Sometimes I think summary writing will be my undoing this year. My students do summaries with just about everything they read. And yet they still struggle writing them when it counts. I encourage students to use their resource (the book) to help them. As I have been thinking through what students will do during State assessments (Yes, its before Spring Break.) I think I'm going to use two different apps to make it fun.

Vocabulary is tough to teach; let alone to student with exceptional needs. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I go over the term or have them tell it to me. They never seem to get to a place of mastery with it. Using Thinking Maps has been a tremendous help to them this year--they are USING them. OMG!!! This has never happened before. As I'm reviewing at the beginning of a lesson and ask "What's the formula for perimeter?" and someone might start guessing, while someone will get up and walk over to where the map is and come back with a  hand up. For my guessing students, I tell them to go check the resource as I wait for the student. They come back and tell me the answer. But these can't stay up for state testing. I've been racking my brain to find ways to get students to remember terms. I've been using iPads for retelling and storytelling--what about to reinforce vocabulary. I began to think of ways to bring in technology to work on vocab but not take more than one 30 minute lesson period to do it. I think I've figured it out but I'm still playing.

So began this idea of finding ways to bring in apps and websites, so students can create definitions for  vocabulary. My goal is to have students work weekly on expanding their vocabulary with various tools. (And not taking forever.) My hope is that they will begin to rely less on the Thinking Maps and begin to demonstrate mastery for the term they need to know. As they create examples I will share them. I have a one to get to the ideas flowing. You'll find a List.ly for some apps and websites, to support our vocabulary work. Have a great week!!




Animation Software - Powered by GoAnimate.

Math has been challenging for me this year. I go into one class and pull out two other groups to teach/reteach math. Last year the comment that I got from evaluations was, "How is what you're doing helping students access core in a timely manner?"  Meaning, stop spending all your time filling in the holes and do it as your helping students understand core. Well-easier said than done.  But I had a light bulb moment early in the week, when I was talking with my coach about my math instruction.

This year parent/teacher conferences and State testing hit at the same time. Talk about crazy times!! This is also where the exceptional needs teams gets slammed with referrals. In Colorado, Dyslexia falls under a Learning Disability where I have 8 different categories  (Basic Reading Skills, Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension,Written Expression, Calculation, Problem Solving, Oral Expression and Listening.Comprehension) to work with. I came across this information from the The International Dyslexia Association Ontario Branch, which highlights things that both teachers and parents can look for:

Reading Difficulties

• Learning sounds of letters
• Separating words into sounds
• Slow and inaccurate reading
• Poor reading comprehension
• Oral Language Difficulties
• Delayed spoken language
• Misinterpretation of language that is heard
• Lack of awareness of different sounds in words and rhymes
• Organizing thoughts

Writing Difficulties

• Organization of ideas
• Poor spelling
• Poor letter formation and spatial organization

Mathematics Difficulties

• Memorizing math facts
• Correct sequencing of steps when solving problems
• Transposing digits within numbers

For me determining if a student has a learning disability is much more difficult than looking for these things but also looking at how the student is doing in a targeted intervention and how they look compared to their grade level peers. This is the time of year where many conversations take place as to whether to refer or not. In my mind its better to refer when in doubt than to not. Even if student does not have a disability that information can be used to create stronger programming. Have a great weekend.

Last month, one of the second grade teachers in my building came to me and asked how she could use technology (be it a laptop or iPad) to help her with her new student. Her new student just happened to be transfer student with autism. (This year I'm not working with second grade but we collaborate all the time together.) She had seen some of the things I was having students do with iPads and wanted to explore ideas to support him during Daily 5 when he had to be independent.

I create directions for many of the tasks I want students to do with the iPads--more so when I want them to do independently. This is the first time I have created them for an individual student to use. This is a grand test and the first time where a classroom teacher has approached me about how to integrate technology to help students.

She had found Sentence Marker and wanted him to use it after he finished his phonics/word work. I created directions for her to add to his binder, so he could use the app independently while she was teaching. She said he LOVE spending time on anything tech; I suggested that his directions should include a timer that he can set himself. The timer is new.  It will be interesting to see how this works on Monday. But its been a very successful so far. I can't wait to see how this works. Has anyone tried something similar, what success did you have? Have a great week.

Bloomin' Apps has made it's way to creating. All with free apps. The fun my students had creating this examples was unbelievable. They can't wait to do it again. Students had to read and reflect before they could come anywhere near an iPad. The video was done using Gina the Giraffe, Talking Tom, and Roby the Robot. I've talked before about how the students created their scripts and then went to town. Word Mover is like magnetic poetry but free. The students used this app for their response. After reading about Extreme Weather, they have to create a poem using word association. Have a great weekend!

I have spoke at length about how I use Gradual Release throughout my teaching. Last month, I began using the Gradual Release Student Rubric for my students to self-assess after each lesson. This past week I started  asking them to tell me why they are that number. I tell students right after reviewing learning target then I will ask them to tell me where they are on the rubric for "Collaborate" ate the end of the lesson and why. I use it for all four parts of the lesson, so it doesn't matter if Monday's is an "I do" or "Independent" wok on Tuesday. They have to tell me and why.

