Nature Appreciation and STEM Success

Helllloooo from beautiful Michigan! We finally got the nice weather we have been waiting for deserving (it snowed last week). I have had an amazing past few days. I just got back from an amazing weekend in Chicago. Family from all over, some of whom I have not seen in over three years, reunited in the windy city for my cousins beautiful wedding. If there is one thing I absolutely love and cannot get enough of, it is seeing my family happy together. So after this weekend, I figured coming back to school on Monday would be tough--but it was a great day! 81 degrees and fun with my kids and then a trip to Lake Michigan my co-worker/roomie. It could snow tomorrow so here in Michigan we take advantage of these gorgeous days. And who says you can't go to the beach on a Monday? I might make this a thing. 

Anyway---I have a tech tip of the week coming to you later this week. The good news is I have two amazing things happening in my room to share with you!

1.) Nature Appreciation...isn't that neat?! Ok if you don't get that reference you have to watch this video (before you watch just know it will be 2 minutes and 46 seconds you will never get back...can't said I didn't warn you!). 

Some incredible teachers at our school wrote a grant to develop an outdoor nature program for our kids. It is SO awesome. Shout out to Debbie and Julie who set everything up and spend an hour each day with a class outside. They are giving our little guys an opportunity most kids do not get these days. A lot of students attending our school do not have yards or woods to play in. So, they cleared an area behind the school that kids get to explore and observe nature in. They also get to (this one is my favorite parts) build forts...with sticks...! One more reference that is hilarious and totally applicable for this situation. This video is way better than the one I posted about nature...

We have had two classes so far with these amazing educators and the kids just love their time with them outside. I get to sit back and watch students journal on a tree stump about their surroundings, watch students listening for birds and bugs, watch boys and girls working together to build a teeter-totter or a bench made completely out of things they found in the woods, and watch students bonding, laughing and having fun together. Check out some awesome pictures below, and a tweet from Julie that melted my heart.

As Debbie put it, you can take the teeter totter out of the parks, but you can't the teeter totter out of the kids! 

The boys made this bench all on their own!

Proud bench makers.

                      

2.) STEM Success I am implementing STEM time in my room this year and the kids and myself are loving it so far. With Brooke Brown's STEM challenges, we are able to do different 3 different STEM challenges each month! It's very little prep and a little spending on the teachers part (but so worth it!). I can repurpose materials and find items needed around my room most of the time. When I think about where my students began with our STEM challenges compared to where they are now, I feel so proud. The first STEM challenge was SO tough...the kids just sat there at first. How do I do it? Can you help me Miss Stasiak? I don't know how to. Notice how there are a lot of "I" and "me" going on in those questions and statements. 

I kept telling them they were working in a group for a reason and I was not going to help them or show them how to do anything. Failure is learning. Be patient. Be persistent. None of that is happening in my room during STEM challenges now. Can I show you guys my idea? That's a good plan. We didn't think of that! We did it! Miss Stasiak look at what we did!! 

Besides the fact that I know my kids LOVE the STEM challenges AND that they're using their science/technology/engineering/math brains, my favorite thing about these challenges is that they are learning valuable, critical life skills. Communicating and working with others, trial and error, persistence, patience, problem solving...the list goes on and on! Not convinced yet? They're also using their imagination to get creative to solve their problems. Check out our most recent STEM challenge: Egg Drop!

Step 1: Planning. Before we start constructing, we take some time to list what materials we need and to draw a blueprint of whatever structure we plan to build that day. They have to agree to a plan as a team.

      

Step 2: Gather materials and construct. Anything and everything happens during this time. I set a time limit based on how difficult the task is. They can use the entire time to work, or finish quickly and wait for the other teams to finish! It is totally up to them :) 

      

Step 3: Feel every emotion waiting to test the final product. We circle around the group testing their structure to ask questions about their idea, watch the test and cheer no matter what the outcome! 

   

Step 4: Celebrate and reflect! We congratulate every group on their hard work and then go back to our STEM packets to reflect on how we thought the test went. Did it go as planned? What would we do differently? Then they rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to take the creation home :) 

Those smiles :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week full of sunshine and warm weather :) I have some fun Earth Day activities that I can't wait to post at the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Happy teaching!

