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Showing posts from June, 2016

Are you a superhero?

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I recently read the article  "You Shouldn't Have to be a Superhero to Teach" by Andrew Carter.  Mr. Carter is a principal at a Junior High and the chair of a teacher training program.  I was captivated by the title of the article and it is definitely concise enough for anyone to read in just a few minutes, but as good writing will do, it will make you think for days after.  So I must ask the question, is Mr. Carter's thesis that one should not have to have superhuman qualities apply to today's educators?  Is this the environment those of us int he profession are expected to uphold?  Was that the impression you were given in your teacher prep programs?  Parents, I am the most curious to hear your thoughts on this...comment below.  Photo from tes, 2016, https://www.tes.com/us/news/breaking-views/you-shouldnt-have-be-a-superhero-teach 

Solar System Curriculum

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I have been fortunate enough to start working with some talented educators in my district on some new Science curriculum initiatives.  Fifth grade seriously has the best curriculum!  I am loving this group because it parallels well with my own development and work on creating new resources for my classroom (and yours!).  One of the units in 5th grade science is the Solar System.  I went through some files I had accumulated from student teaching and my first few years that were on these topics.  I was amazed how true this cartoon was: I pretty much disposed of all the printed materials I had because they all had Pluto as the 9th planet and no mention of the dwarf planets.  It is remarkable to see the changes in science and I am so excited to see how quickly we need to update our curriculum resources as we learn more about our own planet, our solar system, and beyond.  What excites you about science?  Do you talk with your students about this? Photo found online , if you know who

Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Foldable

As a teacher I have been fortunate enough to get to partake in lots of cool Professional Development over the years and I remember immersing myself deeply into foldable activities.  As the years have gone on I typically use some of the same foldables but I also get busy and tend to forget.  I am teaching math summer school this summer which allows me to focus on teaching 6th grade math for over four hours a day to the same group of kiddos.  I absolutely love it!  It is also giving me ideas to see what students struggle with and how I can create products centered around their needs.  The neat thing is I am going to use a lot of these in my own 5th grade math class during the school year, after all so much of what I am working on are foundation building math skills.   I have really been working a lot on my interactive notebooks for each subject area over summer break.  The math notebook is one I'd like for students to leave with in 5th grade and use to move on to 6th, especially s