Final Blog..

Wow! That seems weird to say, this is my final blog of the semester! Wasn't it just course orientation like last week? While I'm very thankful for the quickly approaching summer break, I also realize that there is a LOT due in the short time left. I've learned this so much semester, academically and personally. Two big things, sometimes the thought process is just as important as the outcome and life is short so appreciate every second (even the bad moments). This has by far been my hardest semester but the amount knowledge I'm leaving it with proves it was worth the hard work and tears along the way.

This week we have been finishing and polishing up our units. I have very much missed seeing my kiddos and cannot believe next week will be our last with them! It's been such a great experience seeing them grow and develop throughout the semester.

In my outside research for this week I have found another formative assessment tool called Quizlet Live. Students go to a dedicated webpage then must enter a game pin. As soon as the students have entered the correct game pin they will be randomly assigned to teams (teams can be reshuffled). The game aspect is that students have to work in teams to sort vocabulary terms to their matching definitions. Teams earn points by making correct matches quickly, but their progress is reset to zero if they make a mistake so they need to focus on accuracy more than speed.
Here is the link: https://quizlet.com/live

I will definitely utilize this tool to help my future students learn and remember new vocabulary. Students will be engaged because of the gaming aspect included. It also connects to NCPTS standard 4F, teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities because students must work together cooperatively and collaboratively to win successfully.

How many more Weeks?

This week has been stressful to say the least, but it's almost Friday and thankfully almost the end of the semester! This week at Washington, I was able to work on a reading passage with a small group of students. The students did a picture walk through the passage and then we worked on the vocabulary words that would be included in the passage. The reading was on a 4th grade level for the 2nd grade students so I was pleasantly surprised at how well they did with the passage. I had two children in my group who also spoke Spanish. So my group had a great experience discussing one of the vocabulary words, that sounded similar to a Spanish word that meant the same thing. The students that did not know Spanish were very intrigued to see the similarities between the words plumes, large showy feathers, and plumas, a feather or a pen. I was very thankful for my small amount of Spanish knowledge during that lesson!

Connecting words in other languages is a great way to deepen student's knowledge and understanding of vocabulary. This connects to NCPTS Standard 2B, teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world, because it helps students that speak other languages feel included in the class and can deepen understanding. This is definitely a method I would like to include in my classroom when appropriate.

This week in my outside research I found another formative assessment tool, an app called ShowMe. This app is an interactive whiteboard that allows students to use the white board and record themselves explaining what they are doing. This would be a great tool to use in centers if you have iPads in the classroom. Students will be able to explain their thoughts as they work out a problem so you know exactly how to help them! Here is a link to the app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/showme-interactive-whiteboard/id445066279?mt=8