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🕵️November C.I.A. Newsletter
🕵️November C.I.A. Newsletter
October Reflection
October Reflection
Check out that Ted Lasso quote. It's perfect for October! "Fairy tales do not start, nor do they end in the dark forest. That son of a gun always shows up smack-dab in the middle of a story. But it will all work out. Now, it may not work out how you think it will or how you hope it does, but believe me, it will all work out. Exactly as it’s supposed to. Our job is to have zero expectations and just let go." For those of you following the show, Season 2 definitely has a different vibe than Season 1 and this quote is from Season 2, Episode 5...smack dab in the dark forest. Sometimes were are smack dab in the middle of the "dark forest" of October, but I found this quote and the show a great reminder of the beauty of being in education--we don't always know how it is going to work out, but we get to see the magic of small victories with students all the time. Life doesn't always feel like a fairytale, but there IS MAGIC we can see every day.
Here are some wonderful "small victories" magic I noticed this month at BVMS!
Super cool stagecraft of classrooms to create immersive experiences for students.
Experiential exercises in social studies to bring history alive.
Engaging labs in science
6 Features (GRAPES) of Civilizations in 6th grade Social Studies
Supportive staff all pitching in to help each other in covering classes
Guidance counselors leading some cool SEL Lessons
Wonderful hard-working student teachers leading lessons and working on their craft
Teachers having fun with spirit week theme days like twin day, hat day, etc.
Students tracking their achievement in 8th grade science with the #FastandCurious Eduprotocol lesson frame and Gimkit
Teachers taking risks and trying new things related to the Teach Like a Pirate Book Study
AND SO MUCH MORE!
We just need to keep looking UP (Check out the video from Joe Sanfelippo and the connection to #TLAP below).
"The second way to change your state is to change what you focus on. You know the feeling of being completely exhausted, when it's all you can do to pry your eyes open and try to keep from nodding off for increasingly longer periods of time. What happens when you remember something critically important that you forgot to do, or the phone rings and someone delivers exciting news? Doesn't your state change within seconds?
...As a teacher, your days comprise enough positive and negative experiences to either make you feel energized and amazing or beat down and depressed. What you choose to attend to creates your reality.
...Make a conscious decision to focus on what empowers you."
(Burgess, 70)
OMG: something to save you time
OMG: something to save you time
Want support with these "look fors" in the District Continuous Improvement Plan? The SEL Committee shared a document of great "plug and play" ideas. I embedded those and other quick ideas onto THIS PAGE on my website. Feel free to grab what you need. Let me know how I can support you in this!
Resources to use with little/no prep & in any classroom
Resources to use with little/no prep & in any classroom
Changing subjects and/or grade levels yearly? Struggling to find the time to plan student-centered lessons? Want more research-based practices to be EASY to use and implement? Want to puzzle together a whole unit quickly?
To the left is ONE Eduprotocol, The Cyber Sandwich, that is explained. Eduprotocols sound fancy and hard to understand. But what they are are SUPER EASY plug and play "Lesson Frames" that work for any content.
This sells it best for me when thinking about BVMS and other small schools. "Teaching with Eduprotocols makes your career easier and portable. Moved to 6th grade this year? Use the Iron Chef Eduprotocol to teach Greek civilization. Another move to 5th grade next year? Use Iron Chef to teach 13 colonies...If you are a high school teacher...with five different classes this year, reduce your prep and use the same Eduprotocols in all your classes, with different content for each." (Hebern & Corippo, 7) These are REAL teachers, not consultant authors--and they will literally chat with you at any time FOR FREE.
Getting to know GImkit
Getting to know GImkit
Gimkit is a student-engagement tool that is easy to use, adapt, and grab data from. It has been described as "Kahoot on Steroids" and I agree! It was designed by a high school student to be the review game that he wanted. It feels fresh and new modes are added all the time. Some BVMS teachers are using it to try and Eduprotocol called the Fast and the Curious, where they take Do you want to learn more about Gimkit? Check out this Presentation for a Self-Paced deep dive in to this tool. Want Gimkit and don't have it? Check in with me.
Peardeck Flashcard factory
Peardeck Flashcard factory
I talk about this in the Gimkit PD linked above, but this is SUPER SIMPLE to use when you need a lesson and a way to get your students engaged with vocabulary.
Social Media Templates for Creative student Assessments
Social Media Templates for Creative student Assessments
NOtable on Twitter this month... take a look 👀
NOtable on Twitter this month... take a look 👀
Twitter as on-Demand PD
Twitter as on-Demand PD
My Twitter story started with, "This is not for me. Only 'look at me' teachers post there." My previous district was one that was extremely pro-social media presence. I was told, "Twitter is your gametape. It shows people who you are." They wanted teachers Tweeting with district specialized hashtags (and I really didn't understand how those worked at first). But that still didn't do much to change my point of view--and to be honest, seeing only certain people or subject areas celebrated online kinda bothered me too. I wrestled with the dilemma of were the things I and my peers were sharing were really the best educational practice or were they just SHOWY? Ok, then Covid-19 happened. Schools went remote and I couldn't just walk down the hall to get ideas from peers. And after a spring of remote learning, I took on the challenge of collaborating with a team of teachers to build and run a fully virtual school-within-a-school for the 2020-21 school year. Add to that living 2 hours away from the rest of the staff and Twitter became a lifeline to other teachers in the same boat. Even if you just dabble with "stalking" some of the teachers listed in the spreadsheet to the right, see what you find! You might be surprised! I put certain people on notification and use Twitter like a search engine searching a teacher's handle and a topic to find what they have tried, shared, or asked.
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