tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34844442424465591332024-03-13T05:39:33.093-07:00dandelions and dragonfliesDandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comBlogger273125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-38895546657316446472021-08-15T13:35:00.000-07:002021-08-15T13:35:04.671-07:00My New AdventureHello there! I wanted to take a minute to share my new adventure with you all! <div><br /></div><div>After some time away from blogging and social media I am excited to announce that I am now working with a former co-worker on a new blog called Peaches of Our Heart.</div><div><br /></div><div>I would love for you to head over and follow us there as well as through social media. </div><div><br /></div><div>I can't wait for everything this new adventure will bring. </div><div><br /></div><div>Check it out: <a href="https://peachesofourheart.blogspot.com/2021/08/our-story.html" target="_blank">Peaches of Our Heart - Our Story</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" /></div>Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-36143304481699313562018-10-09T10:12:00.000-07:002018-10-09T10:12:06.484-07:00Game Changer!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One month done!<br />
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That went by so fast! I have been busy attending different professional developments/conferences, and can’t wait to share all the great things with my teachers.<br />
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The most recent PD was with the Oregon Ed Tech Cadre. TONS of takeaways, but I think my favorite thing was time to actually play with different apps and programs I just haven’t had the time to learn and/or spend time in.<br />
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I will say I have really stayed away from taking notes and such on my iPad. The reason being is that I love to hand write my notes. I am a self proclaimed note nerd and I always say I was “sketch noting” before it was really a thing. I thought I found the answer to my hand note taking skills and love a technology...the Rocketbook! I LOVE it! If you haven’t hear of it before click to picture below and learn more.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL2aOGwm3Ak" target="_blank"><img alt="Image result for rocketbook" border="0" height="240" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fQxq6WQmx1k/hqdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It took me some time to get use to the different pens (having to be erasable and a particular brand). But once I did, I really loved the results. Here are a few of my notes.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1rPXA9WwJAc/W7zgW9rSzNI/AAAAAAAADx8/e4P22bay1P0PnN1x3djjgZJZXDPyYo6OgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0114.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1rPXA9WwJAc/W7zgW9rSzNI/AAAAAAAADx8/e4P22bay1P0PnN1x3djjgZJZXDPyYo6OgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0114.PNG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbxycYbkjVo/W7zgqF-FEGI/AAAAAAAADyE/8nUborPfgW0GPKHS2aACrJp86kwNl2LjQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0115.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbxycYbkjVo/W7zgqF-FEGI/AAAAAAAADyE/8nUborPfgW0GPKHS2aACrJp86kwNl2LjQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0115.PNG" width="240" /></a></div>
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That being said I pushed myself out of my comfort zone for this conference, and decided to embrace my iPad. I am so lucky that our district bought Logitech Crayons for the staff...GAME CHANGER!<br />
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<a href="https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/logitech-crayon-stylus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for logitech crayon" border="0" height="210" src="https://www.macobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/logitech-crayon-stylus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I knew the reason I steered away from taking notes or drawing on my iPad had to do with the bulky stylus and I couldn’t afford to get an Apple Pencil. NOW...I LOVE MY CRAYON! Here are a few of the sketch notes I took during my conference.<br />
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Like I said...GAME CHANGER! I even took sketch notes on two of my classroom visits today.<br />
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If you are looking for an alternative to an Apple Pencil you should try the Logitech Crayon....works just the same and half the cost.<br />
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...Rocketbook for Sale!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-25449628737340635322018-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:002018-08-05T08:00:08.762-07:00Painted Rocks<br />
Living in southern Oregon during the summer is amazing. There are so many things to go out and do, and my family loves to camp and be outdoors.<br />
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However there is a huge downside. We live in a valley near northern California and we get the worst of both states. The wildfires this summer have been pretty horrible. I have read that we have the worst air quality in the US. There are days that we should not be outside at all. We have taken a few trips out of the area to try and get away, but of course that costs money. This is what we deal with almost every day.<br />
