Global Teacher Connect

Learning From the World Around Us

2015-10-04T08:12:00.001-07:00

So much learning can happen from simply exploring the world around us. Field trips can be such a beneficial way to add to the learning experience. Students get a chance to make real world connections to what they are learning in the classroom, while they practice integrating literacy, math and content standards.

Visiting the city hall during a unit on Government give students to see the government in action. Here’s a blog post I wrote with suggestions on how to cover all of your standards during a trip to city hall: The Lawmakers are In – Time for a Field Trip.

Visit a nature preserve during an Animal Habitats unit to see some animal habitats up close and personal. Here’s a blog post I wrote with suggestions on how to cover all of your standards during a trip to a nature preserve: An Exploring Nature Field Trip.

Visit a local factory during a unit on Economics to give students a real understanding of raw materials versus manufactured products. Here’s a blog post I wrote with suggestions on how to cover all of your standards during a trip to a factory or business: Behind the Scenes Factory Tours Have Learning Benefits for Kids.

Visit your local landforms during an Earth Science unit on Erosion or Rock Formations so students can truly put their hands on the causing factors of rock changes. Here’s a blog post I wrote with suggestions on how to cover all of your standards during a trip to a local landform: What Landforms Do You Live Near?

For other suggestions, click on the picture below to see all of my field trip suggestion posts.

Happy learning and teaching!

Spanish Class Fast Finishers, a Bulletin Board Set from La Profesora Frida

2014-09-10T04:53:00.004-07:00

"I'm done. Now what??"

Don't you wish you could just point to your pretty bulletin board when you hear this question?

Laurie, a Spanish teacher in New York, created this awesome layout (above) with Autumn Fast Finishers for Spanish Packet from La Profesora Frida.

Below is another creative layout:

Already purchased La Profesora Frida's Autumn Fast Finishers Bulletin Board Set? You could get the WINTER version for FREE by taking a picture of your bulletin board layout for the Autumn version and sending it to her on Facebook!

Because we teach in a public school system, we usually have a mixture of ability levels in our foreign language classes. While we are offering help to students who are having trouble contemplating a subject, there are often those students who understand the content and finish earlier than the rest of the class. Which is when we hear, "I'm done. Now what??"

Students who finish fast often fall into one of 2 categories:
-the quiet type
-the bored "trouble maker"

The quiet type are those students who have a great work ethic. These are the students who already have a book to read or who have brought a bit of homework from another class to work on because they are used to finishing first. They're nothing to worry about.
Except.... Are they getting as much intellectual stimulation in your class as they deserve?

The bored "trouble makers" are those students who are not actually trouble makers. They finish early because they are bright students, but then they don't know what to do with themselves. They might start to wander the classroom or try to talk to students who are still trying to work-- making them appear as though they are trouble makers.
And.... Are they getting as much intellectual stimulation in your class as they deserve?

One useful way to keep Fast Finishers academically focused (whether they realize it or not!) is to apply a Fast Finishers program to your classes.

I have an Autumn Fast Finishers bulletin board in my classroom and the idea is to have a number of activities available for students to work on when they're done with their regular work.

There are a variety of activities; writing, reading, speaking, pronunciation, partner work, artistic activities, over 20 to choose from. The students have a tracking sheet and know that they aren't to bother you while you're helping other students! (There are several posters included in this packet so students know to only ask you to check their Fast Finishers work if they KNOW you're not busy!)

Check out this interactive, creative Spanish packet at my TeachersPayTeachers store! Let me know what you think! I find it incredibly useful, and I hope that you can apply this teaching concept to your Spanish classes as well.

Already purchased La Profesora Frida's Autumn Fast Finishers Bulletin Board Set? Would you like the WINTER version for FREE?? Take a picture of your bulletin board layout (that La Profesora Frida can post on her blog!) for the Autumn version and send it to her on Facebook!

Another Year of Student Blogging

2013-10-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

I posted a Collaborative Project for Student Blogging in the last school year, and I'd love to revive that post now!