You would not believe how they have risen to the challenge. They can clearly articulate how their behavior was and what they need help with. This is HUGE--having students who can clearly state what they need is tied to my districts teacher evaluation rubrics.

I have created a track form that helps me with differentiation. It's a simple--using the essential question as the base I then add the students feedback and note what I need to do for the next lesson for the student to move  up on the rubric. (This move covers two other items from our teacher rubrics.)

How do you track student self-assessments? Have a great week!

This week has been crazy. I throw together an Oral Spelling Bee for our Area Spelling Bee next week. Its always fun but you have to love it when communication falls apart. (This was to happen back in December, so the students could practice.) The students had a great time this afternoon. Even at the end of my crazy week, I had fun.

Everyone love a good sale. I'm joining other at Teachers pay Teachers Super Bowl Sunday for a Flash Sale this Sunday and Monday. Everything in my store will be on SALE!!!

I also have a math freebie for you. It can be used at any time in the year but it provides a great review as my students have to get ready for state testing. I've been working on a new set of word problems for multiplication. I'll share a sample when here soon.


M & M Math

Thank you for everyone who entered this weekend's giveaway. Congratulations to both Susan and dbednarsk for winning a $10 gift certificate to Teachers pay Teachers. I'll be sending them out to the email address you posted, please let me know if they don't come.

 I have a freebie for everyone as well. I played with adding QR codes to this multiplication practice. The packet includes two and three digit multiplication by one digit. The answers are shown both as QR Codes and just the answers. Enjoy.

It's my birthday! So, I'm going to hold my very first giveaway. I'm giving away 2 $10 gift certificates to Teachers Pay Teachers. Yes TWO. This giveaway will go to Tuesday. I also have a freebie for you. It's a new fraction packet with 2 different games to help students move fluently between fractions and decimals by practicing with half, third, fourth, fifths, one-sixth, and one-eighth.

Here's how to enter:
Leave a comment for each entry:
1) Follow my Blog
2) Follow my Store at Teachers pay Teachers
3) Follow me on Pinterest
4) Blog about this Giveaway
5) Tweet or Post about this giveaway on Facebook

This giveaway ends Tuesday, January 29 at 6:00 pm MST. Please make sure that you include your email address. Good luck and have a fabulous weekend!

For the last couple of weeks my sixth graders have been learning to persuade an audience. A favorite topic for all of them in the past has been the environment. Using that idea and a comment one student made about the James Cameron's dive last March. So, off we went for two weeks of reading about deep sea diving, ship wrecks, and seeing it was good or bad. The problem--how to get them to present the work without taking TONS of time. (Which I don't have in interventions.) One student in the group noticed that I had put Talking Tom on the iPads and became asking and asking and asking if they could do something with it.

Each year, my school tries to come up with way to get parents and our community in our school. Each year this gets harder--its been a challenge this because we have moved our hours back and are out at 2:30. We always hold a parents night for reading in the fall and in the spring its math. This year it's a Math-teroon. The classroom teachers are working on games that students can play a round or two at school and then take them home to play. We have a computer lab as well as the iPads. As I'm working to create parents handouts for our Math-ternoon, I wanted to share them. Here is the first. Its a collection of websites that our students and teachers like and use on a regular basis. Do you have any that your students rave about--I'd love to here about them?

When the going gets tough the tough get out the iPad. I have seen my students grow and latch onto concepts like faster than in the past when I find ways to bring technology in. I have one group working on probability. For this they have to collect the data and create pie charts before they can answer the questions. They loved creating the data and then getting to use the computers to create the pie charts. I created the directions, so they could do it on their own. Those are the things that move students and create learners who understand grade level material. My directions are simple but they have to create it and take responsibility to get it done. So, I can focus on the learning and not trouble shooting the technology.

Doodle Buddy has been great for students who need to draw their thinking out. I have students draw out the beginning, middle and end of stories to help them with retelling before writing it or telling me. This is something that students can do on their own with the iPads back in class.  Doodle Buddy is free.

iPads and computers don't replace my teaching, I use them to enhance lessons when it makes sense. Something as simple as using a computer changes a students motives from "really, do I have to" to "I liked doing this today."

Currently, this little project has been limited to students who are either RTI or students with IEPs in reading and math. Stay turned for other awesome ways technology can help struggling learners be more successful in the classroom. Have a great week!

Assessing student learning is easy for me. I give a quiz or ticket out or play 20 questions. But I want my students to tell me what they need--do they have it or don't they. I've talked in the past about using the Gradual Release strategy as how I teach each day. Gradual Release works both ways.

Before going to Christmas Break, myself and several classroom teachers, introduced a Gradual Release Student Rubric. This rubric was designed to have students know what their responsibilities are during each stage.  We have all been amazed about how students have been able to clear state where they are on the rubric and those student are the "goofballs"--they have stepped up.

I have always used a paper/pencil assessment to determine what students need the next day. With this I know before I pull small groups which students think they  need more help before they leave for the day. After my mini-lesson, I tell students that if your a 1 or 2 they need to stay with me for more help before working on their own. Sometimes I will name students who I know need more help.

