SCRATCH

Christmas and New Year's break did not go exactly as planned.  The way the holidays fell this year made the break feel like there were few non-holiday/weekend days to make appointments and get work done around the house.  My husband and I reconnected with some friends and our families over break as well.  Unfortunately we received heart breaking news on New Year's Day.  We were asked to come and say good bye to a very close friend that had recently suffered some complications from his cancer.  On January 6th he passed away quietly while surrounded by friends and family.  This has been a very difficult time for Eric and I.  We were delayed in our return to school and are just now readjusting to our school routine.

Now that I am starting to settle back into my school routine, I felt I needed to blog about my latest STEM project - SCRATCH!  My students have spent the last five days participating in mini-lessons that exposed them to how the different Scratch blocks work together to control a sprite.  I used many of the lessons and instructional videos found on Redware's Scratch website.  (There was one video missing and it was the video on importing sounds and graphics, but I found it on YouTube!)  We started with a brief vocabulary activity and then the video on creating sprites.  I gave the students five points for each day they completed the daily goal.  (Basically recreating the code from the instructional video.)  On the second day the students watched the video on turtle graphics and programmed their sprite to draw a shape or design.  Following turtle graphics the students completed importing sounds and graphics one day, sensing another, and then broadcasting last.  When I asked the students how helpful the mini-lessons were they told me very because it showed them what some of the blocks meant.  Most of my students met their goal just minutes after I told them to begin and then would spend the rest of the class period experimenting with the other blocks of code.  The kids are REALLY enjoying all of the freedom with this unit.

If you haven't checked Scratch out yet, you HAVE to download this free program developed by MIT to play with.  It would make a FANTASTIC middle school club.  More on Scratch to come!

Teacher Binder FINISHED!

I have FINALLY finished creating and tweaking my Teacher Binder!  Next year I may change things up a bit, but for now this works perfectly for me!

I started with a 3" white binder, 2 packs of colored plastic dividers, and a handful of page protectors.  Then I downloaded some free binder covers from Teachers Pay Teachers to use for sections in my binder.  (Sorry, I don't have the link and when I went back to look for them I could not find them.)

In the front of my binder I have a pencil case with my data highlighters, pens, pencils, flags, and extra Post-It notes.  Behind the pencil case is a hole puncher for papers passed out at meetings that I would like to save or have to save.  Then I put standard forms that I use on a daily basis in page protectors in front of my other binder sections.  These forms include copying and laminating request forms, day-off request forms, behavior referral forms, and so on. 

Next, I have a section for meeting notes.  Immediately behind this page protector is a spiral notebook for note taking and then five dividers for papers distributed during meetings.  I have a divider for faculty meetings, department meetings, team meetings, technology meetings, and our union meetings. 

Following the meeting note section is a section for parent communication and eight dividers.  the first divider is for my parent communication chart where I document all phone and most email conversations I have with parents.  This is a really good habit to have in case there is a problem later with the student.  After my communication chart I have a tab for each of the classes I teach and my study hall.  In each section I have a class list with parent names and phone numbers for easy access when I need to call home.  These charts were generated through PowerSchool, but you can make your own or have the students fill out an information sheet. 

Using the left over three tabs from my meeting note section, I have divided my student information section into three sections - gifted, learning support, and music.  (The music department sends out a lot of class lists and lesson schedules.)

My last section is for Assessments and Data.  In this section I have documentation from my data conferences with administration, PVASS reports, PSSA scores, and MAP data.  I also have this years additions to the guidelines for administering the PSSA (Pennsylvania Standardized State Assessment.) the back of my binder has a few extra pocket protectors just in case there are additional forms I want to keep at my fingertips. 

Please share your ideas for your teacher binder and how you have yours organized for ease of use.  I am always looking for ways to make my life easier!  Hopefully this has given you some ideas for your own teacher binder.

New TpT Unit - Green Building!

I have posted my third item to my Teachers Pay Teachers store!  This unit is my STEM: Green Building Unit that I created back in September/October.  The kids loved it, so I decided to clean it up a bit and post it for FREE!  I think I am settled on just keeping everything in my store free.  This unit encompasses A LOT!  My administration advised me that my STEM course is suppose to be "a class of appetizers," meaning I am to introduce ideas and concepts but not dwell on them or expect mastery.  I am slowly adjusting to this idea and I think that this unit is a great "appetizer" for transfer of heat, green building, environmental studies, and sustainable living.  Please download this FREE unit and rate it in my TpT store.  If you have any resources that you think would be helpful to me when I teach this unit in the spring, please comment below!  I am always looking for new games and activities for me and my students.