Student Blogging is the perfect platform for junior high students, especially, because they love to be the holder of power. Having others read their posts - having a real audience of readers, gives them the power that they desire. Hence, they learn an all important lesson: Words are powerful!

With 19 grade seven students this year, I have a variety of writing styles and levels. However, I have a few kids in particular who have really found their voices through their blogs and are even working on extra posts at home. Peers are helping each other edit the posts through the comments section (posts are by no means perfect - but works in progress) and I love seeing this collaboration and feedback in the students' comments to each other. I also enjoy seeing the silly little comments (once in a while) that is proof to me that they are engaging in the process by reading their classmates' blogs and having an online conversation about the content. As with many things, it can go overboard - but it's all part of the process.

So, if you or any teachers you know are interested in blogging with your students and would like to have another class read and comment on your blogs - please fill in your information into the Collaborative Project document. It's one that I have created for us all to use. If you see a teacher there you'd like to collaborate with - contact them and get the ball rolling. As I said, I teach grade 7 and would love any grade 6-8 classes who are interested in sharing the blogging adventure this year!

Mrs. Mills' Mighty Minions - My Class Blog

Does Your School Host A Math Night?

2013-10-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

This year, our K-7 school decided to host a math night. Math is my favorite subject to teach and so I was super-excited to plan some activities for my students. We sent home notes to all of the students, giving parents the date and general info about what we were doing and asked for the slips to come back with the number of students who would be attending. This way, we had a bit of an idea as to how many kids to prepare for. It was apparent that the parents and students were interested - so off we went planning the activities!

The whole vision for the night was to build parent engagement, and to try to break down some of the walls with the frustration that can result for everyone around math because the parent was taught one way and the students may be taught a different way. Many times, parents are trying to help by offering a different method, but the students get frustrated because "That's not how we do it in class." There are so many ways to solve a problem! They should be open to all of the possibilities!

We invited in an engaging math consultant to speak to parents about "the new math" that their children are a part of (about 25 minutes). The other 35 minutes was spent with teachers, parents and their children together, taking part in various math activities. I chose to prepare a math scavenger hunt for the 11 grade 7 students who chose to come to Math Night. Eleven out of 38! I was so excited that they came! At this age, you risk it not being "the cool thing to do". Anyhow, they came! For my scavenger hunt, I went around the school the week prior to math night, noting bulletin boards and displays in the corridors and made up little clues. Once students figured out the clue, they had to do some sort of calculation with the number, based on what we've been working on recently in class. For example:

"Fishing can be a job or a hobby,
Locate the digit in the ten thousands place,
If I were you, I'd check the lobby!"

There is a mural in the lobby with a fishing boat...and then students had to perform a calculation with that digit. I had a lot of fun putting it together! And, more importantly, students had a great time doing the scavenger hunt! They were literally sweating by the end because I had them travelling all over the school! It was awesome!

Other classes had SMART Board games or board games in their classrooms. One teacher prepared a handout with math sites for parents to take home with them. And, every child left with a little "grab bag" of math goodies (dice, cards etc.) a cookie and juice box.

Our little town had the best turnout the math consultant had seen and everyone left with smiles on their faces - staff, parents and students. It was simply a great night and I hope we do it again next year!

Have you ever held a Math Night at your school? A Science Night? I'd love to hear more!

Ni Hao! I'm the newest GTC author- Andrea Ho

2013-10-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

My name is Andrea Ho from Cheers To School and I'm the newest author contributor to GTC.

I am an American working as a Kindergarten teacher in an international school in China. I just moved to China 2 months ago in early August. I've been teaching for two years as a substitute teacher, teacher's assistant, and ECC/elementary teacher.

The Yellow star is where I live in China. Many people say China looks like a chicken, so I guess I live at the base of the Chicken's neck.