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One way my daughter and I pass the time indoors is by painting rocks. As educators you may have heard of the <a href="https://www.thekindnessrocksproject.com/" target="_blank">The Kindness Rocks Project</a> or even <a href="http://www.peacerocks.org/" target="_blank">Peace Rocks</a>. (See links for more information)</div>
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We prefer to "hide" the rocks in places that people will come across them unexpectedly, and it's fun to find them! Some groups and cities have Take 1 Leave 1 stations that can be used as well. Either way we enjoy the time together painting as well as coming up with different ideas for the rocks. </div>
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Another thing we did is join a FB group in order to track the journey of our rocks...there are tons of them! When we find one with a group written on them we try to post those as well. We came up with our own hashtag to follow their paths. Here are some of the rocks we have painted. Our group is Rogue Valley Painted Rocks #RVPR and our family hashtag is #FALKRKS. </div>
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Has your school painted rocks, maybe made a kindness rock garden? Have you painted rocks?</div>
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-5970808577185038152018-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:002018-08-04T13:29:16.582-07:00Hello...I'm Back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After two years of silence...other than Twitter...I'm back! For the past four years I have been focusing on my "new" role as Instructional Coach. I decided to step away from the blogging and TpT world in order to give my role the attention needed. There are times that I still don't know how I managed and juggled everything when in the classroom, as do most of you. I'm still in awe!<br />
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During the past four years I have learned so much, worked hard, and built amazing relationships with my teachers. I am excited for the upcoming school year and can't wait to share it all with you.<br />
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Looking forward to next year I am working on making a few goals, goals that will help me become a better educator, instructional coach, mother, wife, and person.<br />
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Over the past few years I have had the privileged to study and attend professional development by Eric Jensen. During his PD he presents the idea of "gutsy goals" and "micro goals". The idea of a gusty goal is to set the bar high,SUPER high. Micro goals then become the path to obtain the gutsy goal.<br />
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Sometimes I feel we get so overwhelmed with the gutsy goal that we get lost and eventually give up. The key is in the micro goals. I ran across a Twitter feed #onesmallthing (follow the # on Twitter and <a href="https://share.teacher2teacher.education/onesmallthing?code=tw-share&shareimg=https%3A%2F%2Fshare.teacher2teacher.education%2Fadhoc%2Ft2t-onesmallthing%2Fstatic%2Fdownloads%2F5a2d8f6d-2308-4394-947c-0172cf7734dd.png" target="_blank">click here</a> to go to the website) at the end of the school year, and thought it was the perfect way to help keep myself focused and not overwhelmed. It's also something I think I will incorporate in my building during small group/individualized PD (something I'll talk about in another post...it's AMAZING!).<br />
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So to begin my journey here is my first #onesmallthing<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What is your #onesmallthing? </span><br />
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You can now follow me on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/dandelionsteach" target="_blank">@dandelionsteach</a> and on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dandelions_and_dragonflies/" target="_blank">@dandelions_and_dragonflies</a> , one day I will get the buttons on my blog up to date!<br />
<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-46741462647280380462016-01-01T19:40:00.001-08:002016-01-01T19:40:26.963-08:00Happy 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hope you all had a happy and safe New Year. I did the normal stay at home in my PJs and hope to stay awake long enough to watch the ball drop...I did manage to do it this year!<br />
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As for my December challenge....well it didn't happen. I really didn't think through the whole break thing, Christmas shopping and wrapping, out of town trips, etc. I did post a few more on Facebook than I did here, but only a few. I found it hard to post on my blog from my phone...well at least post the pictures, it keeps telling me I need another app. Just too frustrating.<br />
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I must say I am ready to get back to work. I couldn't sleep one night (what happens when you stay up late reading and take a nap here or there) and of course had a great idea for my next PD. Once I have all the pieces together I'll be happy to share.<br />
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Here's looking forward to a great 2016!<br />
<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-41040832601232484792015-12-17T16:05:00.001-08:002015-12-17T16:05:24.029-08:00Day 17: TreeI know today is a school day and I should be posting about something school related, but I had to show off my tree AND we don't have a Christmas tree here at school.<br />
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The one on the left is the small one in my daughter's room, and of course the one on the right is the one in our living room.<br />