It's April WHAT?!

Are we really half way through April already?! Ay yi yi!!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing spring break! I was able to go to Vegas for a few days with some of my college girlfriends and then spend the rest of the time with family. It was...perfect :) I spent ten days away from my classroom and did zero work...we need these breaks and so do our kids. I believe I am a better teacher when I fully commit to a break from school--I come back feeling so refreshed and ready to have some fun with my class. It's all about the relationships and those relationships cannot thrive with a clouded mind. Take a few extra hours to prep before the break and enjoy yourself :)

Tech Tip of the Week

To add to my list of favorite apps and activities for word work--I introduce to you, Popplet! Popplet is  a graphic organizer accessible via the web and the app store (free and paid versions). My students are pros using this app on the iPad. I set aside roughly 20 minutes at the beginning of the year to walk them through how to use it and my expectations. We use the free version (the free version does not allow you to save anything) so I have trained them to add their name to the Popplet and then screen shot it when they are done (accountability and check for understanding!). 

This app can be used in SO many ways--but I want to share how I use it during my literacy block and RTI time because it's an easy, practically paperless way to get kids moving while they learn! 

I lay out (or hang on the walls/their lockers) words/sentences/pictures depending on the activity. The students move around, read the words/sentences/pictures, and then sort them on the screen. They can type, write or take a picture of what they are sorting (so cool!). We sort real vs. nonsense words, word families, spelling patterns, questions vs. statements, adjectives vs. nouns vs. verbs. The possibilities are endless! You could find a use for this app in any subject area (I projected it on the screen the other day as we sorted needs and wants during social studies!). Check out the f.u.n. below!

Popplet in ACTION!

     


Weeks like these make me thankful for the seating options available to my students. I do not believe in asking a first grader to sit still all day long. Yes, I do have moments in my day where students are required to sit relatively still, but any other time in our day I allow them to choose how they work. We are back at school this week after a 10 day spring break, and my kids are...well...7 year olds! They are wiggly, fidgety and full of energy--as they should be :) In addition to some extra play time this week, students also have the option to work in the way that helps them be successful.

A few months ago, my Donors Choose request was fully funded (to my surprise!!). My students and I received 7 Hokki Stools and 2 exercise balls for alternative seating. It was SO exciting for my students and I. The new stools and medicine balls allow my students to wiggle while they learn and keep their brains on. All of my kids sit on the stools differently but they all have a similar focused look on their faces :) I am looking into buying a Hokki Stool for myself soon!

Students also have the option to stand at a heightened table! I tell my kids I do not care how they sit or stand, as long as they are trying their best and getting their best work done. My students generally prefer the stools over other seating arrangements, so we rotate through them in alphabetical order (this means kids are sitting on them every third day). 

      
      

And of COURSE cannot forget the life saving Go Noodle brain breaks :) Our new favorite is Oh, a milkshake by the Koo Koo Kangaroo gang. So hilarious!



Here are two freebies before I go!

1.) Spring Break Homework (my kids loved this...I don't send home homework in general--but I couldn't resist this!).



2.) Instagram Writing Prompt (this was so fun...it looks so awesome on our lockers!)




Have a wonderful weekend everybody! I am headed to the wonderful city of Chicago this weekend for my cousins wedding. It will be so nice to see family from all over!

Happy Teaching!

Kodable & Breakout EDU (first grade edition)

So I obviously left MACUL 16 feeling super inspired--because of that my kids and I had a really fun week at school trying out a bunch of new activities :) Slowly but surely we will try all the new things I learned about, so stay tuned!

Tech Tip of the Week

Have you tried Kahoot yet? It's one of the easiest ways to turn your classroom into a gameshow for part of your day! You can create pre-made games, quizzes or even let your students create games. The best part about Kahoot is that is easy to put together and has a lot of kid-friendly features (i.e. colors/shapes to make selecting an answer simple, the ability to add pictures as answers, and it's F R E E). My classroom has 6 iPads so I am living proof that you can use this in a classroom that is not 1:1 iPads :) My kiddos play at their tables and take turns submitting their answers--I take a lot of time the first time we play Kahoot to go over the rules to ensure that everyone supports each other and has fun. My kids know that (similar to every other tech activity we do) that it's important to have patience and help each other out! 