This is my first time teaching in China and overseas. The student population at my school are mostly Korean (roughly 60-70%), American, Canadian, Japanese, Taiwanese, Hong Kong, and a few from South America, South Africa, and European countries. Most of the students are business kids, diplomat kids, missionary kids, and staff kids. Every grade has two classroom teachers. This year I have a very small class-- 8 students total.

I love my new city (I'm close to Beijing), the people, the culture, and my new school. I can't wait to share my experiences and ideas with you!

Looking forward to getting to know you and other fellow teachers from all around the world!

Cheers!

A Classroom Tour

2013-09-08T06:03:00.001-07:00

This year, I am teaching Year 3 & Year 4 (which is 2nd and 3rd grade in the US system) at the International School of Morocco. I teach my homeroom for reading. Then, I teach 2 groups of Math and Science. I will teach my homeroom class early in the day, and in the afternoon, I will teach the Year 5 & Year 6 students (which is 4th and 5th grade in the US system). My partner teacher will in turn be teaching Writing, Grammar and Social Studies to both groups of kids. Here are some pictures of what my classroom looks like.

For more information on how each of these views work in my classroom, stop by my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources.

Students Love Global Pen Pals!

2013-07-22T09:33:00.002-07:00

Interested in setting up a pen pal correspondence for your students in the coming school year? I've got some free resources for you that I used in my class, as well as some reflections on what worked well and what pitfalls you might avoid in this blog post. We used a combination of emails and traditional paper letters.

Depending on what technology you have available, and your own preferences (as well as administration policies) you can be more snail-mail oriented or include other tech like Skype and Facetime. This is an experience even my more reticent students have been quite engaged in every year. I hope your learners enjoy it as well!

In the zip file download I have for you over at Teaching FSL, there's a parental permission form, instruction sheet for students to use with ePals, a peer editing handout I used, and also some tracking tools that will be handy if you teach multiple classes. I included the PowerPoint presentation that I created for a Professional Development session when sharing my experience with other teachers in my district.

I'd love to hear your students' reactions to this learning experience!

Portfolios for International School Students

2013-06-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

As a teacher at an international school, I have to realize that my students move and travel more than the average student. This means 1.) They can’t always take a portfolio of papers with them to their next stop. 2.) Their family is often living in a another country or even another continent. So, when I decided I wanted to do a portfolio project with my kids this year, I decided to make it an online portfolio that can be e-mailed to family and doesn’t create something that will be thrown away in the next move.

|Each of my students created an online portfolio of the work they have done this year using the website www.livebinders.com. We added links to all of the projects we have done during the school year, storybirds, glogs, prezis, blog posts, even stories they typed in google docs, as well as photos and videos. These links provide the “evidence” for learning in each subject.

I can’t share a whole portfolio with you because they contain private pictures and videos, but here are some screen shots of different portfolios. Feel free to stop by my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources to find out how we have done it, or download my Student Created Online Portfolios Packet from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Summer Homework on Google Maps

2013-05-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

View Travel Map - Raki Family in a larger map

I use Google apps for lots of things, but I’ve never really played with Google Maps until recently. I made a map with my 8 year old son, charting out all of the places we have traveled (see above). This summer, we will be traveling around the US and he can’t wait to see where we can add “pins”. This got me thinking that it would be a great summer homework project. Have families create a Google Map with at least one pin a week indicating where they have been. (For students who stay close to home, the pins could be as simple as the supermarket or the library.) It would go great with the summer scavenger hunt that I usually send home. (Download the summer scavenger hunt free from my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources.)

For a step by step tutorial on how to use Google Maps, feel free to stop by my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources.

Are You Teaching Global Citizens?

2013-05-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

At the ECIS Conference, I had the opportunity to see a great variety of speakers. One of the most controversial speakers was Chadran Nair. Chadran Nair is the founder of a think tank called Global Institute for Tomorrow, which helps people understand the impacts – good and bad – of globalization. He spoke for us about some of the issues facing Asia today. He believes our schools are not teaching students to be global citizens. Do you think your school is creating global citizens? Should they be? How do we go about creating global citizens? Let’s start a global discussion about it!