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I love my tree this year, I know it's not your large full tree that most are use to but we went out and cut both of these trees down...and it's a great family tradition! Here are pictures from where we went to find our tree, just an hour up the road from our house.<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-80093439208253061842015-12-16T15:53:00.003-08:002015-12-16T15:53:54.383-08:00Day 16: Makes You Feel MerryMy co-workers! We had our Secret Santa reveal party today after our staff meeting....I'm ready for the holidays!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-39123452012057408022015-12-15T15:05:00.000-08:002015-12-15T15:05:05.876-08:00Day 15: Lights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A little bit of a stretch but the light of the projector today as Secondary Coaches presented at our District Principal/Coach Meeting.<br />
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It was great being able to share everything we have been doing in our PLCs with them!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-46548755654775126722015-12-15T13:29:00.002-08:002015-12-15T13:29:46.129-08:00Day 14: Drink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">My pink 50/50, three a day is my goal...drink more water! (It use to have a monogram but I peeled it off in a meeting, must make a new one)</span><br />
<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-15562065319828458052015-12-13T20:50:00.004-08:002015-12-13T20:50:39.236-08:00Day 13: Composition <div class="vk_ans" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif-light, sans-serif; font-size: xx-large !important; font-weight: lighter !important; margin-bottom: 0px;">
<span data-dobid="hdw">com·po·si·tion</span></div>
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<i>noun</i></div>
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<strong>1</strong>.</div>
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the nature of something's ingredients or constituents; the way in which a whole or mixture is made up</div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif-light, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6px;"><b>2. </b>a work of music, literature, or art</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 15.6px;">Today we had our first snow in the valley! I spent the day (really early this morning) playing in the snow with my daughter. I chose the pictures of her making a snowman for today's challenge. It is definitely a piece of art. The composition of the snowman were: </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif-light, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 15.6px;">atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif-light, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 15.6px;">Here's to a possible snow day tomorrow!</span></div>
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-6974304803230482032015-12-12T19:49:00.002-08:002015-12-12T19:49:54.800-08:00Day 12: Joy is...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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...an empty Christmas card box! Because that means I have finished all my Christmas cards and they are ready to be mailed off on Monday!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-63900670952446275192015-12-11T21:27:00.000-08:002015-12-12T19:47:09.347-08:00Day 11: GreenToday we were short on subs, so I stepped in and taught 6th grade math. Needless to say I'm a bit tired after a week of teaching teachers in our Distrtict PLCs.<br />
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This teacher is a small Packers fan!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-21612831701369150282015-12-10T11:16:00.001-08:002015-12-10T11:16:56.464-08:00Day 10: R is for...RUBRIC!<br />
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Today was our last Secondary District PLC, whew!<br />
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Our timeline for this PLC was that our teachers were working in grade level teams and/or subject area teams. They had to use their pacing guides from last year (they had prioritized their standards and created standards pacing guides) and determine which standards they wanted to created a District Summative Assessment from. Once they decided which standards they wanted to assess they began creating standards rubrics for the standards they chose (we are a Standards Based Teaching, Grading, and Learning district).<br />
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One way to guide the teachers into creating these rubrics was to use and activity called Ramp It Up! (<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-SUxXaRtQsME5rUlNGNk50SDQ/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">click here to view the activity</a>).<br />
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It was a great way to show them our process/steps for creating their rubrics.<br />
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Here is a link to our template for creating <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4-SUxXaRtQsY2JqMk1vVk5BNm8/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Standards Rubrics</a>.<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-36942811191686158082015-12-09T09:44:00.000-08:002015-12-09T09:44:10.934-08:00Day 8: I Shop Here; Day 9: This is the Weather TodayDay 8: I Shop Here<br />
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Since I am posting these from school I decided to show you were I "shop" at school...our supply cabinet. I must say I like having the supply cabinet available for us instead of having to predict how many staples I'll use in the year, how many paper clips, etc. If I run out I just head to the cabinet.<br />
