Keeping Your Students Engaged While Learning at Home

Since technology integration is one of my passions, I have been busy since last week creating screencasts with some of the tools that could be helpful. (I have been using Screencastify and it has been working out great for me.) I have been sharing them out, however, I thought perhaps I would consolidate them and share them on my blog (a blog I haven't updated in awhile!)

Flipgrid and See Saw

Breakout Edu

Formative Assessment with Google Slides

Google Applied Digital Skills

Fun with Formative Assessments

I was supposed to present "Fun with Formative Assessments" at the MACUL Conference on Friday, but it was canceled.  Instead, I created a screencast of my presentation. 

If I create more, I will be sure to share them out! 

Good luck, stay safe, and enjoy this adventure and challenge in our lives! We've got this! #BetterTogether!

Cheers!

Jennifer

Let's Get Physical with Computing

Physical Computing

I have finished my first week as a middle school Design Technology teacher, and I have so many ideas flying through my head, as far as projects that we can accomplish this semester.  One of the things I am most excited about is exposing the students to physical computing.  This is a term many people are unaware of, so I think it would be beneficial to give you a peek at what it means and how my third graders participated in physical computing projects.  Check out the site I created by clicking here.

A STEAM Powered Week!

I haven't created a post on this blog all year, and this week in the EduMatch Voxer group, I pledged that I would create a post this weekend.  So keeping true to my pledge, I had to spend a bit of time to think about what I was going to blog about.  I have several things that have been on my mind to blog about...computational thinking, MakerEd and Passion Time, the Positivity Project, my first full year using See Saw, etc.  However, then I really started to reflect on the entire week, and I realized it was very STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) infused!  So, for my first post of the school year...I am going to highlight the fun we had with STEAM this week at Glengary Elementary!

Next Generation Science Standards FOSS Kit: Motion and Matter
      This is the first year our district adopted the new NGSS Science Kits from FOSS.  I have to say, I have been really impressed with the upgrade and the quality of each of the kits we have had this year.  Our final kit has not disappointed!  Last week we engineered spinning tops and collected data on different variables tested. In addition, we created collaborative table art with the Doodle Tops.  This week we continued with the engineering practices with cart designs.  The students learned about criterion and constraints as they created a cart that could move from here to there. It was super awesome to see the unique ways students used the materials given and experience their problem solving and teamwork.

The Glengary Marimba, Drum, and Dance Group
      We are so incredibly blessed to have Mrs. Colwell lead our music programs at Glengary. She has created one of the only elementary based marimba groups in our state, and she is really giving our 4th and 5th graders such great exposure to percussion skills and diverse music experiences.  She was even able to get her husband to make several of the marimbas they use, which is amazing! During our Family STEAM Night they both opened up the music room and allowed families to play the marimbas and learn how they are engineered to make the sound they do! 

These girls love playing the giant marimba...I am not going to lie...so did I!










The Upcycled Challenge

This student used the packaging from a toy to create a puppet stage and made sock puppets to be the actors. So fun!!

       Typically on Fridays my class has the opportunity to explore their interests during Passion Time.  The theme of the past 2 Fridays has centralized around Earth Day, and I have encouraged the kids to create something upcycled. We had a 1/2 day on Friday, so I chose to dedicate the entire morning to upcycled fun!  Students created pillows after reusing stuffed animal materials and old clothes, while others created games. Interestingly, there were a lot of pretend play creations involving puppets!  Our central administration staff came through my room on a visit, and our superintendent gave the best complement of all..."This is what good instruction looks like!"  Yes, it is great when you give the control over to the students to be able to create, learn, and grow!

Glengary Family STEAM Night

Grid Art Collaboration!

       The week ended with a family evening event at our school.  I was part of the committee to put it on, and it was an awesome, awesome night!  We had stations all over our school involving robotics, art, medical science, engineering, chemistry, and more!  One of the more popular rooms was the BreakOut EDU room, which was a first at Glengary!  Families had so much fun completing the challenges, learning the science behind things, and experiencing learning together.  That is probably what stood out to me most was the joy families had with each other while going from station to station.  Check out the some of the photos below!

Engineering with Zoobs!

Marshmallow Pulse Activity

Fun with Snap Circuits!

