Biz Town!

Patriotic Program

5th Grade Patriotic Program from Sandy on Vimeo.

Tiny Tidbits of Happiness from the Past Week

• I received another $1500 grant for technology in my classroom! (I almost have enough for a class set of Chromebooks now.) I've had several dreams about how this will change my teaching--and they're really good dreams! The best part is being able to personalize and differentiate learning a little more easily.
• My students scored very well on the SAGE science test. Their average last year was 58% and so far my class has 74% which is well above the school/district/state average. I have three more kids that need to finish and they should score well. I'm expecting the average to be closer to 80%.
• For the district math benchmark, my class average was 84% and so I'm tickled pink!
• I've been able to get school licenses (grants) for several programs. This will really help us to track the data/progress of students. 
• One of my principal friends and I went out to dinner this week to celebrate our birthdays. It was a blast getting together! She is doing some amazing things at her school and it's only her first year.
• Our 5th grade patriotic program was last Friday (May 22) and the kids did a wonderful job of singing! Many people in the audience had tears in their eyes. I was really proud of my class for reciting the Gettysburg Address.
• We ALMOST have testing out of the way and that's the best feeling of all! It really takes up too much precious class time. Here we are at the end of the year and I have no time to do all the things that I'd normally do. But our fieldtrip to Biz Town is this Thursday and I'm really looking forward to that!

"Kissing" in 5th Grade Science

Any time that I can "mess with" or challenge my students' thinking in a fun way, I do. There is a science experiment called, "Pink Kisses". It's a fun experiment to show a chemical reaction. To start the day, I announced that we'd be learning to kiss in science.

The idea of kissing in 5th grade had mixed reactions. I was a little surprised by some boys that were completely delighted with the idea. (I do have really cute girls in my class!) I decided to video the kids sharing their thoughts about their first kiss.


 I gave the kids some mints to freshen their breath and offered them a little lip balm if they wanted to soften their lips. Then I had two volunteers face each other to demonstrate how to kiss. By now, hearts were beating pretty fast! The boy starts by politely saying, "May I kiss you?" The girl politely responds by saying, "Yes, let's kiss."

Once I know the class is more than a little nervous, I hand my volunteers a test tube and show them how to "kiss" in science for this experiment. There are audible sighs of relief!

A KISS= Use a pipette to transfer the clear liquid from your test tube to the other person's test tube. They use a pipette to transfer some of their clear liquid from their test tube to yours. The exchange is called a "kiss".

 Here are pictures of the kids mingling and "kissing" each other.

 After everyone has "kissed" two people. I informed the kids that one of them had a terrible cold and transferred their "bug" to the people that he/she kissed.  I use phenolphthalein, which is an acid/base indicator, to see who became infected from the cold. The liquid turns a bright pink to show the kids who became infected.

Preparation before the kids do this experiment: Fill the test tubes 3/4 full of water. Fill one test tube with sodium hydroxide with an equal amount so that it blends in with the test tubes filled with water.

This is a simple experiment and you can get the supplies easily from a science or drug store. For my class, it was just "one of Ms. King's tricks"!

Celebrating My 1 Year Anniversary on Twitter...Oh, The Changes in Me!

This week marks my 1-year anniversary on Twitter! During the summer of 2011, I set up an account. That was it. About a year later, I attended a conference where @adambellow was a keynote speaker. I was on cloud nine to meet him in person and to learn from him. My first and only tweet went to him to say, "Thank You". I was shocked that he responded! I wasn't sure how to respond via a tweet, and so I don't think I did. Adam and I have laughed about that since, and I consider him a real friend. My use of Twitter died until last May.

I absolutely would not be on Twitter without the support of my #edmodochat PLN. There are MANY people that helped me learn but I really owe a shout out to @wkrakower @usabbs @place_s @sandramc59 @ktbkr4 @EatonSarah85 @Mr_Bruder @MrsLMWoods @joannavrteaches @elissamalispina @TheOwl3 @KatieAnn_76 @HCPSTinyTech @plnaugle @VivieneTuckerman @sarahdateechur that really took me under their wing. I'm probably missing some people, and I apologize. Unlike a lot of people, I joined Twitter already having a strong PLN that helped me to feel welcome and valued. It made being in #edmodochat a highlight of every week and helped me to connect to other people. I'm always a person to jump in when I start something and jump in, I did! I think I jumped into about every educational chat on Twitter during June when school got out. I was fearless, had nothing to lose, and everything to gain! I didn't know what I was doing, but that didn't seem to matter. Everyone was kind, and I continued to connect with the most amazing people in education!

