Getting Acclimated
Things are starting to take root. I'm getting used to remembering to take attendance on a more regular basis. At the elementary school it was just once in the morning and once in the afternoon...now it's every time a new group of students walks in. The bell schedule has gotten a little easier, although I cheat a little bit and set timers on my phone for when I have about 5 minutes left in class as a way to wrap things up, and that leftover time is about how much my students need for their reflections and getting cleaned up to go.
I'm also getting much more used to the level of technology capabilities I can use with middle schoolers. I had experience using Canvas, our learning management system, with my 3rd graders as more of a class website format. I experimented with a few of the other features with them, such as trying out class discussions and posting short-term website links as announcements. Now, however, I've learned how to incorporate Canvas into a daily-use tool. A new piece of technology for me that I needed to get used to pretty quickly was a Clevertouch interactive board. I had a SMART Board in my old classroom, so I felt pretty comfortable taking my new board for a spin (and I had to because a projection screen hadn't yet been installed in my room due to ordering issues with the company). I also had to adjust my use of an online grade book. In third grade, I created a spreadsheet file for grades, but now everything is in an online format that parents can log into and check how things are going. My colleagues helped me a lot with this adjustment and getting the grade book set up :-)
Being that it is the beginning of the year and most of the learning that happens right now is routine-based, one thing I've done to maintain my sanity is having my 7th and 8th grade classes do similar classroom activities: routines for using science binders, similar community building activities, using Canvas tools, and working through the various types of lab activities we will do. Eventually, though, as the academic standards branch off, I'm going to need to be sure that I balance my planning between the two levels. I'm seeing that as my next big challenge, but luckily I am able to connect with my science colleagues' Canvas courses and share resources/ideas with them!
It's still just the beginning of the year, and I know that not that far down the road I will be blogging about how I can't believe it is already Christmas, but I'm seeing great adventures between now and then!
Mindfulness thought for the week: A higher percentage of things happen because of you rather than to you. I had an interesting discussion with the students about this one. When I asked them to think about and share what they thought about this statement, many of them quickly looked at it from more of a negative viewpoint--they saw it as you can't just blame others for bad things. When I asked them if there were positive applications to this statement, it took a little longer to get comments. We'll have to work on that...
I'm also getting much more used to the level of technology capabilities I can use with middle schoolers. I had experience using Canvas, our learning management system, with my 3rd graders as more of a class website format. I experimented with a few of the other features with them, such as trying out class discussions and posting short-term website links as announcements. Now, however, I've learned how to incorporate Canvas into a daily-use tool. A new piece of technology for me that I needed to get used to pretty quickly was a Clevertouch interactive board. I had a SMART Board in my old classroom, so I felt pretty comfortable taking my new board for a spin (and I had to because a projection screen hadn't yet been installed in my room due to ordering issues with the company). I also had to adjust my use of an online grade book. In third grade, I created a spreadsheet file for grades, but now everything is in an online format that parents can log into and check how things are going. My colleagues helped me a lot with this adjustment and getting the grade book set up :-)
Being that it is the beginning of the year and most of the learning that happens right now is routine-based, one thing I've done to maintain my sanity is having my 7th and 8th grade classes do similar classroom activities: routines for using science binders, similar community building activities, using Canvas tools, and working through the various types of lab activities we will do. Eventually, though, as the academic standards branch off, I'm going to need to be sure that I balance my planning between the two levels. I'm seeing that as my next big challenge, but luckily I am able to connect with my science colleagues' Canvas courses and share resources/ideas with them!
It's still just the beginning of the year, and I know that not that far down the road I will be blogging about how I can't believe it is already Christmas, but I'm seeing great adventures between now and then!
Mindfulness thought for the week: A higher percentage of things happen because of you rather than to you. I had an interesting discussion with the students about this one. When I asked them to think about and share what they thought about this statement, many of them quickly looked at it from more of a negative viewpoint--they saw it as you can't just blame others for bad things. When I asked them if there were positive applications to this statement, it took a little longer to get comments. We'll have to work on that...
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