Here's my little guys in action--lots of team work happening when we play!

            

The first time we play Kahoot, we do just fun questions that I know they know the answers to (i.e. What color is Spongebob? What day of the week is it?) just so I know they know how to use the app. Once we do that, we use it in a variety of ways.

• Replace your KWL charts with a Kahoot! Introduce a new topic or unit by gauging students' prior knowledge. 
• Create a survey. Allow your students to have a voice and be involved!
• Have students make quizzes. Kahoot is so user-friendly I have no doubt your students could create one.  
• FUN FRIDAY! I love building our classroom community by playing Kahoot on Friday's just for fun. I like to create silly questions OR have my students create a Kahoot about themselves. It's a great way to get your kids to get to know one another. Relationships matter.

Kodable

At #MACUL16 Shannon Miller shared a TON of coding resources. I decided to try Kodable with my kids because it looked easy for me to set up and manage (time is precious--especially around conference/report card time!!).  Simply sign up for Kodable online, type your students in, and print out their passwords. Unfortunately, the passwords are complicated (about 8 letters/numbers all mixed up) BUT my kids had no problems typing them in :) 

Teacher & student reviews of Kodable: We all LOVED it. Seriously...I could have just sit and watched/listen to them code all day. So many giggles, celebrations, collaboration, problem solving, and relationship building going on. They were asking each other for help, showing each other how to complete levels, congratulating each other...it was music to my teacher ears! Check out my little "coders" below.

        

      

As a teacher, it is also awesome to follow your students' progress. Not only does Kodable desribe 16 CCSS standards that your students are working on, it also tracks and breaks down your students' progress as they work through the levels. 

Breakout EDU (first grade edition)

After trying BreakoutEDU with some co-workers, I just HAD to let my students try! The wonderful and amazingly talented Sarah Wood created a Breakout specifically for lower elem students based on the story "Froggy Gets Dressed." They worked together to solve 6 clues and unlock locks and break into the box! We worked together as a class to solve the clues--most breakouts I've seen are completed in smaller groups of 8-10 people--so it was great to see that it can be done in a classroom of 22 students! My students worked at their table groups so solve each clue (Sarah had 5 sets of each clue) and then when each group was done solving, they shared their findings with the other groups. When we all agreed our findings, it was time to work on opening the locks. I called on students to type in one letter or number on the locks (a total of 19 students were able to punch in part of the code) and then I let the 3 other students have the opportunity to have a leadership role at some point during the activity. Everyone had an important role.

During the breakout, my students were problem solving, using critical thinking and working on their communication skills. I was able to see a lot of their personalities and strengths during the activity. I think my favorite part of the breakout was watching one of my special education students be a leader and totally rock it. This breakout allowed him to break out of his shy shell and be a confident leader and communicator. Seriously...I was blown away. These breakouts give your quiet students the opportunity to say, "Today, I'm not going to sit back and be a bystander. Today, I'm going to be a leader!"

        

      

and then....

victory!!!

If you have not had the opportunity to participate in a Breakout EDU, plleeaassseeee try to find OR create an opportunity to do so. Check out one of my recent blogposts for some resources/opportunities to try a breakout. 

On top of all this fun stuff we did this week, we also celebrated St. Patrick's Day! Wahoo! We made Shamrock Floats, Pots of Gold, and graphed with Skittles. It was a crazy, busy week but one of those weeks that made me realize I have the BEST job in the entire world.

      

And these two little leprechauns know my favorite kind of GREEN :)

Have a wonderful week everybody! Be back soon :)

MACUL 2016

Hello everybody! Ay yi yi things have been crazy busy on my end! Report cards, conferences and...#MACUL16!! I was lucky enough to attend the ah-maz-ing conference this year and I have enough PD to last me a lifetime. I don't want to bore you with anything besides some of the things I learned that I'm ready to try in my first grade classroom :) Here we go!