The Walled Lake Robotics Team Shared Their Creations!

Grateful for the Support on My 3 Day Journey!

I could not have made it through the 3 Day experience on my own.  The support from others made it possible.  First, my husband was in my head constantly.  He had talked to me throughout training and assured me I was going to be tough enough.  The support of my kiddos was great too, and I loved seeing them at one of the cheering stations complete with signs! In addition, my parents even made it out to the family night at camp! In fact, I think my mom is even going to give it a shot next year with the 20 mile walk!

What helped a ton was this text that my husband sent:

"Pain goes away but the feeling of accomplishment will be felt forever!"

It was very much needed, as I had a lot of pain, but was looking forward to the accomplishment!  In fact, I often visualized the pride I would feel crossing the finish...which (each time) brought tears to my eyes throughout the walk. Thanks Brandon for being my #1 supporter!!

From start to finish, there were people cheering, giving high fives, and dancing for us.  There were people at every point offering snacks, sunscreen, tissue paper, popsicles, much needed ibuprofen, and a slew of other appreciated treats! People honked their horns and waved or yelled out words of encouragement. There were pit stops and grab and gos along the route which gave us something to look forward to.  The police on the route, as well as the intersection motorcycle helpers were awesome.  They played music, cheered us on, and even thanked us for our efforts.  All of this support and the people throughout the routes made it worth it!  

Here are some of my favorite supporter memories from the Michigan 2017 3 Day Walk:

To kick off our walk in Walled Lake, Sheri, a friend of some of our teammates, gave each of us a Starbucks gift card for the walk!  We enjoyed using it while walking through downtown Northville!  Thanks Sheri!

Then another friend of 2 of our teammates became our #1 Fan of the day!  Erica traveled with us all over Walled Lake and Novi, with her younger son in tow.  She cheered, honked her horn continuously, and even serenaded us with inspirational songs nearly the whole morning. It made us smile and giggle each time she popped up...but mostly it made us feel encouraged!  Thanks Erica!

She shared the road with some other important vehicles...the sweeper vans!  They were essential as well, as each van was thematically decorated and constantly honked, cheered, and even cow belled! They were also there to check on us to make sure  we were OK, remind us to drink water, and be there if anyone needed a ride!  

Another way we felt encouraged was through music, and dancing became a nice way to break up the walking or distract us from the pain and/or exhaustion. There were several women along the route playing awesome music and dancing.  Music kept me motivated, especially when we danced through intersections with the motorcycle helpers.  It made it more fun to wait for the lights to change or give us a beat to stretch to!  

I appreciated the trail angels!  One guy, that I called The Medicine Man, had a table stocked with all essential items including ibuprofen and tylenol in small condiment containers, sunscreen, GasX, Tums, blister bandaids, tampons, and so much more.  He placed himself at about 4 stops each day, and he was such a welcome sight!  We chatted with him each time!  My fellow teammate Amanda struggled with blisters from day 1, and he was sooooo proud of her at the end.  He came up to her and gave her a huge hug, as he really didn’t expect to see her finish all 60 miles.  We so appreciated his gifts...including an ice cold one on the final day of the walk!  

In addition to him, there were people along the route offerenting water, snacks, candy, bathrooms, and even some extra special adult treats! The best was a Dearborn neighborhood that went ALL OUT! We were in awe of how they came together to show their support and have fun!  Boy did it help!  

The people coming out to support us from family to friends and the 3 Day Staff to strangers, made it possible for me to walk all 60 miles...even when the pain seemed unbearable.  They were able to make me smile and make it worth doing.

Finally a huge thank-you to my teammates “The Girls” for encouraging me, telling me they were proud of me, and sometimes being more patient and waiting. It was so awesome to truly feel like a team throughout the 3 Day journey!  I enjoyed getting to know them better and share this wonderful experience with them!

Thanks for reading! I have one more entry to publish reflecting on the internal strength needed and gained from my 3 day journey! Stay tuned!

Reflections From My 3 Day Walk Experience...Part 1

Over the last 3 years, I have had 3 of my childhood friends diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.  

