Friday, 16 December 2016

1) Students had fun with snowflake symmetry today.

2) Several students surprised me today. One from last year gave me a Christmas gift & one from 2 years ago visiting from Texas, dropped by to say hello.

3) My gift card from EADMS arrived!

Thursday, 15 December 2016

1) I returned from a day at Jury Duty to a fabulous note from the guest teacher!

2) Period 4 collaborated on a convergent plates demonstration today.



3) I received several gifts today. Lunch, a box of Ferrero Rocher®, and a lovely note from a previous student. 

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

1) Today was Twin Day and I enjoyed those who participated.

2) Students are still working on an a Math test from the State Department of Ed. It is demanding and very time-consuming, but they are still working hard and appear to be doing their best. 

3) Today was the first day that my students accessed the Learning Priority website for self-assessment.

Monday, 12 December 2017

1) The students are becoming more independent each day of the year. I have to intervene less and less. It's definitely a positive part of my day.

2) The students are still completing an online exam and really working hard on it.

3) Some dirt was tracked into the classroom today and several students swept it up. Too many volunteered! What a helpful group.

Friday, 9 December 2016

1) After taking a post-survey for Mathspring, the students made avatars for the tutorial.

 

2) Students entered class in a much more ordered fashion than yesterday.

3) Some students brought newspaper for a science demonstration next week.

Thursday, 8 December 2016

1) Danielle Allessio of UMass Amherst and David Yale of UCSB worked with students using a program called Mathspring.

2) I loved that this shirt compliments our Trimester 1 Science objectives!

3) During closing each day, I sneak in about three minutes of Math Talk. Today we continued one we started yesterday. 

Wednesday, 7 December 2016

1) I learned how to transfer an audio file into youtube by using iMovie.



2) All of the CPS students were on time for Silent Reading today! They also had a great time in our Collaborative Pottery activity today.



3) Several students finished the Math Performance Task.

Tuesday, 6 December 2016

1) CPS students are collaborating with Mrs. Guzik's art class to make a rectangular solid ceramic vase. They seemed to enjoy themselves and it was fun to see them working with clay.



2) Several students finished the CAASP Interim online math exam today.

3) Students were attentive, cooperative, and efficient with today's article in Science. They seemed interested and the discussions were productive.

Monday, 5 December 2016

1)  Almost everyone in attendance was able to log on to the CAASP interim test site. (I have a new student who couldn't.)

2) Some students did a very good job at explaining their thinking on a confusing problem.

3) One of my students wore a shirt with a feather design. It made my day!

Thursday, 1 December 2016

1) I worked with grad student, David Yale, from UCSB today. It was fun to have another adult in the room.

2) Tech support Antony helped get all computers ready for CAASP.

3) The Plate Tectonics Hyperdoc on which I have been working is now a working document. 

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

1) During a math discussion about decomposing numbers, two students working in front of the entire class, worked out a miscommunication without anyone interfering (including me). I was impressed.

 2) All students worked quietly on the Chalk Talk Plate Tectonics activity, even though many were stuck until I gave an additional clue that earthquakes were a part of plate tectonics. 

 

 

 

 

3) Students from Period 6 straightened up the headphones after another class had put them back less than neatly.

 

Tuesday, 29 November 2016

1) Some of my prep-time was spent lesson planning with colleagues. Great ideas and a few laughs. What a great way to begin the day!

2) CPS students worked on turning mistakes into art!

And they had fun throwing away bad attitudes about mistakes since we learn from mistakes.

3) Students evaluated their work from the Trimester 1 Planets and their Orbits Benchmark in a Google form and I learned some new things about google forms.

Monday, 28 November 2016

1) I received a new book today to help with student skills as active learners in problem solving.












2) Students came in and got to work like CHAMPS! Here's the Post-it® Dry Erase Surface for Period 5. I posted this on the door as the students entered.

3) After a discussion with Mr. N, I decided to add a writing part to my math day. There were some excellent results. Even the not so clear quick writes gave me a clue to student understanding. 

Friday, 18 November 2016

1) All students were able to log on to My Access and most uploaded their final documents for the Solar System project.

