Nothing Else That Happened Today Matters!

by Kim Collazo
Today was our first mandatory workday for teachers (although I've worked the two optional days as well). These are some of the events that contributed to my building anxiety:
  1. Our opening staff meeting took an hour and a half longer than our new Principal had planned (3 hours).
  2. I found out that although two students were removed from my roll, three were added, leaving me with 29 students this year.
  3. When I went back and counted my chairs and chair bags I am one short now.
  4. I went to sort out the 5th grade level supplies that we submitted orders for during the last weeks of school in May, and found out none of the 5th grade supplies were ordered.
  5. We found out the agendas we use with our students to help them organize homework and other deadlines were never ordered either.
  6. My assistant, whom I share with a kindergarten teacher, had to go to a Diabetes Case Manager training all afternoon so we didn't get my classroom library books labeled like we had planned.
  7. My air conditioning is pretty much stuck on "ON" so I have to wear a sweatshirt until maintenance can come and unlock my control screen so I can regulate it.
  8. We realized that the county has scheduled meetings the entire day Thursday, right up until an hour before our Open House begins.
But NONE of that matters because I got an email from one of the students I had last year asking me to read THIS addition she made to her anti-bullying website (which she created on her own last year).  PERSPECTIVE REGAINED!
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Expert Badges

by Kim Collazo
Years ago when I first started teaching 5th grade I created various independent study activities that students could choose to explore on their own that related to the content we were covering, but at a deeper level. After they had completed all the activities with competence, they earned an "Expert Bead" which they put on their colored pipe cleaner (we had a whole display!). For whatever reason, I had not continued with this project until this year.

With all the blogs posts and tweets about "gamifying education" and awarding digital badges (Edmodo does an awesome job with this!) I decided that in addition to the online badges my kids can earn this year, I am going to also involve some challenging explorations after which they can earn a physical badge. Brad Flickinger does an awesome job explaining how he and his school will be using them on his Digital Learning Environment Blog. I love the idea of the tiny buttons kids will wear on their backpacks, but the machines that make these well are beyond my budget!!

All of our 5th graders wear black cord lanyards with an ID (a program I'll explain in an upcoming post!). While trying to go to sleep one night this summer (isn't that when all the best ideas come?), I thought about using key tags that could be fastened onto the nylon lanyards for their Expert Badges this year. Here is a picture of what the first one they can earn will look like. It will be for some challenging work they will do, as Brad says in his video (Badges Part 2), "to show competence" in the area of Internet Safety and Research. I will post more about the criteria for earning the badge in the near future!

Internet Safety Expert Badge
Also coming soon, a post about the cool Microsoft Word add on that Avery has to allow you to print labels that are not included in Microsoft Publisher (like the tiny one above)!

Are you using digital or other badges this year with your kids? I'd love to hear how!

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Great Reads!

by Kim Collazo
Thankfully, in late spring I had some left over grant money that could be used to purchase books for my classroom. I decided to purchase some titles that my kids could integrate with our social studies units. In North Carolina, the Essential Standards in Social Studies are related to the time period from the Early Americans to Reconstruction. Many of the books I ordered I had not read, but had wonderful reviews and would certainly hit many of the historical elements, while also becoming strong additions to our Reader's Workshop classroom library.

In the past two days these are the fantastic titles I've read (the kids will LOVE them!):

The Captain's Dog
This is a wonderful story about the journey of Lewis and Clark (with excerpts from Captain Lewis's journal) told from the point of view of his loyal Newfoundland dog. Fantastic descriptions and character development. The kids will get a kick out of what the dog was thinking and doing as the men struggled to make the arduous journey to the Pacific Ocean!

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
This humorous adventure of a young boy journeying to save his older brother from the battles of the Civil War also has many thoughtful moments and pieces of history that many kids don't know about the culture in America during the Civil War period. The non-stop adventures and action will keep the kids turning the pages, and the character development is a great model for Writer's Workshop.

