Sunday, February 26, 2017

Units of Study & STEM 2/27/17

Units of Study & STEM

During our Personalized Learning Conference in GCISD Mini Conference this past August, I did a presentation on a book called "A Quick Guide to Reaching Struggling Writers K-5" by Colleen Cruz, who is a Senior Lead Staff Developer at Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) in New York. Not only do I follow @TCRWP on Twitter, I also follow @colleen_cruz and look what I found this week! The Twitter chat schedule for TCRWP! Look at May 10th....YES...it is a Twitter chat about STEM & the WORKSHOP!!! How exciting is that?? Mark your calendars now!! 


I have already emailed Colleen asking questions trying to find who they have already been working with so cross your fingers that we connect with a school or some teachers that we can collaborate with!


Sunday, February 19, 2017

Google Expedition 2/20/17

On Friday I had the opportunity to play around with Google Expeditions. It was amazing but I found out quickly that this activity is meant to be done sitting down! #turning50makesyoudizzy

For those of you that like to be adventurous and learn new things on your own, the expeditions are available for you to view on the Google Expeditions app. You will only be able to view it in the "leader format" but this will give you an idea of the amount of scenes in each expedition along with the leader notes. Once you download the app- you will see the word EXPLORER on the top menu bar. If you click on that, you can then click LEAD down on the screen. At this point you can view the expeditions. All of this is explained in the quick video shared below. Enjoy!!

Below you will find the directions on how to download the free app on your phone. 

For Android devices:
  1. Go to the Expeditions app in the Google Play Store. Alternatively, you can search for Expeditions at http://play.google.com/store/.
  2. Tap Install to add the app to the device.
  3. Tap Open, or tap to find Expeditions in your list of apps.

For iOS devices:

  1. Go to the Expeditions app in the iTunes Apps Store. Alternatively, you can search for Expeditions at https://itunes.apple.com.
  2. Tap Get > Install to add the app to the device.
  3. Tap Open, or tap to find Expeditions in your list of apps.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Next Steps with Learning Targets 2/13/17

"I can..." statements, also referred to as Learning Targets, help students know what they are going to learn in class. However, John Hattie speaks to "the next step" with these type statements in the classroom to be most effective in helping scholars reach their potential . Please take 1 minute and 45 seconds to learn how you can impact your students even more!


Sunday, February 5, 2017

The Writing Strategies Book 2/6/17

They are here!!!


Yes, our copies of The Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers By Jennifer Serravallo ARE HERE!!! I will be placing them in every Humanities Teacher's box by the end of the day on Monday. I am excited as you are to explore this new resource. As you read through it, please make notes of connections to our curriculum and share those notes with your Humanities grade level representative. In the link embedded below, please watch the 3 minute video, as Jennifer Serravallo gives an overview on how to use her book.