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Day 9: This is the Weather Today<br />
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If you have watched the news most of Oregon and Washington are getting hit pretty hard with rain. You may say...well you live in Oregon where it rains all the time right!?!?<br />
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Nope! We actually are in the middle of a drought, it was pretty bad this summer...so the rain and even snow is welcome!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-7222323818553651812015-12-07T10:29:00.004-08:002015-12-07T10:29:52.510-08:00Day 7: 6 o'clock<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Around 6 o'clock every morning I am standing in my kitchen packing lunches being sure to include a note in my daughter's lunch (because I will hear about it if I forget). Once the lunches are packed and water bottles are filled then the book bags are packed...yes I carry a back pack especially if I have to take any type of technology home.<br />
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What does 6 o'clock look like for you?<br />
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My morning routine is very much a routine...I'm slightly OCD.<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-19485854916185811992015-12-06T19:11:00.001-08:002015-12-06T19:11:22.317-08:00Day 5: In the Cupboard; Day 6: ShadowI woke up this morning and realized that I had failed my challenge and forgot to post yesterday :(<br />
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In my defense I had spent about 6 hours finishing decorating and scrubbing my house getting ready for my husband's team Christmas party. I was exhausted!<br />
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So here is my catch up post as well as today's challenge.<br />
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Day 5: In the Cupboard<br />
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It's that time of year...apple cider and hot cocoa with mallow bits of course!<br />
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Day 6: Shadow<br />
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I love the shadows that my candle casts. This is the ONLY time of the year that I burn candles, and they have to be a certain scent (Christmas tree, and one I had a while ago that was called snowflake, I believe).<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-41121883956894406472015-12-04T20:22:00.002-08:002015-12-04T20:22:37.808-08:00Day 4: Tiny<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UpVz4gWpGAY/U-7W3JRGf_I/AAAAAAAADUU/kA4aI33GiO0/s1600/photo%2B5%2B%25284%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UpVz4gWpGAY/U-7W3JRGf_I/AAAAAAAADUU/kA4aI33GiO0/s320/photo%2B5%2B%25284%2529.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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This is my office, where I spent a very very tiny amount of time today!<br />
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I started my morning in a Middle School Principal/Coach meeting, then moved to a SpEd placement meeting, on to the district office for Train the Trainer Data Dashboard meeting, came back and worked on a few schedule changes with the office, and left a little early to pick my girl up and visit the book fair at her school!<br />
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I was only in my office long enough to drop my things off and then once again pick them up. I didn't even log into my computer.<br />
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WHEW, I am very happy it's the weekend!!!!!!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-58542635478309633462015-12-03T18:54:00.000-08:002015-12-04T20:16:48.259-08:00Day 3: SilverAnother full day today! The first half of my day was spent co-facilitating our Secondary Math PLC. Each subject team (6-12) meets four time thoughout the year for a half day PLC. We are continuing our work with quality assessments. Today our focus was building Standars Rubrics and starting our District Summative Assessments. I am over the Secondary Math group, however all Secondary Instructional Coaches help facilitate all the PLCs. I am very proud of the hard work my teams did today.<br />
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The second part of my day was spent on Focus Walks. This year we are trying to give each teacher in our building at least two opportunities to complete Focus Walks, visiting their peers and other classrooms. This year our Focus Walk focus is technology (due to our 1:1initiative). Now of course that doesn't mean we aren't looking for other things just focusing on technology.<br />
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My team of three teachers spent almost two hours visiting classrooms I our building. For the last hour we visiting the elementary school up the hill (where I use to teach). I had so much fun getting to see those younger student hard at work and using their technology!<br />