Bull Run
Although a copy of this book has been in my classroom library for several years, I had never picked it up to read it. It is a collection of vignettes from 16 characters who experienced the Civil War in one fashion or another (ie. soldier, mother back home, doctor, photographer, general, etc.). It is a very graphic and powerful, well-written book that will expose the kids to the various opinions held on both sides of the horrendous war. Definitely a must read during our Civil War unit.

About 8 other new titles to go in my Barnes and Noble box! It is always so wonderful to read children's literature, wish I had started sooner in the summer!


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Classroom Addict

by Kim Collazo
That's pretty much how I describe myself whenever my family and friends say, "You were over there again?" I know many of you reading this are exactly the same...I've been reading your blogs too (and pinning your ideas to my boards)!

I promised myself this summer I would go through ALL my cabinets and bookshelves and WEED OUT! I am really not a pack rat, but after teaching for 20 years, there were things I had "collected". This clean out session was really necessary since my roster this year will again contain 28 wonderful names and I am in a 24 x 36 foot "cottage". I LOVE my cottage and have done several things over the last few years to maximize space. First, in order to gain space and more importantly promote collaboration, I ditched the desks for wonderful round tables. I started out with rectangular folding tables I bought myself, but found that the round tables really give the kids more elbow room while working and moving room while walking, so that has worked out great!! (Pics coming soon!)

Unlike many of you I don't have space for various centers so it was even more crucial that I part with things that weren't necessary anymore. As many of you know, we are a 1:1 netbook classroom, so we've been trying to become as paperless as possible over the last few years. However I still had these:



Yes, two of them, full of favorite lessons and units, many of which I had already re-created in digital format. And many more which I hadn't looked at in years. I am so proud to say that those two monstrosities, which took up a large corner of my small room, have been reduced to this:


And hopefully one day, these favorites will also be in the "cloud"! But for now I'm pleased! I even dragged the old file cabinets to the door myself so the janitor could get them OUT! I also went through all my bookshelves and organized them according to genre. I'd been wanting to do this for many years as well. Heading out tomorrow to buy about 20 mini crates for my neat piles! Tonight I created some Bin Labels (using PowerPoint) which I'll laminate and put on all the bins which will be strategically placed in the room. Feel free to download the labels and edit them if you'd like! (For some reason when they uploaded to Slideshare several of the pictures are larger and overlap several words...not sure why)

And finally, it's the little things that bring the most joy from teachers isn't it? I have two medium sized bookshelves in the room which house many literature sets, textbooks (which rarely get used), and other things that are randomly used throughout the year. I went out and bought two $5 cloth shower curtains and a few spring-style curtain rods at our new Roses Store. They were too long for the book cases, so I cut them at floor level and the leftover sections were sweetly sewn into curtains for my two windows by my son's girlfriend! My classroom has always been known as Collazo Cove and we have an ocean theme, so the pattern of soft colored shells, starfish, and sand give the room a nice calming effect. I'm thrilled!

Shower Curtain turned Book Shelf Curtain! (The turtle is our 5 year old red slider, Doodle)

Leftovers made into curtains! (The snake in the tank is our ball python, Sal!)
Overall a very productive day! Now tomorrow I'm going to.........
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Common Core Assessment (Afternoon portion of Workshop)

by Kim Collazo

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Common Core Staff Development Morning

by Kim Collazo

  • Computerized testing will NOT take place this year in grades 3-5
Hallmarks of the Core

  • Less is more - fewer standards that are more focused
  • Aligned with college and workforce expectations
  • Rigorous content and higher order thinking skills
  • Focus on the "end" result rather than the means to get there
  • Room for teachers to develop how they want to get the kids to the end goal
  • Reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language are to be taught across all disciplines
  • Upper elementary reading - 50% literature 50% reading for information
  • There are 3 appendices (900 pages) - Reading/Writing
    • Research and evidence - glossary of key terminology
    • Reading text exemplars and sample performance tasks
    • Annotated student writing samples
Common Core English/LA

