End of SDE Conference, Trying to Get Home

Well I made it through a wonderful week in Vegas.  I met many wonderful teachers and learned so much (I think my head might be a little overloaded-in a good way).

I am currently sitting in the airport after this wonderful conference, patiently (okay doing my best to patiently wait) for my flight home.  It has been delayed twice now.  It is currently scheduled to leave an hour and a half later than it was suppose to, but what can I do???? I decided to make the best of it and begin going through some of my notes from the conference and sharing a few new ideas/activities/apps that I learned about this past week.

Here goes:

1.  One session I attended on Monday was about Becoming a Guided Math Guru!  Even though I have been doing small group math listening to Reagan Tunstall talk about how she organizes and conducts Math in her classroom really brought some ideas together for me.

• First She has created for her classroom a Daily Math Warm UP Schedule.  Each day she has a concept/activity that the kids work on for the first 5 minutes of math time.  I liked this idea because it keeps the kids from getting bored and it still practices past concepts.  The best day probably for the kids is Friday when she has some kids of Fun Friday review.
• Second in her schedule is here Whole Group Math time.  This last about 20 minutes but some days it might be shorter if the teacher just need to give direction for the Guided Math/Small Group time.  The is a time that she shares/teaches general information on new concepts.
• Third is when she does Guided Math/Small Group Math.  She has this time set up where their are 5 groups in her room (this would depend on number of kids and time), but these five groups rotate through 5 stations, with each station lasting about ten minutes. 
• Last she has the class come back together to conduct a reflection for their learning during the Guided Math time.

The reason I liked this session so much is because I already have some of this in place in my room, but I needed some ideas for the rotation of my Guided Math time.  This session gave me a jumping off point and when my brain settles down in a couple of days this is going to be one thing I am going to working on sketching out for next school year is how to manage the rotations in my Guided Math and Small Group time.

I found on Reagan Tunstall's Blog -Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits a post she did on this session.  Here is the link if you would like to read how she does Guided Math.

The post is titled: Guided Math Galore

Well this is one session I have had time to reflect on while sitting in the airport.  I will post another session soon.  I hope this helps to give you some ideas and guidance on your Guided Math Time.  I personally believe in this time and am always looking for ways to improve my Guided Math lessons.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Check back soon.

Leslie

Day One at SDE Conference

Well I made it through Day One in Vegas and right now I don’t know where to start with everything that took in today.  

First my day started with a great session presented by Cara Carroll.  She discussed how she implemented Reader's Workshop with the kids in her class.  It was very energizing and exactly what I needed to hear.  I feel like I have gotten away from following the standards and have been following the reading series provided by my district more.  Well let's just say I have never been a series person and I don't like what I have been doing in my classroom.  This session I feel is going to get me back on track for the way on did and want to teach in my classroom.  The session was fun and energizing.  I immediately went and bought one of the two books Cara suggested during the session.  Below is a link to the book.  If you are looking to do reader's workshop in your class I would recommend this book.  Even though I have only skimmed through it I really feel it will be a great resource for making sure you cover the CCSS in reading as well and enjoy teaching your children to read and comprehend stories.

The second and last session I went to today were presented by Reagan Tunstall.  She presented one session on Writer's Workshop and another on Becoming a Guided Math Guru!  I really enjoyed both of these sessions.  The session on math really made me think about how I have my math work stations set up and what I need to do to make sure I work with my students each day in a small math group setting (just like when you meet in your small reading groups).  Check on Reagan Tunstall's blog.  She does a much better job of explaining these two areas than I would.

A last session I went to was on interactive notebooks.  The session was presented by Renee Dooly.  She did a great job of giving examples of why to do interactive notebooks and the different ways that they can be used in the classroom.  She also recommended a couple of books on interactive notebooks.  The links are listed below.  Also, if you want to check out her blog she has done a series on her blog about interactive notebooks.  Renee Dooly's Blog- Fantastic First Grade Froggies

Well I will stop sharing for now.  I hope that you are able to get some information from these wonderful session presenters.  I know that I did and I can't wait to go back tomorrow for more fun and learning.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Check back tomorrow for some updates on what I learned and bought.

Chat soon,

Leslie

Conference Update

Well I am still on the move to my next summer conference.  

I finished the ISTE 2015 conference this past Wednesday. Boy was that conference great and overwhelming.  I am still going through my notes and checking out all the new apps and activities I learned about at that conference.  I will be posting more information as soon as I am done going through my notes.

This morning I left for Las Vegas and I am currently relaxing before a big week with SDE.  I have been looking through all the sessions I signed up for and can't wait to get started tomorrow morning.  

Sorry for the quick update but I want to make sure I am fresh and reading for a week full of fun and exciting learning.  I also can't wait to meet some new friends.

Talk soon,

Leslie

New Free Apps from ISTE 2015

Well I made it to day 3 of ISTE 2015.  Yes, I am already trying to figure out how to get to Denver next year for this conference again.  Since this is the first time I have attended ISTE, I can say it has been amazing as well as overwhelming.  The parts of the conference I have enjoyed the most are the playground areas, poster areas and the sessions that share free, yes FREE apps that I can use in my classroom.  I am going to tell you about two that you might have heard of before or not but I definitely think they are worth sharing.