2) CPS students had a game day and had some interesting dialogues regarding choices while playing Apples to Apples. That game is very good for developing conversation skills.

3) The 11th Annual RdV Turkey Trot was held today and the students seemed to really enjoy it. Our staff really bought BIG turkeys for the winners!

Thursday, 17 November 2016

1) Students are working very diligently on their Science Benchmarks.

2) I'm impressed that students are putting things away in the classroom without being asked.

3) One of my students who has difficulty reading, passed an AR test today. Yeah!

Wednesday, 16 November 2016

1) CPS students presented their design challenges to the class.



2) During the writing portion of the Science Benchmark, a student made a connection to a first person writing project in Social Studies.  Students are writing about being an astronomer in Science.

3) At the end of the day, Period 6 evaluated a Which One Doesn't Belong? They are getting better at being more descriptive.

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

1) CHAMPS is still helping with transitions which is making my day!

2) There were some effective discussions with visuals during math today.

3) Students worked hard on their Solar System Model for the Benchmark.

Monday, 14 November 2016

1) CPS students worked on their design challenge and some finished. They will present tomorrow.

2) I got to play drums with the music class during my lunch period.

3) The CHAMPS poster is done and on display and working wonders in my class!

Thursday, 10 November 2016

1) CPS Students worked on a very difficult origami task. No one completed it. I was impressed by the teamwork and diligence.



2) Many of my students are part of AVID or GATE and were on a field trip, so I had students work on ratios using Tile Pile from desmos. Here are some of the original designs that students used for figuring other ratios of tiles.

3) I met with a grad student from UCSB to plan participation in a math study. 

Wednesday, 9 November 2016

1) CPS students made blueprints for a maker project.

2) Students assigned tasks for each group member of their new groups for Trimester 2.
3) Students tried a Number Please -guess the number using clues, were very good listeners, and figured out the number.

Tuesday, Election Day 2016

1) I made a video explaining what I'd like to see with the weekly homework.



2) Students used some effective problem solving as I applied Annie Fetter's ideas from Saturday's workshop.

3) As we are winding down the Astronomy Unit, I was impressed by students trying to explain the effects of gravity on various sized/massed objects in space.

Monday, 7 November 2016

1) My principal is ordering a book to help with student communication in math class.
2) One student reflected, "I lend you have to be more specific so your partner could understand"
3) Students are more efficient at getting computers and starting an activity.

CMC-South Special Report -- Saturday, 5 November 2016

Sparking Deeper Understanding at the Palm Springs Convention Center was held on Friday and Saturday. I attended on Saturday only to avoid another day out of the classroom. I attended several thought-provoking and powerful workshops which will contribute to my growth as an educator.

My Schedule

Saturday, November 5

 

8:30am

 501: Principles for Building and Using Effective Digital Tasks5

10:29am

 699: REPEAT OF 353: Googlizing a Math Unit..Putting the FUN Back in Fundamental!

1:15pm

 702: The Whole Problem-Solving Process: Traversing Gaps Between Thinking Talking Writing and Typing5

3:15pm

 800: Math is Power not Punishment6

 

Friday, 4 November 2016

1) 100% of my fifth period students wrote the notes about the CUBES Strategy in under 4 minutes.

2) A colleague shared a diet soda with me at lunch when I didn't have any.

3) My Science students in Period 4 did good work.

Thursday, 3 November 2016

1) CPS students learned some new things about google sites.

2) Quite a few students did a good job at showing their work on their homework assignment.

3) My students were very studious at completing a very complicated and time consuming survey. I was impressed.

Wednesday, 2 November 2016

1) I enjoyed solving the Gliding Ghost Problem with Sandoval, et. al.

2) My brother was my guest teacher and shared pics of the CPS Activity. Groups made a chain, but each student could only use one hand.

 

3) I found a Prezi for teaching CUBES.

Tuesday, 1 November 2016

1) CPS students learned about computer programming Contracts today.
2) I used Formative for the first time this school year and most students were able to access it fine.
3) Period 6 Science Students paired up to do a discovery activity with a planetary orbit simulation.

Bonus:
Students shared Halloween candy with me!