  • Focus on complexity, quality and range of reading material (based on Lexile levels)
  • Reading across content areas
  • Anchor Standards - college and career readiness standards (by the end of high school) CCR's
  • Grade Specific Standards fall under the Anchor Standards - what students should be learning at each grade level to meet the Anchor Standards by end of high school - CCSS's
  • Reading, Writing, Speaking/Listening, Language are the 4 strands in ELA standards
  • Reading Domains (Overarching Idea)
    • key ideas and details
    • craft and structure
    • integration of knowledge and ideas
    • range of reading and level of text complexity
  • Balance between literature and informational text
  • Text complexity!!
  • Writing - emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing; writing about sources
    • text types and purposes
    • production and distribution of writing
    • research to build and present knowledge
    • range of writing
  • Speaking and Listening - formal and informal talk
    • comprehension and collaboration
    • presentation of knowledge and ideas
  • Language - general academic (ie. compare/contrast) and domain-specific vocabulary
Common Core Math Standards

  • Math Practices instead of Anchor Standards
    • create solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals
    • 50% of 4th grade test will be fractions
    • 8 important math practices
    • Domains - Standards make up Clusters - Each cluster begins with a Cluster Statement
Dropbox
dropbox@lee.k12.nc.us
newPassword123

  • Based on Webb's Depths of Knowledge (only 4, but they correspond with Bloom's Taxonomy) DOK will appear in Level of Thinking Box on RESA document.
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It's Official

by Kim Collazo
I'm marking the date, once again this summer. Last night I had the official school nightmare! Those of you who are teachers know what I'm talking about. Only this year's was a slight bit different than the dreams I've had every other summer about this time. I guess I must be a little concerned about the amount of kids that are on my role this year, as my nightmare began with an auditorium FULL of 5th graders. As always occurs in "the dream" they wouldn't stop talking, they were disrespectful, they wouldn't complete activities I had worked hard to create for them. It was truly a teacher's nightmare!

Have you had "the dream" yet? If so I'd be interested to know how similar/different they all are!

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Advice from Alan November

by Kim Collazo
One of the highlights of going to ISTE12 was attending Alan November's sessions. I went to two of his sessions and throughout his talks he stressed the need for students to become better researchers, especially when it comes to the Internet.
Alan November at ISTE12 (this guy is telling him he loves him!)

Alan stated that the second day in every classroom we should "teach the kids how to become awesome researchers and how to pull apart the Internet layer by layer." He then went on to share lots of ideas and examples (many Google search tips I didn't know!).

So I've decided to take his advice. In addition to the usual Internet safety activities in which my class participates (we are a 1:1 netbook classroom and the kids take their computers home each night, so this is especially important), I'm going to integrate more researching/analyzing website skills this year during our first week. I've decided to start with the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. If you haven't see this site, it's hysterical. However, sadly, so are many sites our kids use as authentic research sources. I found this wonderful unit plan on ReadWriteThink.org with some great lessons that incorporate this hoax site. I think the activities will be a fun way to introduce my kids to effective Internet research. All About Explorers is another wonderful site designed to teach kids these skills.

 In addition here is my page of Internet Safety sites, many of which I use in activities during the first week of school. I would love to hear what kinds of Internet safety and research skill activities you introduce to your kids at the beginning of school. Please share!


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Welcome to our new home!

by Kim Collazo

Thanks for coming to our new home! I am hoping this move will motivate me to let you know all the wonderful things that are happening in our 1:1 classroom. The kids are doing amazing things! Please come back often and leave us some comments!

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Richard Byrne at NCTies 2012

by Kim Collazo
Richard Byrne - Best of the Web
I hate to just blog a list of sites without live links, but if I don't share this with you now, we all know what will happen! It will sit here on my iPad forever. Hopefully you will get some time to find these sites and check out the ones that interest you!

