Captured Lesson - Tapple Rocks My World

An earlier blog of mine covered some of my classes' favorite games. Click HERE to read about and get links to those games and to see how I was dying to acquire TAPPLE. Well, good news! I got it this past weekend. I finally got to hold classes today because of FTE (don't ask, I don't know what it means other then see your kids when you're scheduled to), so we got a break in testing. I decided today was a games day. Did we learn? Of course, we did, but I like when the kids forget they're learning.

I used Tapple with my 5th graders the way the instructions said. They simply drew cards with topics on them as other groups used computer games and the Make-A-Monster game. For my first graders, I used some creative muscle to fit the game into my unit plan.

We will be starting an animal unit when we meet again regularly, so Tapple helped me with a pre-assessment opportunity. In the video below, you'll see the steps we followed to complete our small group lesson 

1. Our group of four broke into teams.
2. Each group took turns completing an addition/subtraction problem using die domes.
3. Once they found the answer, they found the corresponding number on the sheet. The sheet had 12 categories.

1. Part of an animal (nouns)
2. Animals that are bigger than you (nouns)
3. Animals that are smaller than you (nouns)
4. Words that describe animals (adjective)
5. Animals in the zoo (nouns)
6. Animals in the circus (nouns)
7. Scary animals (nouns)
8. Soft animals (nouns)
9. Where animals live (nouns)
10. Things animals do (verbs)
11. Pets (nouns)

4. Depending on the number we got, we started with the student who rolled the dice. After him, we went around with the hope that all four would answer correctly before the buzzer. 

5. After a successful round, the other team would roll their die.  

6. The cycle continued until time was called.

One fun part, if we happened to get the answer of 0, they each had to make an animal sound! I had such a blast today. Having a great lesson, smiling kiddos, and a great way to integrate math or any subject makes for a great day in teaching! I can't wait to post again. I'm so pumped!!

Our Snow Adventure... Oh, snap! is Right!!

Tuesday, January 28 was epic! I know the word is overused, but it was epic in so many ways.  The weather was epic, our responsibility as teachers and staff was epic, and perhaps the kids had an epic night spending the night with teachers and staff due to our "2 inches of snow." I am so happy it's over, and most of all, I'm glad that students are safe and at home. There wasn't so much time to document our 16 hour adventure but here are just a few pictures, and my reflection on our night.  I considered posting with time stamps and all that, but I think the photos should be posted without my comments.

My reflection:

After a knockout nap, I'm feeling so blessed to be home, and I want to thank everyone who responded to my Snowed In posts. Y'all have given me a whole lot of credit, but I feel like I had the best situation of all... I never stepped foot out in the cold, I didn't have a child out there unaccounted for or left in an unfamiliar situation, my epic duration of travel was a whopping 30 minutes, I was warm/safe/fed, and I didn't have to get out and walk in the snow. I'm an adult, so I understand why I had to be away from my family. It was hard for some of our little ones to understand why their parents couldn't do more to get to school. I overheard a first grader plea with her mom on the phone, and it killed me. I hurt so bad for the mom on the other end. Many of the teachers that stayed were away from they babies, and had to trust that they were ok because some of their husbands couldn't get to them either. I am thrilled that we reunited our kids with the families after unfortunate planning by... whomever! I have to give big props to my school, River Eves, and our staff and our admin. Our parents (my God, I love these parents) spent the night walking back and forth with blankets, pillows, snacks, dvds, jugs of hot coffee, and food. Our teachers were in high spirits and we acted as a smooth, working, and fun unit. For those of us in the building, we were warm, and we were safe. I slept better at the school because I knew everyone's status and whereabouts in real time. In all this, I am most thankful and most appreciative and have more understanding about our bus drivers than I ever have before. They were on the roads, they fought with traffic, they got stuck, they slid, and they had harder decisions to make for those umpteen hours than people who are paid the big bucks to make critical decisions. While we had heat and movies for our kids, they were behind the wheel, lives in their hands, unable to get the students home. I can't even imagine the pressure they felt. We had one bus driver, still at 11pm, trying to find a safe place to take 3 hearing impaired students. One was a pre-schooler. Our bus driver couldn't sign to communicate with these students. She couldn't reach out and hug them while driving. The bus driver stayed in contact with our Asst. Principal the entire night. She was able to pull over and get them fed and warm by stopping at a fast food restaurant. There were dozens of bus drivers stranded, trying each minute to safely get the students anywhere. When our bus driver helped us deliver students this morning, he wasn't done for the day. He came into our school for a coffee break and to get his next assignment. My hat's off.... They're so special to me! I could really go on about the acts of kindness and the heroes we had in our lives last night and this morning. There's no hierarchy, just a full heart because everyone was looking out for each other, and everyone did what they needed to do, with no questions, and from where we were, no excuses. I was happy to have been surrounded by such wonderful people, especially my fellow REES teachers and staff. Thanks goes to the little people!! You're awful big and important to me.

Reflecting on the New Year with Students

In the next week, I hope to have two great posts!  Bear with me as I gingerly dip my toes in this big ocean of education bloggers.  I am putting together a post about one of my favorite free apps including a tutorial and different ways it can be used.  Second, I will be putting up my very first Teachers Pay Teachers item. It'll be a freebie!! I've presented this item at a couple of ESOL/TESOL conferences in the past year and a half and have had great reviews. I hope it will be a fun one for your classes.  

Until then, I am feeling reflective.  It's the last weekend of Winter Break, and the preparations for seeing the kids are in full swing.  I'm already starting to see their little faces in my dreams.  During the break, a lot of magic happens. Families have time together, maybe see extended family, travel, shop, and relax during the time off from school.  Another little magical thing tends to happen during this mid-year break.  I'm not sure what you call it, but everything the students have learned from August to December seem to fall into place.  I compare it to tenderly raising a flowering plant.  During the first part of the year, we plant little seeds and offer them water, nutrients, shelter, and just the right ecosystem.  They begin to sprout roots, not roots we can see with our eyes and not roots we may be aware of, but they are there.  By January, those roots are getting strong, and with our bear eyes, we begin to see a tiny green leaf sprout.  We begin to see how strong it is as we continue to offer the little plant everything it needs. 

As a teacher, I have the love and hope to take care of a plant way before we see this perfect, bright, happy little sprout.  Some days I think I've given the students too much; sometimes not enough.  Some times I've moved them from all the sun they need, and sometimes, I've baked them with sun. Gosh!  Have I rotted their little roots?! And I will tell you, no plant is like the other; they all have unique and special needs.  The succulents offer the world just as much as the rose; the daisy is as precious as the young oak tree.  What's different is that I don't yet know exactly what future plants I have, but I can't wait to see it, beginning with this tiny little sprout.

I'm looking forward to 2014 and seeing the students continue to grow and absorb all that I offer them including care, encouragement, and high expectations.  I hope you all had a wonderful break, but it's time for them to come back to school.  To my fellow teachers, I hope you're all greeted by happy sprouts this week.

  

 

2014 Opens with a BLOG!

I am planning a BIG 2014!  Making the decision to blog has been no small feat. Since I began teaching in 2012, I have over-shared with my colleagues. Let me tell you that my sharing was not one-sided, and I always enjoyed what I got in return from my fellow teachers.  Sharing ideas and resources helped me build relationships with other teachers, and it gave me relief from the feeling of drowning as a new teacher!

If I'm able to help the newest teacher or tweak a veteran teacher's lesson in any way whatsoever, my heart is full.  Please join me in this journey. I hope to keep you entertained as well as share goodies and ideas. You may also see humor and photography (two things I can't live without). Any encouragement is welcome. I don't plan on doing this alone!