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Which gets me to my picture of the day. In one third grade classroom we visited they were using the Book Creator app to work on their animal research projects. The picture I took was of a great little girl working on her project...unfortunately I took the picture with my school iPad and left it at school...so I guess I will post it tomorrow. So how does the picture fit within today's challenge you ask...well the animal the student was writing about was the Silverback Gorilla! <br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-69526679270889651082015-12-02T19:45:00.000-08:002015-12-02T19:45:01.397-08:00Day 2: Where I StoodHere is the promised photo of the day challenge, as you can see today is...Where I Stood<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sPRjZDSKhXs/Vl-2A0Is6oI/AAAAAAAADlc/jIkGH4Iyd3I/s1600/photo%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bday%2Bdecember.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sPRjZDSKhXs/Vl-2A0Is6oI/AAAAAAAADlc/jIkGH4Iyd3I/s400/photo%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bday%2Bdecember.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
Of course I stood many places today, but Wednesdays are early release for teacher professional development and meetings. One of my jobs is to facilitate these meetings. Each Wednesday is devoted to something different during the month.<br />
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The first Wednesday of the month is District meetings. Every Wednesday our staff meets in grade level teams for the first half hour. The remainder of our time together today was spent having our teachers work on District PLC prep time (for our secondary whole district PLCs).<br />
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This year the secondary coaching team has worked on a flipped model for our PLCs. We are using Blendspace as our vehicle to deliver prep materials to the teachers. They simply open the Blendspace and work through the "slides" which may contain Google Docs or Forms, videos, readings, etc.<br />
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Where I Stood: In the front of our PD room presenting<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgKVvr-AuSM/Vl-2A2b-PiI/AAAAAAAADlM/q8kdc_M-Kxg/s1600/IMG_5562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgKVvr-AuSM/Vl-2A2b-PiI/AAAAAAAADlM/q8kdc_M-Kxg/s400/IMG_5562.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Where I Stood: By my computer/doc camera station to present<br />
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Where I Stood: The view from the front of the PD room<br />
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If you want to participate...doesn't have to be everyday in my photo challenges post your photos on my FB page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DandelionsandDragonflies/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel" target="_blank">click here</a>!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-61904580866819426232015-12-01T21:07:00.001-08:002015-12-02T19:45:36.119-08:00December Challenge Day 1Here it is already December, over a month has gone by without one single post from me...horrible!<br />
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So now I am challenging myself to post once a day for the month of December. I saw this picture challenge posted by a friend of mine and thought of how I could use that with my blog.<br />
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I will post a picture of the challenge tomorrow, my iPad is not letting me attach pictures!<br />
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A little twist to the challenge will be that on the days I am at work, school, the picture has to be work/school related with a post about the picture.<br />
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I'm hoping this will get me back into the swing of posting.<br />
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Day 1: Red<br />
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<a href="https://getkahoot.com/how-it-works" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://38.media.tumblr.com/6610a5cf8afc916a5af980b093a67e26/tumblr_inline_n5b830Xb6w1rgp1yg.png" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
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Today I spent some time working on a Kahoot for our upcoming District PLCs. If you have never used Kahoot you are missing out! If you have ever played trivia at a restaurant it's very similar. Kahoot is a free site where you can create quizzes, surveys, and discussions. The students don't need to register, just enter the session code, and GO! Click the picture to learn more. </div>
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My Kahoot is a quick quiz that will have the teachers identifying if an assessment question has been written the correct way or not. This year in our District PLCs we are focusing on quality assessments. I'm pretty excited to see how exciting the game will get, teachers are not competitive at all!!</div>
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<img src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" style="text-align: left;" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-69318824277635523402015-09-15T18:49:00.000-07:002015-09-15T18:49:04.766-07:00QR Code Professional DevelopmentWell our in-service week has come and gone...as well as the first week of school! WE WERE BUSY!<br />
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As promised I am writing about the QR Code Professional Development lesson I presented during our tech day. I was very excited, and the class could not have gone smoother.<br />
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I started the class with having them download a QR code reader. I prefer I-nigma. It is free, tends to have fewer pop ups/ads, and is user friendly for even the little learners.<br />
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<img height="200" src="https://lh3.ggpht.com/mPlEHu0tQ6PXx3Zol5hWApgM67QisA88lDnW3dqZUoXULek9Yh-O4SuzTkRPM4KaPJ8=w300" width="200" /></div>