Socrative - responding without remotes
QR treasure hunt generator on classtools.net
Bee tag QR reader
INaturalist -observe and share nature
History Pin
Sweet Search - a search engine for students
Sweet Search for Me - elementary kids
Wolfram Alpha
Goofram - combines google and wolfram
Twurdy -search engine that ranks results according to readability
Magzinr - bookmark and tweet at the same time
Thinglink - helps you create interactive images
Studyblue - flashcards collaboratively
Classconnect - build and share lessons can search common core
woodlands Junior School - good collections of touch screen stuff
Sharendipity - create games using drag and drop!
Wikimindmap - creates mind maps of search terms
Wikisummarizer - refine research
Qwiki - multimedia encyclopedia very cool!
Mashpedia - pulls from twitter and other social networking items - good for current events
Fotopedia - photo encyclopedia, many are cc
Announcify - text to speech app (chrome) skips adds, only reads article
Smithsonian Wild - collection of webcams from around the world
Wevideo - web-based video editor
Jellycam - easy way to make stop-motion video
Dragontape - can mix video and sound clips
Aviary - online creation tools, sound editor/creator
Soundation - create music on the web
Kinkast - app for private sharing of video clips (30 min limit)
Next vista for learning - share and find video content
Snag learning - over 3000 documentaries
Open Culture - a blog about culture and educational media
22 frames - allows you/students to sub-title videos
Online-convert.com - free tool for downloading video clips
Clea.nr - browser add on that strip all junk except the YouTube clip
TED talks
Screenr - make screen cast videos/can use it to talk over slides
Digital vaults.org - can do lots of things with national archive collection
World digital library - resources plotted on world map
Museum of obsolete objects 
Helloslide - will narrate your slides from you speaker notes for you
Gooru - math and science stuff
Big marker - web-based app for screen sharing
Vodburner - records vid conference
Chill - Pinterest for videos
Todaysmeet - back channel tool
Synchtube - watch videos together
Linoit - great for exit ticket
Popplet
Conceptboard - collaborative white boarding
Draw it live - collab drawing
Text the mob - text polls
Blogbooker - can download the collection of blog posts into one doc
Wordia - videos that give meaning to the context of words
Vocabahead - vocab stuff
books should be free - free ebooks and audio books
Amathsdictionary for kids - glossary of math terms written for kids!
Maths maps - using google maps to teAch math concepts
Scribble maps - draw on top of google maps!
moon base alpha - role playing for kids
In class app - note recorder
Brainstorm - app where you can swipe notes from one device to another
Show me app on iPad
Kathy schrock's website FULL of apps based on Blooms Revised
International children's digital library
Joliprint - browser extension that let's you clip whateveryoudont want printed on the page
Dropittome - sts can pass things in to you dropbox account. They can only see their files, not anything else
Flubaroo - multiple choice quizzes add on for google forms
Vocaroo - use for messages to the kids on the website
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My Treat for the Day - Patrick Crispen's Useless Session!

by Kim Collazo
Sitting in Patrick Crispen's session! Woohoo!

http://netsquirrel.com - Patrick's site

http://agoogleaday.com - each day they ask one trivial question which tests your search skills to find the answer; includes a clock that tracks how long you've been trying to find out the answer! Includs a Hint? button that provides a search hint by Google.

http://miceage.com - tons of articles about what is going on at all the Disney parks; Disney trivia; photos of people at the part, what the rest. are serving that day, etc.

http://www.lodgenetmobile.com - Turns your android phone into a TV remote while you're at your hotel!

http://popplet.com -  mind-mapping, collaboration tool (my problem is that they wouldn't give me more than 5 popples!)  Go to snowflake icon - labs - show timewarp

http://grc.com/haystack.htm - shows you how to create a more difficult password to hack. Shows you how long it would take a hacker to guess it.

http://zombo.com - FUNNY!

http://blog.lifehacker.com - Site full of tips and sites to make life better.

http://camelcamelcamel.com - tracks the prices of every item on Amazon and what is on sale; also shows trends of prices and recent price drops.

http://speedtest.net - tests your internet speed; can run on iPhone, iPad too.

http://gethuman.com - type in company and it will give you the number to talk to an actual HUMAN!

http://gametrailers.com - video game review site done by professional reviewers in depth. Reviews include video clips of game.

http://hipmunk.com - searches for flights by price and AGONY

http://seatguru.com - features all airplanes' layout and what the seats are like.