After about a month of learning some of the ins and outs of Twitter, my #edmodochat colleagues helped me to learn how to moderate #edmodochat. Billy Krakower and Bobby Brian Lewis were always there to support me and even took the time to send me a quick video tutorial or explanation on Edmodo. Even though the Edmodo Support Ambassadors took turns to moderate, it felt like there were 6-7 moderators for each chat because everyone helped welcome, RT, and interact with people. I learned a lot!

But this year has been much more than learning to tweet!

Being a connected educator via Twitter opened doors to opportunity! It opened my mind to ideas! It connected me to experts, authors, specialists, administrators, and teachers in every subject and grade level not only in the United States but around the world!

My class benefitted from my connectedness and participated in Dot Day, Global School Play Day, Genius Hour, Making, Global Read Aloud, Skyping, and a host of other special days and activities. The list doesn't include all of the tweaks and changes that I made to my instructional practices due to my conversations on Twitter, Voxer, and Google Hang-outs. 

Opportunities that came directly because of being connected on Twitter:

• P is for Pirate:  I'm so grateful to Dave and Shelley Burgess @daveburgess @burgess_shelley for inviting me to participate in writing a little tweet for their book. I was a complete newbie, no one knew me, and they took a chance on me. I didn't really understand the scope of their project and there's a grammar mistake in my 140 characters (little embarrassing) but I'm extremely delighted that I was able to participate. But, my greatest delight is that I know and have connected with the other amazing educators in the book. It's a treasure for so many reasons!
• BAM Radio #edchat:  Wow, what an opportunity to chat with Tom Whitby @tomwhitby and Nancy Blair @blairteach! Priceless!
• Bammy Award Nominee:  The most surprising thing to me this year is that people who I've never met, look to me as a leader.  My feelings about this are a topic for another post. I know that I don't stand a chance to make the top five people to be considered for the award. But that doesn't matter! I feel like a winner already!!! I expect every person I nominated to be considered for the Bammy. The people that aren't connected via social media most likely have a lesser chance but they kept up with the "big dawgs" and I couldn't be prouder! Here are the people that I nominated: Paul Solarz @paulsolarz, Sarah Thomas @sarahdateechur, Don Wettrick @DonWettrick, Kim Gibson @ogdengirl, Dr. Patrice Johnson, Stephanie Johnson (parent), Dr. Bruce Barker, Dr. Todd Whitaker @toddwhitaker, Bobby Brian Lewis @usabbs, Rik Rowe @WHSRowe, Bethany Hill @bethhill2829 Nira Dale @mrsdale_FCS *I wrote up the nomination for Beth but for some reason couldn't get my account to work that morning so her nomination was submitted from one of my teammates. :) I also voted/wrote about 60 other reviews. Whew! :) I am tickled pink that Bobby Brian Lewis thought enough of me to nominate me and that so many others took the time to add such kind words. It's truly humbling!  The caliber of people in each category is AMAZING. For Elementary Teacher of the Year, I think every teacher is their state's teacher of the year and they all have a LONG list of accomplishments and recognitions. I'm honored to be in their company especially because I don't have that long list of personal accomplishments and titles. Having the Bammy Award "stamp" is pretty cool! 
• People! I have the most amazing group of people surrounding me! I cannot say this enough! I've connected with like-minded people that inspire, challenge, support, question, and stir my passion for teaching every day! If I'd only known, I would have connected via Twitter years ago! But maybe it wasn't my time. Maybe for me, I had to connect with the awesome educators on Edmodo first in order for me to appreciate Twitter. Regardless, I've grown!