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Once that was completed I passed out the Dynamic Duo cards (post can be found <a href="http://dandelionsdragonflies.blogspot.com/2015/08/qr-code-activity.html" target="_blank">here</a>), and had them find their other half. Once they partnered up I had them share two things they knew about QR codes OR wanted to know about QR codes. </div>
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Next, I asked if anyone knew what QR stood for? I then presented this infographic which prompted a great discussion.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qDwxIcJIxkE/VfjGbCN36VI/AAAAAAAADkY/XyPOM21gp74/s1600/qr-codes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qDwxIcJIxkE/VfjGbCN36VI/AAAAAAAADkY/XyPOM21gp74/s1600/qr-codes.jpg" /></a></div>
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(The QR codes actually work on this!)<br />
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After that I then jumped into the "bulk" of the presentation. I showed them an infographic that I had made on "How to Make a QR Code".<br />
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<img alt="Displaying How to make a QR code Copy.png" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0bAINjfcizgw3an1yWWZRl3_6Ec3RW-2CaRYTkMNQwYqgMUdmybt9jjOePIpNfBcZWPNY4DDABEOASc=w1000-h547-rw" width="388" /></div>
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I used the app Piktochart to make it!<br />
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Once they realize how easy it was, the ideas began to flow. I had them practice making a QR Code with an answer to a question I gave them, they then had to have their elbow partner scan their QR Code to reveal the answer.<br />
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Finally I showed this presentation with ideas of how to use QR codes in the classroom.<br />
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Click <a href="https://www.emaze.com/@AIRRWRTO/qr-codes" target="_blank">HERE</a> to view it!<br />
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We had so much fun and I received numerous emails from those that attended the class letting me know how they are using QR Codes in the classroom.<br />
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Now on to my first week of school...<br />
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We rolled out our 1:1 initiative and it's been one exciting roller coaster! What they say is true...you learn by doing. Things we thought would go smoothly were bumpy and other things we were concerned about seemed to not be a problem.<br />
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I have to thank our teachers for their effort, support, and time out of their "normal" welcome to my classroom lessons they have given to help make this possible.<br />
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I know we will still have a TON ups and downs, but it's pretty exciting...and to watch how thrilled the students are to have this opportunity has been amazing.<br />
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I also went around to the teaching staff and snapped some "My First Day" pics. I am blessed to work with this great staff! I am looking forward to a GREAT year!!!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-22658834101118670942015-08-23T20:54:00.002-07:002015-08-23T20:54:52.357-07:00QR Code Activity As most of you know I am working on getting things together for our technology day during teacher in-service week. I have almost completed my presentation on how to make and use QR codes in the classroom. As promised I will share everything with you all from how to make the QR codes to now that I can make them how do I use them in the classroom.<br />
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I wanted to make something to use as a get to know you/opener (of course using QR codes) for the class, so I created a Dynamic Duo QR Code Activity. This can be used with all grade levels as well as adults. I also included blank numbered cards that you can add your own pictures, QR codes, etc.<br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dynamic-Duos-QR-Code-Activity-2052682" target="_blank"><img alt="Dynamic Duos QR Code Activity" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7b/cf/86/7bcf864614c1b1d638e68ce6664b99f6.jpg" /></a></div>
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You can find it <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dynamic-Duos-QR-Code-Activity-2052682" target="_blank">here</a> on TpT!<br />
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I also placed all the <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Polka-Dot-Number-Sets-Bundle-2052700" target="_blank">red and black number sets</a> you have seen in my previous classroom reveals into a FREE bundle set on TpT...finally!<br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Polka-Dot-Number-Sets-Bundle-2052700" target="_blank"><img alt="Polka Dot Number Sets Bundle" src="https://mcdn.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Polka-Dot-Number-Sets-Bundle-2052700-1440386874/original-2052700-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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ENJOY!<br />