Just plain fun!

 

 
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Permission to Pin

by Kim Collazo
I admit I am a newby when it comes to Pinterest, but it is quickly becoming a wonderful addiction and huge tool in organizing sites and ideas I can use in my classroom.

Not that I post anything "pin-able" on this blog, but you certainly have permission at any time to do so! I have placed a badge on my sidebar alerting anyone who visits my blog of this permission. Please also read this blog post by Laura Candler to better understand why this badge is important.

Happy pinning!
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Day 1 With Discovery Education Techbook!

by Kim Collazo
I am very lucky to have supportive administration. After returning from this year's NC Science Education conference, I raved about Discovery Education's Science Techbook. My Superintendent of Curriculum, Dr Bryan, set up a demo meeting with their sales reps who made a great presentation. I was given permission to pilot the Techbook with my 1:1 5th graders for the remainder of the school year.

Well, today was our first day with our new "Science Book" (a huge understatement of what this product offers). We are currently involved in a unit on weather, so I chose a DE Techbook lesson (already set up with leveled reading materials, including an ebook, several short video clips, and links to glossary weather terms). The directions (already created) told my students to research the answers to three essential questions pertaining to weather systems using the materials list I have mentioned above. The list of materials of course included live links to everything (approx.10 items) they could choose to use.

[caption id="attachment_704" align="aligncenter" width="160" caption="Engaging list of materials from which to choose!"][/caption]

They went to work! They were watching video clips, reading short factual passages, and taking notes/drawing pictures in their science notebooks. The more I told them how impressed I was at their independent researching skills (while taking pictures, of course), the more engaged they became.

[caption id="attachment_703" align="aligncenter" width="160" caption="First day with the Discovery Ed Techbook."][/caption]

When the period came to an end, I asked them what they thought of the activity today. Overwhelmingly, comments were positive. Some mentioned enjoying having different materials to explore along with the choice of which ones to look at. Some mentioned how watching the video clips helped them picture what they later read in a short passage or one of the ebooks. They all asked when they'd be able to share what they learned because they were so excited about it! Now that is what gaining background knowledge should look like!

[caption id="attachment_705" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Into the Science Notebook!"][/caption]

Yes, we will go on to have several discussions, and yes, we will be working on some inquiry-based labs to support our learning, but what an exciting way to front-load the content!  Thank you Discovery Education Techbook and Dr. Bryan!!

Check out this slideshow of the kids experiencing their new "Science Book"
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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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I Think They Liked This Homework!

by Kim Collazo
Last Friday my kids took their test on Solving Equations and Inequalities. I was sooo proud of them, most only missed two inequality questions (graphing the solutions on a number line, they forgot to solve the inequality prior to graphing the solution). So today we went over those two problems together, and did a few more just for extra practice.

We then moved on to a topic that is not covered in our math book, but is a skill that will be measured on our end of grade assessments - Triple Venn Diagrams. After becoming familiar with the vocabulary associated with them by using this site, we practiced working with a few sets of data and the Triple Venn.

Since I don't have many materials to go along with these two topics, and we are a 1:1 netbook classroom, their math homework tonight was to see if they could locate any fun sites that would help us practice a bit more with Inequalities and Triple Venns. They were asked to send me any good links through Edmodo (we LOVE Edmodo!).

Here is one of the responses I received tonight from Cherokee:
Here are some good links!! And the Tic Tac Toe link is a good idea for a whole class thing!! The Venn Diagram Link has a print out so we could do that for practice !! I don't know if it's helpful. And there is another link for other venn diagrams. There's a link to where we can make our own venn diagrams!!