When I went to get my first mammogram last year at age 40, the technician told me jokingly I should get new friends, as we are out of the range of normal occurrences. Since my friendships aren’t going anywhere, I knew we had to tune a bit more into this awful cancer. One of my friends Katie, diagnosed last October, decided she would like to do the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk this year.  I decided that it would be the least I could do, so I registered to walk.

Not being a person who formally exercises, I was a bit nervous for the daunting 60 miles! I began training here and there during the spring months, and kicked it up a bit once the school year came to an end. My fundraising proved to also be a bit daunting, but I received a lot of donations when my friend Laura was unable to walk and transferred her donations to my account.  Without this, I probably would not have been able to raise the $2300 needed.  In addition to her funds, I had many supportive friends, family, and colleagues that also donated.  

It has now been 10 days since closing ceremonies, and I still keep finding myself going back into the pink bubble of the 3 Day, so I decided to share some of my biggest takeaways from my rookie experience at the Michigan Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk!

There are a TON of Committed 3 Day Walkers

George was a super star walker!

At opening ceremonies you are given a special lanyard if you are a first time walker. In addition, you get a special button that says, this is my FIRST walk! If you are not a first time walker, you can fill in the number of walks you have been on.  One of the first people I met had on a button that said it was his 50th walk!  I was shocked!  He told me that he walked all 14 walks in 2011. I thought he was a rarity, but as I walked and talked, I met several people that do multiple walks each year. In fact, I know some of the walkers I met along the route are gearing up for another walk this weekend in the Twin Cities. (Note...my feet still aren’t back to normal.  I couldn’t even imagine doing it all over again!)  I am so inspired by their commitment to the Susan G. Komen organization. In fact, Jim Hillmann, the man I met at opening ceremonies, actually was awarded a milestone award at camp celebrating his 50th walk!   And then there’s a man named George Nummer who is an 85 year-old celebrity walker!  Check out a local news story featuring him here.

So Proud to be a Walled Lake Educator

When I learned that the opening ceremonies were going to be at Walled Lake Western, I was excited that the school district that I worked in would be a part of my 3 Day experience!  In addition, my fellow teammate’s husband is the principal there!  After we left WLW after the opening ceremonies, we were able to pass our administration building, which had many people outside cheering, offering candy and water, as well as the WLW cheerleaders!  We were able to have one of our pit stops at Meadowbrook Elementary too!  

But the coolest thing by far was coming back to camp on Friday night and getting high fives from Walled Lake Northern football players...even some that I had when they were third graders at Glengary Elementary.  But wait...it gets better!  They carried our bags to our tent, helped set up our tent, and even carried our plates to the table at dinner!  It was soooo wonderful! The next night the Walled Lake Central football players joined in on the fun!  I truly enjoyed it so much and immediately shared thank-you emails to the coaches, principals, and our superintendent, as these young men were very well-mannered and handled themselves with the utmost respect.  They were very appreciated by the 3 Day walkers and staff, and I was very proud to say to others, “I am a teacher in Walled Lake!  Some of those boys were my 3rd graders!”

There are so many things that I learned about myself and this experience...too much for just one blog entry. Stay tuned shortly for Part 2 of my blog series on Reflections of the Michigan 3 Day focusing on the support I received from others!

Seeing Brighton in a Different Way

All summer I have been training for the Susan G. Komen Michigan 3 Day Walk which just commenced yesterday!  Walking a total of 60 miles throughout towns including Walled Lake, Novi, Northville, Plymouth, Livonia, and Dearborn, I had to spend much of my summer prepping for the the walk.  Living out in Hamburg Township, I had a lot of great roads to train on for the shorter miles, but as I got into longer walks, I decided it would be best to have access to public restrooms.  Therefore, in July I began using Brighton for my training walks. While walking, I spotted many things I have never noticed before.  There are streets that I have drove down hundreds of times in the 15 years I have lived here, and yet, it was like I was seeing things for the first time.  It showed me the importance and the joy of slowing down and taking sights in!  

As Brighton is gearing up to celebrate its 150th Birthday this Sunday, I thought it would be neat to show you some of the things I found neat during my walks!

Learning About and Celebrating Brighton’s Past

To help celebrate the 150th Birthday, there are images of some of interesting people from back in the day, and each one includes information about the person!  It has been so cool learning about them as I walked around around town.

