeachThought.com

The classroom is changing because the world is changing.
That may not be as true as we’d like it to be–the pace of the change in education lags awkwardly behind what we see in the consumer markets. It could be argued that there’s been more innovation in churches and taxis than there’s been in libraries and schools, which is a special kind of crazy, but logical: “fields” that are dependent on consumer habits are far more vulnerable to disruption. Education, being more or less perma-funded by governments and misunderstood by the public, is more built to resist change.
But that doesn’t mean change isn’t happening (e.g., flipped classrooms, BYOD, maker movement), and that more isn’t on the way. So below I’ve collected a list of those ‘things’ most likely to see disappear from the classroom over the next 12 years, with technology, and technology-based thinking being the catalysts for change. 12 years isn’t really very long, but the pace of change isn’t linear. The difference between 2004 and today will likely be surpassed by today and 2028.

Whole Class Instruction/Direct Instruction
In what universe does standing up in front of 30 people to “teach” something make any sense? Are they all learning the same thing? Who thinks that is a good idea? Are they all ready for the same content in the same way? Is their genius going to shine through that whole class instruction, or is that simply the easiest way to express stuff. To “cover” it. (You might hear yourself say: “We went over this last week. You should remember.”) 
Personalized learning and whole class instruction are enemies. This change has been long over-due. Technology isn’t even necessary for this.

Letter Grades
Of all the ‘movements’ in education recently, the get-rid-of-the-letter-grade seems to be both the least ambitious and most likely-to-succeed. And the merits of getting rid of letter grades altogether seem clear: By removing the iconic carrot stick, the whole climate of learning has a chance to change.
In the meantime, grade backwards form zero if you have to, and consider these  alternatives to letter grades if you’re ready to make some real noise in your district. (Remember, the last two districts I worked in wanted me gone. Proceed with caution.)

Tests
Grades are the hell spawn of tests. Tests are the wiggling maggots of a stagnant curriculum map and dated way of thinking about learning.

Passwords
Not sure how technology is going to work this one out, especially in a classroom, but fingerprint scanners are a kind of metaphor for new thinking.

Traditional Schedules
One size fits all instruction makes about as much sense as one size fits all schedules. Or having X number of classes for Y number of minutes. New interactions = new thinking.

Computer Labs
20 years from now, computer labs may be replaced by Maker Labs and classrooms will become more like Google Rooms/computer labs. (See: 20 Classroom Setups That Promote Thinking.) For now, the idea of one or two rooms full of computers is slowly being replaced by laptop carts and Google Chromebooks.


Gender Labels

Less sure about this one. Clearly millennials and generation Z think differently about gender than boomers and generation X, but it’s less clear how that change ‘sticks’ as they begin having families and switching jobs and dealing–as a culture–with social change, increasing globalization, and so on. It may be a bit premature to say gender labels will outright disappear, but some kind of change seems to be happening.

Common Core Standards
Knowledge and information are being increasingly organized in new ways. Organic search, social referrals, blogs, RSS-based ‘digital magazines’ like feedly and Flipboard) blogs, and other technologies are becoming the new normal for content organization. Books (still seem to be) by far the standard for organizing ideas, but as even what we think of as a ‘book’ changes, the new for a
How about an uncommon curriculum with uncommon standards? But how can we know what they’re learning and how will we know what to teach?

Teacher’s Desk
As long as the teacher is the front of the room–or the center–content is secondary, and students ancillary. Technology allows students to directly interact with ‘filtered’ (e.g., textbooks and handpicked essays and librarian-selected picture books) and ‘unfiltered’ content (e.g., YouTube, Google, etc.) social networks, peer groups, digital archives of their own work, experts in the community, mentors, and more.

Student Desks
And as the daily interactions students have shift from teachers and ‘elbow partners’ to the world itself, rows of desks no longer do the trick.

Filing Cabinets
These may already be disappearing in your school. ‘Good riddance’ I say, but sometimes I wonder if things weren’t easier to find in filing cabinets than on Evernote.

Textbooks
This one should’ve placed higher. Textbooks really aren’t the evil they’re portrayed to be–they’re compilations of content that students need to master from a skills and basic knowledge perspective. The problem is that schools for too long have pursued skills and basic knowledge, and one-size-fits-all books–like whole class instruction–are the opposite of the critical-thinking based and personalized learning environment students need to thrive.