Changes in Me:

• I have found like-minded people. I'm not so concerned about what others think about me. I can dream, try things out, fail, dress-up, act weird, and think out of the box without being so self-conscious.
• I'm discovering the leadership abilities in me that others have seen in me my whole life. Titles and positions have less meaning to me. We are all learners.
• My faith in teaching is restored. There was a time there where I'd hear the phrase, "There are so many great teachers out there!" but I didn't see it or believe it. This sounds egotistical, but not meant to be. I just didn't see innovation and high student engagement around me. There were exceptions of course, but for the most part I saw mediocre teaching and learning. Maybe it was because I rarely, if ever, had the chance to see in other classrooms. Twitter opens a whole new world of innovative, highly motivated, educators. It's refreshing! It's challenging me to "up my game".
•  I'm gaining confidence in the tech world because I know that at any time I need help; I have it. I don't have to do things alone anymore. I have access to experts!
• Everyone needs a mentor. I have found more than one. Not only do I have the most amazing PLN, but my mentors (especially in leadership) inspire me and teach me by sharing their experiences and expertise. I'm gaining confidence (not there yet) that I could take on leadership roles.  
• I'm gaining confidence in being more transparent and being public. 
• The bottom line is that I've gained confidence in myself this last year. This is a little strange to say because I've always been a pretty confident person especially when it comes to teaching. But the last five years or so, have brought so much change and uncertainty! I'm living in a constant state of not knowing if something will work. I think it's shaken my confidence. I'm proud to say that I've pushed on, moved forward, despite the fear and challenges! 
• I've developed a real passion for technology! It's part of me now. I've driven and motivated to FIND A WAY to get devices into my classroom so that I can use tech at the point of instruction. I just want to teach! I don't want to be hunting down extra lab or iPad time. I've been patient while I've been learning. BUT, I'm ready now! I'm restless! It's time to move on! I have much more to learn! I'm willing! I need the tech support. 

 Congratulations to me! I jumped in and stuck with it! I can't go back now. Being connected on Twitter, Voxer, Edmodo, etc. is just part of who I am!
 

Chemical Change Cafe'

Students walked into our classroom Monday morning to find that the room was transformed into the Chemical Change Cafe'. This is an activity from the book, Picture Perfect Science Lessons by Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan.

Picture Perfect Science Lessons
I'm not positive that this lesson is in this edition of the book. I found an older edition from my public library and have used the lesson for quite some time.

The lab jackets were collected by a parent, and I've used them year after year for this activity and for when we study Matter. It adds to the atmosphere of being mad scientists! The science equipment is just for decoration. I usually have flasks of white flowers pretreated with phenolphthalein so that we can watch them turn pink after we eat.

It was a perfect day to do this activity because I had a university student that was in my room to observe. Her help was greatly appreciated.

The kids mix water and pancake mix, so the batter is "perfect" for them. Some of the boys especially enjoyed making the batter extremely thin so that their pancake would be huge. Our rule in science is that we never eat. Kids enjoyed "eating at their own risk"!

After the clean-up, I have the kids work in cooperative groups to discuss other foods that could be included on the Chemical Change Cafe' Menu. Some of the foods they discuss include toast, orange juice, scrambled eggs, strawberry smoothie, trail mix, buttermilk biscuits, orange-sicles, cottage cheese, fruit salad and toasted marshmallows. It's easy for me to walk around and listen to their reasoning for each choice that they make. I'm able to clear up any misconceptions about chemical changes in a way that they can easily comprehend.

Overall, it's a fun activity!

Spring Tea

 

 The Spring "Tea" is one of the few activities that I've done every year since I started teaching. It's a great PR builder and a chance for the kids to dress-up and practice their manners. Moms transform the classroom into a classy restaurant while I do another simple activity with the kids in another part of the school. Every year is a little different and the parents always surprise me with their creativity. 

A couple of days before the Spring Tea, I have my class practice the procedures. It gives me a chance to address any of the issues that are sure to arise like not wanting to touch each other. I keep the instructions light and talk about manners using humor. Kids complain outwardly a little bit, but I always find out from moms that there is a lot of primping the morning of the big day.

The kids always shine! They are very mannerly and have a good time. I've never once had someone not enjoy the activity.