To see Chadran Nair’s ECIS speech in it’s entirety, stop by my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources.

Student Learning Games

2013-05-04T21:52:00.001-07:00

I recently had my students create board games. I gave them my list of Game Board Instructions (you can also download them on my site). The students worked in groups to create a game about a subject we are currently studying. I gave each group a different subject, and their job was to create a learning game involving concepts we're covering in class.

They were also responsible for coming up with detailed instructions, creating game pieces and game cards, and decorating their game board and box.

I purchased many of my materials from my favorite store, the Dollar store (see my blogs about the dollar store by clicking here and here.). Here's what I bought: small toys that were used as game pieces, pipe cleaner, googly eyes, and stickers for the kids who wanted to make their game pieces, dice, timers, spinners, white gift wrap boxes that the students used to store the game, and small cardboard jewelry boxes to hold the game pieces.

Here's an example of game pieces made with pipe cleaners and stickers.

These are some of the pieces I purchased from the Dollar Store.

One example of a game my students made was called "Fun-Cabulary." They created a game where the players spin a spinner which tells them to either act out, draw, sculpt, or explain a vocab word. Then they pick up a vocab card that has the word and definition on it, and the students have to guess the word.

They had a great time with this activity and the kids love playing each other's games! Here are some photographs of the kids' creations.

Field Trips Rock!

2013-05-04T02:24:00.001-07:00

My students, who attend the International School of Morocco, are very lucky. They live in an area (Casablanca, Morocco) that provides us with great field trip opportunities. We are currently studying Ancient Rome, so yesterday we went to see some Roman ruins and artifacts.

We started at Chellah, the site of the ancient Roman city of Sala Colonia. The kids were able to see arches, house walls, a nice Roman road, columns, a bath house and water pipes.

They were also able to see and talk about the “layering” that happens with many ancient ruin sites, as there are distinctly Arab buildings built “on top” of this site. We were able to look at mosques and mosaics and compare and contrast the Roman architecture and the Arab architecture.

After Chellah, we went over to the Archaeological Museum and saw specific artifacts, collected from the many Roman sites in Morocco, including Volubilis. We were able to see pottery, jewelry, statues and a great mosaic.

What awesome places do you get to take your students on field trips to?

Collaborative Project: Student Blogging

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

My school - Souris Consolidated (Prince Edward Island, Canada)

I wrote a post last month about how I was just starting to get my students blogging. Since then, we are well on our way in our blogging adventures and most students are really enjoying it. Of course, there are students who don't enjoy writing, and blogging is no different for them. However, they do enjoy the freedom to play around with fonts and add photos to customize their blogs. They also enjoy the interaction with their classmates and feedback from myself, on improving their posts before publishing.

There were quite a few comments on that original post, from other teachers who were like me and wanted to have another class or two to blog with. It's almost like pen-pals, with a technological twist!

So, I've since decided to make this a collaborative project here on GTC. It's quite simple. If you have your students blogging and would like to set up something with another class, simply fill out your info on this spreadsheet Collaborative Project: Student Blogging. Have a look at the other teachers/classes who are seeking fellow students to blog with. If you find a teacher who matches what you are looking for - go ahead and email them and set something up between the two of you. Ta-da!

Here are two popular sites to choose from if you're new to student blogging. You may want to check the spreadsheet to see what most people are using!

Once your students are ready to team up with another class - the sky's the limit!

-Students can simply read and comment on students' blogs in the other class

-Students could introduce themselves and get to know those in the other class in a "Get to know you" post - this would work best for us blogging newbies, most likely.

-Students in both classes could be given the same prompt (maybe even somewhat controversial ) to respond to and then read what their classmates/the other class had to say about the topic

-Students could all write about something unique to where they live if the blogging countries are quite different

-Students could also simply write about something of interest to them - everyone may have a different topic, and again, students must read and comment on each other's blogs.