<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-26508497207581723272015-08-13T19:15:00.002-07:002015-08-13T19:15:50.414-07:00Classroom Blogging - Test PhaseToday was the last day of summer school. I must say it was nice to step back into the classroom and teacher role. One thing I realized I missed was the connections you make as a classroom teacher. When walking into the building one morning a student yelled from the distance..."Morning Mrs. Falkenhagen...GUESS WHAT?!?! I got my stitches out yesterday!" He was so happy and excited to share his news. As instructional coach I get to know some students but not the same way as classroom teachers. I'm excited to have this (short but great) time with the rising 6th graders that are new to our building, I think I've made some connections with them that will carry over into the new school year.<br />
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Summer school is a great time to test a few things out that you may want to use during the next school year. I did just that, and had my students blog!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w7QoDGXiHLw/Vc1OafAFkRI/AAAAAAAADjU/XOmwpioHfqI/s1600/kidblog-navigation-tips-1-638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w7QoDGXiHLw/Vc1OafAFkRI/AAAAAAAADjU/XOmwpioHfqI/s400/kidblog-navigation-tips-1-638.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I was a little nervous but I thought why not give it a shot, and seeing I'm teaching a tech class about it I should have actual classroom experience. </div>
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I researched a few different sites and settled on Kidblog. I chose it because of my students being in 6th grade and it seemed like a good platform for this age group. I think this is a good site for most middle school students. If I was teaching high school I would probably use Blogger...mostly because ALL of our students in the district have email accounts through Google/Gmail. Blogger would allow them to connect the account without having to use multiple platforms. Now the logistics of how to use Blogger would be slightly more difficult (do I give each student their OWN blog, do we have a class blog that they can post to, etc.)<br />
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<a href="http://kidblog.org/home/" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ptsUvdA7IY/Vc1O_6DDFLI/AAAAAAAADjk/ySVKqKLcMP8/s640/kidblog%2Blogo%2B%25281%2529.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Needless to say blogging was a HIT! The students were very engaged and begged to log on and write.<br />
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If you choose to use Kidblog I would highly suggest paying or getting your district to pay for the membership. With the membership you can add more than 40 students, access their clipart (which helps with the headache of students searching the internet for pictures), and much more.<br />
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With Kidblog you create a class blog that the students write and post to. It allows them to post just to the teacher, the class, or you can set it to post publicly. The teacher approves comments prior to them posting, a great feature. As a teacher I could read the student drafts as they were writing them allowing me to make suggestions.<br />
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The first day we discussed the definition of a blog, I showed them my blog. What types of blogs are out there: teacher blogs, recipe blogs, fashion blogs, diary blogs, family blogs, etc. We looked a a few different ones, and talked about their posts. Always a great time to review internet safety. I talked with them about posting, that this is a quick write/read, and why people like the forum of blogs. We discussed that we still write with capital letters, punctuation, and correct grammar....this is NOT TEXTING!!!<br />
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The hardest part was the actual logging in...the first day. If we had access to iPads I would have made a QR code for them to scan that would take them directly to our page. After that...the students were on self pilot, changing their avatars, header pictures, and writing. Everyone picked it up so quickly and it was the quietest they had been all week.<br />
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Sorry no link to our class blog...due to it being such a short amount of time I didn't have permission from parents to make it a public blog. I think as a classroom teacher I would keep it as a classroom only blog for the first part of the year and then open it up to the public later. Speaking of parents...there is a way for them to connect to the class blog as well, what a great way for them to see their student's work, and also communicate with them and the class.<br />
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If you are interested in your class blogging...I highly suggest you look into Kidblog, very user friendly and great for Elementary and Middle School.<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-69413545050147238172015-08-01T18:15:00.000-07:002015-08-01T18:15:14.205-07:00Get To Know MeAs some of you are starting back to school next week I thought I'd share a GREAT packet I purchased from TpT (click picture to go to the product).<br />
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Beginning-of-the-Year-Team-Building-Activities-Ice-Breaker-Get-to-Know-You-Ideas-263126" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="308" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Xj71a65UMk/Vb1phmBYkeI/AAAAAAAADh0/NA_11SCrXMQ/s400/demoBeginningoftheYearTeamBuildingActivitiesIceBreakerGettoKnowYouIdeas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I have used some of these with my summer school students and they LOVE them.<br />