I love that my students can identify where they are on this rubric at the end of each lesson. This has encouraged my students to become more independent and taking responsibility for their own learning.  They know what they need to do while I'm giving a Focus Lesson and they can tell me where they were doing

Yes, I still assess but what I've noticed is that their scores have gone up. I'm spending less time going back and reteaching material. Even my learners that are several years behind their grade level peers are getting the material in a shorter amount of time and are more able to tell me what kind of help they need. They have become more independent--taking on their own learning has helped them. This has helped me focus small groups into something that directly targets what a student needs while not waiting for an assessment; with me missing what why really need. Talk about student focused, student centered learning!!!

What do you use to help students assess themselves so they can become independent learners?





Gradual Release Student Rubric 

Its been five months since I first laid my hands on an iPad. It has been a challenge (but fun) to find ways to bring them into small group interventions without them becoming a gaming station. My students love when I say, "We're going try this and hope for the best." They just grin from ear to ear and go along for the ride. I would say that my best lessons have happened after playing and after those days of "let's try this."

I finally have some energy for my last blog post of year. After visiting my parents for Christmas, I got the flu. Or I should say they "shared" it with me since they had it as well.

I've blogged in the past about how I've structured my lessons using Gradual Release (Fisher and Frey.) Not to mention over half of the Teach Evaluation Rubric is based on integrating gradual release into every part of my day. (Easier said than done.) I've been focusing on the "I do" and "We do" pieces with my math groups.

The point of an "I do" is that I get to model my thinking and what I want students to do. This means I get to do all the talking. And the students HAVE to be QUIET. Yeah right!! Sixth graders don't like sharing the air waves. This is only to be no more than 5 minutes most of the time. This would happen if I got to do all the talking. We're getting there.

I created this visual to help me make sure that when I'm doing a "Think Aloud" to hit some specific ideas by the time I'm finished. This has helped me stay on track--even with the distractions. This is for me and not so much for my students. But I have seen them attend better to the lesson because it gives them very specific information about the days think aloud. I've noticed that they are making connections to other think alouds since I've added this.




Have a fabulous week and a great start to you New Year.

Every teacher has to do some sort of progress monitoring. In my building we reading very, very well--it's second nature. But math we just can't seem to get our hands around. For me as well. I have two small math intervention groups and I have to say I relay on student work samples to determine if they have it or not. This is not enough to determine a student has a math disability or even if they are making progress within the intervention. Exit tickets work to show what if the student got the material taught that day and can be used as part of the data collection but for me these tend to be once or twice a week. One of the classroom teachers, I co-teach with during math uses them to make his small groups during the unit--they don't cover skills from previous units or missing skills. These are all great things but according to Colorado not enough or the right thing. (Go figure--that they tell you this know half way through the year.)

Colorado has outlined what a math intervention needs to look like and what the progress monitoring needs to be. (This would have been great to know- oh I don't know like in August. But moving on.) Interventions should be no longer than 10 weeks with a clearly defined baseline from a diagnostic measure with weekly progress monitoring. The instruction should cover no more than two to four domains as a focus for instruction (i.e., combinations to 10, skip counting by 5’s, counting across 100). My lesson plan should be broken into two pieces:

• Inquiry mode: Activity that produces something new for the student (involves challenging, but solvable tasks)
• Rehearsal mode: Develop automaticity with something that has been learned before

One of the hardest things to figure out is how to integrate technology into my groups and it not be game time. Not that games don't have their place but not as part of daily small group instruction. I have been working on how to use a couple of different apps for math and be more paperless. The kids love it--even when the tech and I fail.

We have been using Evernote and Explain Everything for them to show their work. In most cases we us QR codes to get to work. I've spent most of the time teaching them how to use the apps. They have to know the technology and what it does before you can leave them alone to do work. This takes time. I have made this mistake and I spend more time on the technology than teaching the content.

When I'm planing a lesson, I start with a a non-tech version of what I'm wanting them to do and then figure out which apps make the most sense to use. This takes time because you have to think through every step of the lesson and what I want students to show me.

Their engagement has improved in ways that I could never had imagine--which is so cool for students who dislike math. They get the work done in half the time than it would have if they just had to do it on paper. You can see the paper I give the students below. The directions are short and sweet. The point is for the students to do it with as little support from me as possible.

For this one the students have to use the QR code to get the assessment (story problems) and then use Explain Everything to complete the work. Once they are done they have to upload it to Evernote for me to see. Easy right? Well I'll let you know. This is the plan for the next two days before break.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Sandy Hook Elementary. The hearts in Colorado grew heavy after hearing about Sandy Hook.

This  tragedy in Newtown, CT has hit way to close to home for all of us teachers.

Please join the teacher-blogging community in a day of blogging silence for the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School. You can join by posting only the picture below on Sunday, December 16th.

My students are hopping through the days to break. It's snowing today in Colorado. Not like I'm wanting a snow day or anything :) As many of you know, my students LOVE anything that involves a timer and the possibly of beating me in a game. Run Cookie Run has become a fast favorite of my students--I'm sure your students will find it to be one of theirs too.