This week we had our first set of early release conferences. We do this twice each school year – once in November and once in February. Unlike elementary school where teachers meet with all of their students’ parents, in middle school we tend to only meet with students who are at risk of not meeting… Continue reading Student Portfolio Showcase
Using Edmodo as a back channel
Today is the second time I have used Edmodo to back channel conversations while watching a video in class. Both times I have done this, I have had outstanding results. Students are excited to share their information, and I can tell they are following along with the video. Additionally, student comments after the fact show… Continue reading Using Edmodo as a back channel
Standards Based Grading: An Experiment
As I prepped for back to school in June and July, I was excited about the prospects of standards based grading – or even going as far as abolishing grading. I wanted to provide an environment where my students learn and our focus is not on the “A”. I played with my gradebook, and found… Continue reading Standards Based Grading: An Experiment
Why you should sign up for the launch #NASAtweetup for #STS133
NASA announced last week that they will be hosting another launch tweetup, this time for the launch of Discovery (STS-133) on November 1. The tweetup will be a two-day event on October 31 and November 1 culminating with the afternoon launch of Discovery. Here are some reasons why you should sign up: It’s the last… Continue reading Why you should sign up for the launch #NASAtweetup for #STS133
The Great Rock Mix Up: An Inquiry Approach from Day 1
I am about to wrap up the second week of school with my kids. From the first day, I reinvented my usual first two weeks of school lessons to get rid of the introductory science process skills lessons and replaced them with inquiry based lessons surrounded by the content (geology – classifying rocks by their… Continue reading The Great Rock Mix Up: An Inquiry Approach from Day 1
Building Community
One of the things I really want to work on this year is building a community of learners within my classroom. During the first couple of days, we have already started getting to know each other – and how to work together. I have also been sharing with my students information about our class jobs,… Continue reading Building Community
Welcome back to school!
Today was the first day of 2010-2011 school year. It was a fantastic day, and I know this will be a wonderful year. I’m really pleased with the activities I put together for the first day of school. It’s different from what I’ve done before, but I think it worked really well. Here’s what I… Continue reading Welcome back to school!