K'NEX Classroom Challenge & eCYBERMISSION

Bring it on!

Despite being an already overwhelmed teacher due to my new position, I have decided to participate in TWO different STEM challenges with my students after school and during our anchor (study hall) period.  (My husband thinks I am officially crazy.)

K'NEX Classroom Challenge
For this challenge students in grades 7-9 will construct an athletic stadium model for the 2016 Olympic games in Brazil.  Since I am limited in the number of K'NEX pieces I have in my classroom, I made up an application and asked interested students to complete it and return it to me before the thanksgiving break.  (K'NEX Application)  I will be meeting with my team on Friday to register and work out any scheduling conflicts!  I am excited to continue to post about my team's progress.

eCYBERMISSION
This FREE challenge is available to all students and sponsored by the Army.  For my grade level, students select a community problem that falls into one of the seven different categories listed on their site (Clean Energy, Fitness & Health, Robotics, etc.).  Students work in groups of three or four to develop a process for approaching their problem to find a solution.  Students are judged on the steps they take to find a solution, not on whether or not a solution is actually found or implemented.  For each team a teacher registers, he/she gets a free STEM research kit!  I currently have two teams and I am excited to meet with these students on Monday to get them started!!!

I am super pumped to get to work with these students!  I have heard of a lot of different STEM challenges lately for students, but these two stood out as the most interesting and easy to manage (for me!) I urge you to check them out and take advantage of these opportunities!!!

I DID IT!

I posted my first item in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!  Please check out my Inventions & Innovations Unit and download it now for FREE!  Please post feedback either in my store or on my blog after reviewing my unit!  Have a fabulous holiday and make sure you watch my store for more goodies!  (I have a feeling I will have most things for free or at the most $1.00!)

Opening a Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Happy (Early) Thanksgiving!!!

I know I am a few days early, but I doubt with all of the holiday hustle and bustle I will be able to find time to post.

As I comb through the lessons, activities, games, and resources I have created over the last two months for my STEM class I began wondering if there would be value to opening a TPT store.  I rarely find resources I can use anymore on TPT since I teach such a unique class.  With this said, I have created a number of thematic units that encompass science, technology, engineering, and math that other teachers can use.  Does anyone have any experience with TPT?  What I can sell and is it worth the time?  Should I use Teachers Notebook - a site that does not take a percentage of my sales?  Can I post on both?  Please post any information you might have on how to open a TPT store.  Have a lovely Thanksgiving!!!

What does a STEM classroom look like?

As I complete my budget request for the 2012 - 2013 school year, I am thinking...

What does a STEM classroom look like?  What does it have in it?

We all know what we would find if we walked into a literacy room.  Comfortable places to read, visual reading cues for students and an overflowing library.  You would see literacy journals and notebooks as well as examples of paired books.  There would also be obvious evidence of guided reading and possibly Cafe.

In a math classroom (which I use to have) you would see my colorful bins of math manipulatives, a library with math fiction and non-fiction books, and calculators.  I had containers of general school supplies as well.  Reference charts and helpful information filled my walls.

But STEM?

What should that look like?

Well, starting with the units I currently plan on teaching (more to come) - money management, Rubik's cube, renewable energy (wind), green building, and restaurant design and management - I should have the supplies for those units.  So, I have my K'NEX kits organized in Ziploc bags stored in their plastic bins, general classroom supplies for building projects tucked neatly away in drawers, and my Rubik's cubes in colorful bins.  But what is next?  In order for an inquiry approach to learning work, I need my classroom to promote open-ended exploration.  Enter... THE STEM LIBRARY!  Scholastic and Delta Education (Green Collars and Mechanical Engineering) offer some great STEM library starter kits.  Continuing down this road, I decided an additional K'NEX kit may be the way to go.  The Discover Controls K'NEX Education kit offers students the opportunity to play around with computer programming - something I am very familiar with!  But will this be too much in the way of K'NEX?  I do not want a K'NEX curriculum.  So off to Amazon (my favorite place to shop and search for goodies)!  I found a number of Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Force and Motion, etc. kits for sale, but are they meant for repeated use in the classroom?  Will they survive the kids and me?  Most of what I teach is computer based, so in addition to wanting a few laptops I am at a loss of what else would create a true STEM environment...unless that is what I am already doing?

Please post comments, suggestions, and links to resources that you have found helpful when teaching STEM (or any of the four subjects individually.)