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One of the favorites was Would You Rather...<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A4z9WtlZ76o/Vb1tEutzCjI/AAAAAAAADiE/dRUteNvn5fE/s1600/IMG_4532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A4z9WtlZ76o/Vb1tEutzCjI/AAAAAAAADiE/dRUteNvn5fE/s400/IMG_4532.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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They each got to choose a card from the middle, one at a time. The person who chose the card read it to the group, would answer it, then explain why they chose what they did. Some of the cards were: Would you rather live in space or under the sea? Would you rather learn to talk all over again or learn to walk all over again? Some were silly and some were very thought provoking. They really enjoyed it!<br />
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I would suggest with the Would You Rather activity giving the students some time to maybe write some of them in their journal and let them answer them, they really had to work hard not to blurt out what they would rather do!<br />
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Well it's August here and the smoke has rolled in from CA fires.<br />
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Our little valley is the perfect pocket for the smoke, no fun!<br />
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(there is usually a great view of our fields out there)</div>
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3484444242446559133.post-15609443085882673132015-07-29T19:03:00.001-07:002015-07-29T19:03:33.473-07:00Summer School Part 1There is no Day 1 post due to the chaotic first day of anythingness...yep new word! The first day consisted of a shorter schedule due to an assembly, and OMGoodness we have WAY more students here than we anticipated what are we going to do!?!?<br />
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The idea was that two of our certified teachers would teach rising 7th, 8th, and 9th graders ELA, Math, and PE. While I would teach the 6th grade (ELA, Math, welcome to middle school and team building) self contained. I guess the idea of "welcome to middle school" took off, we had 50+ students show up and are continuing to show up! Fortunately the superintendent showed up today and immediately went to the Cabinet and they approved us for an additional teacher. I guess it's a great problem to have!<br />
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What does a classroom with fifty or so students you ask?!<br />
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The first day consisted of taking our pretests, of course. I also had them make their own name plate, because as I informed them it was going to be difficult to memorize ALL their names in such a short amount of time. I also like having them make name plates because we added other information on them as well. In the middle they wrote their first name, top left: favorite color, top right: favorite movie, bottom left: person that has inspired them, bottom right: birth month. I use the name plates to help form groups (same birth month, same favorite color) as well as a few "get to know you" conversations.<br />
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One activity the students completed was Get to Know You BINGO. This is not a new activity, but this time I chose to use a BINGO card with a few more "difficult" boxes. You can find the lessons <a href="http://www.sdcda.org/office/girlsonlytoolkit/toolkit/got-02-getting-to-know-you.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. Prior to giving them the cards I let them know that some of the boxes had a few more challenging questions. We talked about being respectful and understanding. This of course got them even more interested.<br />
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My rules were: you could only sign one box per card (I wouldn't be allowed to sign 4 boxes on my friend Sally's card), you could not sign your own card, we played blackout!<br />
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When we finished the activity (time was up before BINGO was called) we returned to the classroom, and had great discussions about things they found out as they were talking to each other. Some of the responses were simple and some very deep. I was very proud of how respectful they were of each other's feelings and thoughts.<br />
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Another activity we completed was a simple Snowball.<br />
Each student took out a clean piece of notebook paper<br />
On the paper they wrote one thing they were scared/nervous about as they started middle school<br />
Once they wrote their response they wadded the paper up<br />
We stood in a circle and then threw the papers to the middle<br />
I called a group at a time to pick up one of the papers and read it quietly to themselves<br />
We returned to our seats and then shared with the whole group what was on the paper<br />
I wrote their concerns on the board, when we were done I did my best to discuss and address their fears/concerns.<br />
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We were able to get another teacher for day 3 and the remainder of the program! We split this large group into two, but will continue to follow the same lesson plans. I'm pretty excited as to what the next few weeks bring!<br />
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Now if they could just get the air fixed I will be one happy camper...105 outside makes it pretty stuffy in the classrooms!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g447/eschaff/Dandelions%20and%20Dragonflies/sgn2.png" />Dandelions and Dragonflieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13545571309246944772noreply@blogger.com