I don't know about you, but I don't usually get that kind of excitement when a worksheet is the homework (did you see all the exclamation points?).  I have been reading a lot of blog posts recently about the types of homework students should or shouldn't be given. It has made me really rethink what I am going to assign from now on. I particularly like the assignment they had tonight because in order for them to comment on whether it was a good site or not, they had to interact or play with it! So, in a sneaky way, they have probably done more math problems tonight than even my old teacher self would have ever assigned! Plus I have added all their sites to our math resource page HERE for future use!

Here are some of the ones they dug up tonight:

Wow! And just came across this great site full of hands-on triple Venn ideas, while looking for a Triple Venn photo!

[caption id="attachment_690" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Photo via Fuel the Brain"][/caption]
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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Teaching is Like Grocery Shopping

by Kim Collazo
I don't know about you but I tend to go to the grocery store on auto-pilot. I take my cart up and down the same aisles, grabbing the same products I ALWAYS buy, and go home and make the same 10 or 12 meals I ALWAYS make! I also automatically add the prices as I go, tuning everything and everyone out so I don't lose count and have that awkward moment at the register when it totals more than I have to spend!

Well yesterday my husband and I went grocery shopping. The thing that made it fun was that we had recently gotten our tax refund and decided to really "stock up"! (to the tune of $350!) We went down EVERY isle, looking at and choosing things we never usually treat ourselves to. I bought a new kind of shampoo and other fun hair products, snacks we never buy, deli meats that aren't on the SALE poster, and new blades for my razor (you know what I'm talking about ladies)!

So how did this remind me of teaching? Today was a rainy Sunday and tomorrow is a teacher workday, so I decided to treat myself to a day of Twitter, finding and subscribing to new and exciting blogs, and, thanks to my BFF, Danita Russell, I am also Pinterest's newest addict! I have learned so many new things and have great, refreshing ideas to incorporate into my upcoming lessons! I feel the February blahs fading!

Often I think, just like when we go grocery shopping, we get into teaching ruts. We teach the same ideas, in the same way, using the same tools. It is vital that we treat ourselves to new ideas, new organizational systems, and new educators to follow! So thank you to all you creative individuals who willingly share the cool things you are doing with your kids! Just like the refreshing smell of my new "grape seed and Shea butter" shampoo, you have refreshed my teaching, and I am grateful!
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Excited About BISKits!

by Kim Collazo
Earlier this year we were extremely lucky to receive a Bright Ideas grant from our local electric cooperative! The BISKits (Buddies In Science Kits) project will allow my kids to buddy with second graders, who also study weather concepts in science.

My kids will be recording themselves reading a weather picture book. The recording will be uploaded to our cool new hot pink iPod Shuffles so their buddies can listen to the book as they read along. They will also be designing several hands on activities to include in their kits. They will need to gather the materials and eventually will carryout the activities with their buddies. The culminating event will be when the BISKit buddies write their own weather books together using Tikatok! The grant will allow us to then purchase hard copies of the student-created books to add to the wonderful kits!

Today my kids got to explore the 20 new science picture books, and what a fun time they had! There were ideas "flying" across the room as they planned the coolest things for their little buddies! Things I would NEVER have dreamed of! 

My kids inspire me every day with their creativity, thoughtfulness, and dedication to cool learning! Put the tools in their hands and prepare to be amazed! Stay tuned......BISKits are coming!
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Common Core for 5th Grade in Lee County, NC

by Kim Collazo
Here is what is being presented to our county's 5th grade teachers.

  • Common Core assessments all new next year - new End of Grade Test based on CC and Essential Standards for next two years.  "Smarter Balance" designed by many states to assess Common Core in the 3rd year.

  • Measures of Student Learning - assessments that will be used at all non-EOG or EOC grades/classes. Think they'll have it ready by end of next year.

  • This year for 5th grade proposal from DPI to State Board - to be voted upon in March - affects 5th grade on up. EVAAS data will be used to determine whether or not a teacher has met expected growth with students. Look at students scores from 3rd and 4th grade reading and math EOG and the software makes a prediction for what they should do on the 5th grade test. This is the score that will affect the Standard 6 component on the new teacher evaluation. They will be using a 3 year average. Everyone else other than 5th grade teachers will have a school wide score that will come from your school's fifth grade scores for 3 years.