Week of August 11

Thursday Thoughts August 11

Every few years, I find myself drawn to watching the Olympic games.  There's something about watching young people compete at the highest level that excites me.   I am Team USA all the way and I love to learn about the Olympians' personal stories and the journey they took to get to the games.   This year the gold medal gymnast, Simon Biles, is in the spotlight.  I recently read about the incredible life story of this 19 year old phenom.  Long story short, her mother was on drugs and her father was not a part of their lives.  After being in foster care at a young age, she and her sister were adopted by her maternal grandparents.  What an amazing story!

It's not how you start that's important but it's how you finish.  I remind myself of this when I think about some of our little Mustangs who don't have the best home environment or who need a lot of support.  We are so fortunate to work with children at the beginning of their lives and impact their educational careers.  We have the privilege of setting them up for success.  I am excited about the work that we are doing and I challenge you to think of every child as a champion!

Staff Spotlight

This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Vaishali Gokhale.  You may not know that our enrollment is down and this directly affects staffing.  We were projected to have five Kindergarten classes, however our numbers were low all summer and I moved Pam Martin to 1st grade before school started.  Essentially, the Kindergarten class will not open and the paraprofessional position for that classroom will not exist after the 10 day count.  This means that Vaishali will not be able to remain at Medlock beyond the 10 day count.  We would all understand if this unfortunate situation caused Vaishali to be withdrawn or even a little melancholy.  However, she has been going non-stop to make sure our students and staff have everything they need.  She has been Susan's right hand on the front desk and has taken on any task asked of her.  She has greeted students, staff and parents with a smile and has not complained a bit.   We are thankful for Vaishali and her dedication to Medlock Bridge.  She is one of a kind and we are a better place because of her.

Helping Students Start the School Year With a Positive Mindset

Originally Published: August 19, 2014 | Updated: August 9, 2016

Maurice J. Elias

For students who have had trouble in school, or who have had a negative summer, it is especially important to get the school year off to a fresh start. And for all students, having a positive mindset makes learning much more likely. Here are four activities to help accomplish these goals.

Identity and Purpose: Who Am I?

Now that students are back in school, it's a good time to help them refocus on learning, their strengths, and the personal and other resources that will help them succeed. Students can individually fill out the grid below, and then pair-share, discuss in small groups, and finally share with the class some of their responses. (Students tend to be most comfortable sharing numbers 2, 4, and 6 below when in larger groups.)
You may also wish to use other creative forms of sharing, such as having students create a collage or chart with all of their answers to each question or the top three answers to each question. Consider integrating this activity into any journal writing your students do.

1. What motivates me?
2. What are my best abilities?
3. How do peers influence me?
4. When and with whom am I at my best?
5. Who are my best sources of help?
6. How can I do more of what will best help me to succeed?

A Living Poll

Read each statement and, based on students’ opinions, have them move to a part of the room that you designate to represent each of the answers below. The three areas of the room are for those who believe any of these three answers:

• It's mostly true for me.
• It's partly true and not true.
• It's mostly not true for me.

You can choose to present the following questions positively or negatively:

1. “I think school is pointless.” OR “I think school is important, and I need to learn so that I can succeed.”
2. “I can be violent in some situations.” OR “I am more peaceful and would only use violence where there is a real danger.”
3. “I think that trying doesn’t matter.” OR “I believe that the more I try, the more I can succeed.”
4. “I do what makes me popular with others in school.” OR “I do what I want and what I think is the right thing to do.”
5. “I come to class to pass the time.” OR “I am someone who wants to be involved in school and learn.”

After each statement (or others that you may wish to add), ask students in each area of the room to share why they believe as they do. There is great value in students hearing peers' views about why they have turned to a more positive mindset. And it's instructive for the teacher to get a sense of students' views. Note that students may move to an area where they "think" that the teacher wants them to be.
Asking them to articulate why they believe as they do is your check -- and their reality check -- on whether they really do have the belief that they’ve endorsed. You may want to end with a discussion of the challenges of sharing honest opinions.

Journaling About Beliefs and Mindset

As a supplement to the above or as an activity in its own right, have students respond in their journals to at least one of each stem:

• I used to be _______ but now I am _______
• I used to think _______ but now I think _______
• I used to do _______ but now I do _______

There is added benefit to revisiting these activities mid-year, or even after each marking period, to see how ideas are changing (positively or negatively).

Make a Good First Impression

First impressions matter. Teachers have told me the importance of decorating classrooms in ways that catch students' attention and gives them something to think about at the same time. Give your students clipboards and a questionnaire asking them to notice different aspects of how the room is decorated. Come together to discuss what differences students noticed, why they think you made those choices, and what they would add if they were you. You can adapt this for younger children, as well.
Share with us in the comments section below your experiences with these activities and especially your more effective adaptations.