Bulletin Board Blast from the Past

 

This was an assignment I did last year for President's day. We just finished a unit about the three branches of government and created projects. This was a creative writing assignment that followed the prompt: "If I were president, I would...". They had to include the word tax, civil service, and freedom. The students did phenomenal!

 

I created this board for the first day of school. The students had jerseys with their name on it. We talked about working as a team.

Yay! I love Dr. Seuss day. Each team had to choose a book and decorate their hallway. We read the book and each student traced their feet. Once they traced their feet, they estimated how long the hallway was using their cut outs. We put the amount of 2nd grade feet vs the actual standard measurement. The kids loved to see their feet on the wall!

 

Each grade level chose Christmas in a different culture. We talked about Sinter Klaus and created a craft to go with it during a family night. The boat is 3D and so is the water. It was a ton of fun to draw out :)

 

 

Adapted Mind Review

I have been using a program called adapted mind for about a month now. It is absolutely fantastic!

 

This program allows you to have students practice at their level, learn from videos, and track their progress.

 

 

It starts with creating a roster. Once you have done that it gives you their username and password. They can sign in and take a pretest that will track what they are ready to practice.

After their pretest is over, it sends the teacher their strengths and weaknesses based off of CC standards. The students then begin their lessons online. There are only fill in the blank answers to ensure that they cannot not guess correctly. If the student gets the question wrong, it shows them a video on how to successfully complete the problem.

 

Also, for every milestone they complete, they receive "badges" with animals and awards. The students love collecting these.

 

 

 

What about practice outside of the computer?

With every standard it has premade lessons and homework sheets.

The website also makes premade letters to parents so the students can practice at home and parents can monitor their progress as well.

 

 

 

At the end of the day, the website emails you exactly how many problems were completed, how many were correct, and an option to check the ones that are incorrect.

 

Overall, this website is teacher/student/parent friendly and actively engaging for students.

Stations

One word, STATIONS.

I have to say, I hated workstations with my whole being. I assumed workstations were for lazy teachers who did not want to plan full lessons and teach. Boy was I wrong. My entire life has changed now that I have implemented workstations into my classroom. My students are progressing farther than I could have imagined in such a short amount of time. I am able to keep things fun, pull small groups, and have students master curriculum through repeated practice. I would recommend workstations to anyone and everyone.

How did I set them up?

I was never taught how to do centers or workstations in college because we focused on 100% direct instruction. This was done all by trial and error. If I can do it, anyone can.

First, I set my goal. I wanted to complete all CC math standards and have each student master them.

Set up:

- Create a poster of all standards in student friendly language so they can understand what is expected.

- Mark bins according to each standard.

- Create a leveled board for students to keep track of their progress.

-Put workstations in baggies so that they can fit in your bins.
-Create a lost and found area for missing workstation pieces.

-Create student folders
       -Insert a goal sheet with all standards so that they may check off what has been mastered.

       -Insert a stamp sheet for behavior purposes.

-Create a "Test In" area filled with mini tests. After you pull them in small group, you can ask them to fill out a test in order to test into a new workstation.

Steps:

One: Have students choose a standard that they have mastered (one that has a check) and dismiss them to that workstation. You want them to work at a station that they have mastered to ensure that they are not practicing with mistakes. That can build bad habits.

Two: Pull your "at risk" students first. I work with them for 40 minutes a day. These are the students that have not mastered any CC standards.

Three: Set a timer for 15 minutes. The students at stations should actively work and show work the entire time.

Four: Once the timer switches, have students skip count as they clean up in order to monitor behavior, side conversations, and further practice.

Five: Pull the next small group after 40 min. Pull the next group for 20 minutes and base it off of a standard. (Ex: T= "Students, if you have not passed NBT2, meet me in small group")

**Have students keep completed work in their folders. They must also keep a record of their progress**

Six: Have students go to their desks and show you their station work for the day. If the teacher feels it is adequate and their behavior was good, give a stamp.