1.  Aurasma:  

This is an amazing augmented reality app that brings kids work and ideas to life.  I have linked the website to this post, but it is used with and iPad device or on Google Play. One of the ideas that was shared during the session for this app was when you have students work hanging in the hall, record a short video of the student telling about the work and put the students picture under their project.  Create a sign that says "Best viewed in Aurasma" and tell the parents/adults to download the free app to their phone/device.  This will enable them to hear the students explain the work that is posted outside your classroom.  Please go to the website for a better explanation of how to create Aura and what all this wonderful app can do for you and your kids.

2.  Seesaw:  

This is a wonderful app that works like a "Learning Journal" for your kids.  Yes it is another FREE app.  What happens is the kids have six options to record/create their work on the iPad.  They then can submit it to the teacher for review and the teacher can write or record comments to the student about their work.  Alright for what I think is the best part is that it is SUPER kindergarten and first grade friendly.  You know those kids that aren't writing complete sentences yet or have a learning issue that makes writing words more challenging.  Well this wonderful app allows them to record their work with audio.  They can just talk about what they are turning into you instead of writing the words.  No worries when they are able to do the writing they are able to do this as well.  I just like the fact that we can give them options.  Okay here is the best for last:  The parents can create an account and view their students work.  How WONDERFUL is this feature?  So not only are you giving kids options for turning in their work you are also enabling parent communication on what the children are doing in class.  Go check it out.  I am already super excited to use this wonderful app next year in my classroom.  

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  So far so good with one of my goals of blogging more.  Yea me!!!!

I hope that you are able to use these apps and that maybe at least one of them was some new information for you.

Chat soon,

Leslie

Where Oh Where Have I Been and What Have I Been Up To?????

Well those of you that follow my blog might be wondering where I have been and what I have been doing since I have not blog since March.  I promise it was not by choice.

1. Grad School: I have been steadily working on my Educational Specialist Degree in Instructional Technology over the last two years.  I would love to do what some do and finish in a year or year and a half, but when you are a classroom teacher without a second pair of hands (meaning NO para) time is not always on your side.  So during the year I take one class a semester and during the summer I try to take two classes.  This summer I was ready to register for class only to find that the classes that I have left to take were not offered.  I decided to take it as a sign from above and take the summer off.  I have three more classes, but I really needed a break from always having something on my plate.  It has been the best decision I have made in a while.  I have used this time since getting done with my job (I don't like to use that word, I usually say school) to recharge, help my brother with the house we are renovating together, and just catch up on that looooong list of things that haven't gotten done.  Well things on that to do list are getting done and I am starting to feel recharged.

2.  Life: Things have not been bad just busy here as you can tell from number one.  I had to make some choices and this blog had to go on the back burner for a little while.  

3.  Blog:  Since things are getting accomplished and I am feeling more rested and creative I have give some serious thought to how I want to recharge this blog, get it going and share more ideas.  (This can count as Goal Number 1: revive this blog and write my daily or weekly reflections about teaching).

4.  TPT: Yes believe it or not I am a TPT author.  No I don't have in my store nearly what I want to but again refer to number 1 and 2 on my list.  (This can count as Goal Number 2: revive my TPT store and hopefully become a premium seller).

5.  Classroom: Even though I don't feel I have let my classroom drop like I have this blog or my TPT store I haven't really had the energy each day that I want with the kids.  (This is Goal Number 3: Add more life back into my classroom and show the kids that learning can be FUN and EXCITING).

6.  Back to the Grad School Thing:  Finish my last three classes.  (This is Goal Number 4:  When the classes I need are offered I will be finishing the degree)  (Secretly God knows best and I am glad for the break.  When the classes are offered I know it will be a time that I am ready to finish).

Well that is it in a nut shell.  Where I have been and What I have been doing- in front of a computer in school with either 5 year old kids (which is fun) or with adults in grad school (which I love learning but more stress than fun.)

So can I keep up with my goals (especially Goal 1, 2, and 3) I am going to give it every effort, because as I am sitting here typing this blog post I realized how much I miss reflecting, writing for myself and sharing ideas.

Thanks for listening to me vent.  Also, thanks for letting me put my goals out there.  Hopefully now that they are public I will be held accountable to them.

Chat soon,

Leslie

P.S.  Just remembered the most important and exciting thing I have going on over the next two weeks.

1.  Starting Sunday June 28 I will be spending 4 days at the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Conference.  Yes I will be blogging about what I learned and sharing pictures and ideas that I get from the conference.

2.  Sunday, July 5 I will be leaving for a week is exciting Las Vegas.  I am attending the I Teach k/1st Conference from SDE.  (If you have never been before-GO-it is exciting and another great way to recharge with lots of other wonderful teachers).  Yes I will also be blogging about what I learn at this conference, sharing pictures and ideas.  (Shshsh-don't tell anyone but I also plan on getting in some more well needed relaxation time with a drink by the pool).