1.) Googley eyes for Google Well for starters--how amazing is Google?! Seriously...take a minute to just think about all of the f r e e resources and programs that Google offers (emphasis on the f r e e part). I became a Google Certified Educator over the summer and I would encourage every teacher to do the same. It will not only benefit you in your classroom, but in your everyday life...as a real person...outside of your classroom....  

Anyway, I attended a session hosted by the incredible John Sowash. He has all the juicy secrets about Google that we, as teachers, should know about. I wanted to share some of my favorite with you guys. Thank you, John, for inspiring me!

• Google Drawing It boggles my mind that I heard about this one for the first time on Thursday! You can create graphic organizers and graphs for your students to interact with (it has a lot of functions similar to the SMART board software) . What a great way to minimize the amount of worksheets we copy and go GREEN :) I cannot wait to launch this in my classroom this week as we continue our character study during reading time. Check out some templates John created below.

Students can drag and sort shapes. 

Students can work with graphs and interpret data.

The possibilities are endless here! Student's can use it for a creative outlet, too. I'm really hoping to create a lot of these for my kiddos and look forward to sharing those with you. 

• Google Tone  This google extension allows you to broadcast a web URL via sound. Yes...you read that correctly! This is a super cool way to share URLs with your kids quickly and easily. Simply download the extension, choose the website you'd like to share, and click the extensions icon. What's the catch?  It's a small one but you need to be using Google Chrome as your browser on your laptop/computer and so does the person you want to share it with. IF this sounds interesting to you and you only have iPads in your room, simply download the app chrip.io which accomplishes the same thing via iPads. 

• Using Google Chromebooks? Did you know they can scan QR codes? Well, they can! Yahoo. This gets me very excited as I'm hoping to record videos of myself explaining directions for centers/games/activities during well...every subject :) My realistic goal is to try that with reading or math for now #startsmall ... 

• Google Cardboard You'll need to order a Google Cardboard viewer and have access to an iPhone/android to experience virtual reality! There are tons of free apps here that you can use along with your viewer. Watch this video to see what I'm talking about. This makes the possibilities of virtual field trips endless...amazing! 

2.) Coding with Shannon Miller I left Shannon's session feeling so inspired and thinking about how much I wanted to be her...kidding...but not really! Shannon is a teacher librarian and technology integration specialist who stresses the importance of coding for students of all ages. She shared some AWESOME resources that I wanted to pass along. Here is a coding Symbaloo with tons of coding sites/apps that your students or you can play with. I thought I knew about all the major coding sites and boy was I wrong--Shannon shared so many sites/apps that I am excited to share with my kiddos. She also shared a Padlet where teachers can share any and all of their coding experiences. PLEASE take a moment to check it out, here. Aside from being a technology guru, Shannon was so genuine. I was lucky enough to meet her Saturday night at the MACUL 40th celebration party and she is such a kind person. Thank you, Shannon! 

3.) Creative Leadership As a current MAET student, it made me proud to attend my programs director, Punya Mishra, Creative Leadership session. Punya put together a panel of superintendents (Rob Glass, Scott Graden, and David Tebo) to share their stories of encouraging creativity and innovation in their districts that has changed their learning communities for the better. Any recap I attempt will not do justice what these awesome leaders shared. They covered everything from barriers to growth mindsets. I compared what they shared with us to what our Human Centered Design Team at Godfrey Lee Public Schools is currently working towards. Check it out, here. 

I hope you can find some ideas to use in your classroom after reading this post! If you'd like to check out more of the awesomeness from the #MACUL16 conference, follow the hashtag on twitter or check out the MACUL website/MACUL app. Then, make sure you don't miss out on the fun next year and mark your calendars for #MACUL17 in Detroit  -- March 15-17th :) 

I have lots to blog over the next few weeks so please check back with me soon! On a non-education related note, I got a new car this weekend (yay) and will spend time with family at home for my cousins Bridal Shower! Family time is so important. Have a wonderful rest of your weekend and an even better week teaching. You are all amazing! Happy teaching!