The Taste of Brighton

I was able to stroll down Main St. before the Taste of Brighton opened up, and I got to see all the hard work that went into making it such a wonderful event for our community!  I also walked through the streets when the festival was in high gear.  It motivated me to have a date night with my husband there later on that evening!

The Brighton Farmer’s Market

I sing in the worship band at Brighton First United Methodist, and I tracked down one of our band members (who is heading into his senior year at BHS) at the Farmer’s Market.  It was such a treat to see his talents shared with the folks shopping from tent to tent!  Great job Parker!

The Charles and Albert Parker Families Nature Preserve

On this particular day, I started and finished my walk in the Target parking lot.  On my way back down Charles H Orndorf Dr., I noticed the sign below.  I was so curious about it, as I had never noticed it before.  The sign states that you need to authorization to enter, so I followed the rules and just peeked in.  However, upon extra research on the web, I found out it is open to the public and owned by the Brighton Library! My husband and I took the trail on one of my last training walks, but I wasn’t able to go all the way through, as I didn’t want to get my shoes mucky in the marsh. Maybe next time!

Mill Pond Manor

In the past couple of years, Brighton First United Methodist has adopted the residents of Mill Pond Manor apartments.  For the life of me, I never really knew where it was.  I kept thinking about apartments right near the Imagination Station or somewhere in that main area and never could quite picture it.  I am embarrassed to say, it took me walking down 2nd St. several times to make the connection that it was there!  On the walks previous, I was always noticing how much property Corrigan Oil had and also how they have expanded into other areas of expertise outside of the propane world. When I finally went on the opposite side of the street, I noticed a cute gazebo, and only then did I notice the sign saying Mill Pond Manor Apartments. Glad I know where it is now!!

Brighton State Recreation Area’s Penosha Trail

My family and I took a hike at the Brighton State Rec Area’s Penosha Trail on 4th of July weekend.  The Penosha Trail is around 5 or 6 miles, so it makes a great 2-3 hour hike!  We were able to stop at Bishop Lake and check out the new Jump Island.  Along the trail we enjoyed looking at the wildflowers, and my kids enjoyed finding a lean house!

Though my 3 Day training has come to an end, I still hope to keep up my explorations of Brighton.  We have a wonderful community, and I look forward to finding other treasures along the way! Happy 150th Birthday Brighton!  Thanks for being a big part of my #Mi3Day journey!

Embracing and Integrating Fidget Spinners in the Classroom

The fidget spinner craze has entered my classroom and my home, and I imagine, based on the ads and Facebook shares, they have also entered your world too!  I have heard from parents and teachers that many of them have been taken away and most people are annoyed with it.  I’m here to offer a few suggestions to embrace this craze and integrate it with learning!

Spinner Scientific Investigations

I encouraged all of my kids to bring them into our classroom this week and create an investigation to study some aspect of the fidget spinners. Kids were collecting data before and after adding lubrication, measuring the mass of the spinners, coordinating the timing of spinner, and really digging deeper with how these spinners work. One of the things I have to grade on report cards is that kids understand the scientific process. This gave them a great opportunity to carry out an investigation all on their own...and they were motivated! (We will continue our investigations and share our conclusions next week! I'll post them here!)

Spinning and Math Facts

Skip count by a certain number and see how high you can get before it stops spinning. Since my students need to have their multiplication facts memorized by the end of the year, skip counting is a skill they can all use to practice.

Creating Spinners on Your Own

My cousin 3-D printed a spinner for my own kids in January, and then one of my students made one in his garage just cutting and sanding heavy plastic. This led to him thinking of other ways to create them, and he even used an old toy to recreate it into a spinner. After that, I got excited and bought a bunch of bearings for my students to create their own. Even with a bit of hot glue, you can make things work.

My son made this by hot gluing pennies together and then gluing them to the bearing. 

Eye Hand Coordination and Perseverance

Kids are spinning them on their fingers and throwing them up in the air to catch them while spinning over and over. Not only does it develop patience and perseverance, but it also helps with coordination! (Just make sure they have a safe distance around them for flying spinners.)

Update...and my kids have just shared with me that they are also good to spin on other body parts. Here is my daughter sharing her nose balancing skills!