-Students could post a picture symbolizing something important to them and have students comment, guessing what the picture represents

-Students could post a riddle and have students comment, making guesses at the answer

More blogging ideas for you and your students.

So, so many options!

Feel free to connect with just one teacher or multiple, on the spreadsheet that we're compiling. We already have classes grades 1-8, in four different countries. Also, make a mental note to come back next school year (as it is getting close to the end for most of us) and see who's available to blog at that time. We're starting this LATE in the year. Imagine if we'd started it at the beginning of the school year! So many possibilities.

Even though we're just starting this now, I'm sure that the kids will still make connections, get to know each other and each other's writing voices and styles. They'll also become more comfortable with blogging as a writing format, and stronger writers in general! Writing is different when you know that there is a REAL audience - it just IS! I think that when students see that people are actually reading what they write and are commenting on it, they will be more engaged and inclined to raise the bar for their writing (that's my hope, anyway).

So, without further adieu, let the blogging begin!

If you've done this before, or are new - like me, please voice your comments, questions, concerns or potential blog post ideas below for us all to benefit from! We're here to help each other and to make the classes we teach as engaging for our students as possible. Let's harness our students' love and ever-growing aptitude for technology for our own gains - creating stronger, more purposeful writers!

Surviving the final months (or weeks) of the school year

2013-04-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

I just had to share! I am co-hosting a "School's (Almost) Out Blog Hop and Giveaway" and it has turned out REALLY well!

Our contributing bloggers have written such thoughtful posts including ideas, activities, lots of photos and even some freebies.

There is a giveaway on the go as well, with lots of teacher resources to be won and an Amazon gift card!

I have two months left this school year - finished on June 28th. What about where you teach? What ideas do you have for making it through these last months?

Let Teachers from Around the World Teach Your Class

2013-04-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

At the ECIS Technology conference, I attended a workshop on the flipped classroom and was fully intrigued. In a flipped classroom, all or some of the homework is a video or online simulation that “teaches” what you would normally teach in class. Then, in class the kids focus on activities, projects and practice problems that would generally be homework. This way, there is nobody sitting at home stuck on how to figure out a math problem, or even worse practicing doing it wrong. Stop by my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources to see how I’m using the flipped classroom model at my class at the International School of Morocco.

One of the things that I like most about using the flipped classroom model is that I am able to bring in “guest teachers” from around the world to help explain things to my students. I have the option of creating videos for them (using apps like Explain Everything and Educreations), but there are also SO many videos already available, that I have found what I need for the rest of this school year without making any myself. The majority of the videos my students are watching have come from the Khan Academy, which is an online library of over 3,000 videos on tons and tons of subjects. Other good sources of online videos include: Knowmia, Engvid, Teacher Tube, EDTed, NeoK12, and Math Playground. Each of these videos is created by someone who might explain it slightly differently than I would. So, if a student isn’t getting it with my explanation or Khan Academy’s explanation, I have a plethora of other “guest teachers” to lean on and use their explanations to help my students understand. Here is one the video my students watched for homework on Tuesday:

Division 2: Dividing into larger numbers. Introduction to long division and remainders.

Have you ever thought about flipping your classrooms and allowing “guest teachers” from around the world to help you out?

Earth Day Video Collaborative Project

2013-04-09T04:58:00.001-07:00

Hi guys, it’s Heidi Raki of Raki’s Rad Resources and I’m here to explain our newest Global Teacher Connect Collaborative Project.

Earth Day is on April 22nd. Last year for Earth Day, I hosted a Getting Rid of Plastic Bags Collaborative Project here at Global Teacher Connect. This year, I am hosting an Earth Day Video Collaborative Project focused on recycling. Each class (or a group within your class) that is participating will create a video with three parts – each part focused on one of the three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle. Then, the class will upload their video to YouTube or Vimeo and add a link to their video here in the comments, with their grade, school and location. I have created a project sheet that I am going to use with my class, and you are welcome to use that same sheet. Download it free from my TPT store, or e-mail me at hlraki @ hotmail . com and I’ll send you it directly. You DO NOT have to use this sheet, it’s just an option to make it easier – .