  • EVAAS reading and math scores are put together into one score for Standard 6. ??? Not sure if science is included or not.

  • Accountability Changes:  Have applied for a waiver in NC for NCLB restrictions, haven't heard back yet.

  • Shared draft Math pacing guide; want us to talk to our teachers back at school to see if pacing guides seem do-able.

  • Here is the Daily Schedule we "are to use":


30 minutes - Guided Reading

30 minutes - Independent Reading Practice

30 minutes - Writing/Grammar

*30 minutes - Spelling/Rosetta Stone

*30 minutes- Novels/Reading Plus/First in Math/Burst/Sight Words/Phonics

60 minutes - Math

40 minutes - Science/Social Studies

30 minutes - PE

30 minutes - Lunch

40 minutes - Specials

*20 minutes - 10 minutes in morning/10 minutes at end of day

*20 minutes - Breaks, Transitions, Changing Classes, Preparing for lunch

* There is flexibility with these items.

  • 30% of new reading test is grammar

  • Gave a draft pacing guide based on Reading Street basal

  • Writing across grade levels: 1st Quarter - Narrative; 2nd Quarter - Expository; 3rd Quarter - Expository Research; 4th Quarter- Opinion

  • Plan is to direct teachers to read specific novels at specific times; much less choice for teachers!

  • Worked on dividing up Essential Standards in Science by quarter.

  • We are being asked to develop lessons and materials to go along with a quarter focus in science and math by mid-March. Each school will be responsible for one part.


Oh my................ I have a headache!
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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Sites From Today's Surfing! (weekly)

by Kim Collazo

  • Think Share Teach: Splashtop

    Can't wait to use this awesome #iPad app at school tomorrow: Splashtop gives you remote access to other devices: http://t.co/dU0pXzJF

    tags: iPad

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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New Year's Resolutions That Will Make You Cry

by Kim Collazo

I asked my kids to begin their day today by blogging their thoughts to several prompts. First, they had to develop 5 resolutions for the coming year. Then they were to list 2 hopes, after we discussed the differences between hopes and resolutions, and finally describe their best and worst time in 2011.

Every time my kids blog I am reminded of what a powerful tool blogging is for teachers to get to know their students! I am continually amazed at what my students will share in writing that I would never hear come out of their mouths.

Equally powerful were the comments they left on each other's blog posts. Although kids can often be quite cruel to each other, they can also be heart-wrenchingly caring and compassionate.

Please check out their resolutions, hopes, and reflections on their blog posts, making sure you don't miss Shaquan's. It will break your heart. They would love to have comments if you have time.

Lessons for me today? One, resolve to allow more time for the kids to blog, comment, and reflect (and then be sure to read each and every one!). Two, never forget what is most important when working with children, and usually academics isn't it!

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New Year's Resolutions That Will Make You Cry

by Kim Collazo

I asked my kids to begin their day today by blogging their thoughts to several prompts. First, they had to develop 5 resolutions for the coming year. Then they were to list 2 hopes, after we discussed the differences between hopes and resolutions, and finally describe their best and worst time in 2011.

Every time my kids blog I am reminded of what a powerful tool blogging is for teachers to get to know their students! I am continually amazed at what my students will share in writing that I would never hear come out of their mouths.

Equally powerful were the comments they left on each other's blog posts. Although kids can often be quite cruel to each other, they can also be heart-wrenchingly caring and compassionate.

Please check out their resolutions, hopes, and reflections on their blog posts, making sure you don't miss Shaquan's. It will break your heart. They would love to have comments if you have time.

Lessons for me today? One, resolve to allow more time for the kids to blog, comment, and reflect (and then be sure to read each and every one!). Two, never forget what is most important when working with children, and usually academics isn't it!

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In This Together

by Kim Collazo
In This Together
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In This Together

by Kim Collazo
In This Together
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by Kim Collazo

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by Kim Collazo

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