Project Guidelines:

- Create a video. Videos can be created using any variety or combination of movie making or screencast programs or iPad apps, including, but not limited to: Movie Maker (on PC’s), iMovie (on Macs or iPad), Educreations (on PC, Mac or iPad), Morfo (on iPad), Explain Everything (on iPad), or Jing (on PC).

- Videos may show student faces, but don’t have to (mine won’t!) If you show student faces, please be sure to have parent permission.

- Upload the video to a site where everyone can access it. (YouTube and Vimeo are easy and free.)

- Post the link here in the comments, along with your class’ grade(s), school, and location.

- Share the other links that have been created with your class.

- Feel free to let your students leave comments for the other classes’ videos.

Flat Stanley Writing Project

2013-04-07T10:12:00.002-07:00

Connecting with other classrooms has never been easier. With a simple click we can be transported half-way around the world. One project that I do in my classroom that connects classrooms around the world is the Flat Stanley Writing Project. You can connect directly with the Flat Stanley Website here and search for a partner school. You will be contacted very quickly (I guarantee) and the collaborative project is born. I am connecting with a school in NY once again for our FS project. We created our FS templates, mail them off and waited for our buddies from NY to send theirs. Once received, I assigned each child a FS and they keep a writing journal for 5 days of all their adventures. I also ask them to take lots of photos of where they have taken their FS. This is also an excellent literacy writing project.

Our Flat Stanleys off to NY!

After our part is complete, we mail back a completed journal and their FS and we, in turn, wait for ours. We culminate the project with a Skype visit so we can see our friends in person and ask each other questions.

If you haven't already done this project, check it out. It really is alot of fun and gives children knowledge of how another student lives in other parts of the world. It is a good idea to read a few of the books beforehand so your children understand the stories.

Blogging as a Writing Format for Students

2013-04-01T16:36:00.004-07:00

I feel like I haven't been here in so long! I've missed you GTC! Where the heck did March go? Anyhow, I thought I'd just check in quickly with something that I've got planned for my class for later on this week.

I know that many of you probably use blogs as a writing format for your students. I've been meaning to get to this all year and it just hasn't happened yet. We have been having some issues with technology at the school on top of everything else (nothing new) but I'm going to give it a shot this week, anyway.

Kidblog is one of the most popular sites that I have found for students to write their own blogs. It is private, easy to manage (from the looks of it) and also has options for classes to blog with other classes.

In Health, we have been talking about stress and coping with stress. I will be having my students write a blog post about what stresses them (or kids their age) and what techniques they can use to alleviate their stress. It's a simple task, really. However, I'll be having them read and comment on at least 2 or 3 of their classmates' blogs as well. I hope that they'll enjoy the writing format as a change of pace, and perhaps gain some new ways of coping with the various stresses of being a young teenager. I also hope that they will gain even more insight into purpose and audience.

I'll let you know how this little activity goes and how the students enjoy it. I'd love to have my students write for a global audience, but with privacy issues, that can be tricky. However, with the control that Kidblog offers, it would be possible to team up with another class or classes and give a wider audience to our students, rather than just their classmates.

FYI, I teach in Prince Edward Island. Below is a shot of our town (taken last fall, there's a little snow around still). The other 2 photos are also taken in the area where I live and are just for fun! My brother and husband went kayaking a couple of weeks ago on a freakishly warm day (notice the bergs;)

Souris, PEI

Such a calm day!

Hubby on the left, little brother on the right...

Aaaaannyway...

Please, leave a comment if you'd ever be interested in teaming up to allow our students to read each others' Kidblogs. It could be very cool! I'll know by the end of the week, hopefully, if student blogging is something that I wish to do more of, or if our technology (or lack there of) is going to be my reason to say, "Not this year." I'll be sure to share the outcome and my decision, though:)

Do your students blog? What site do you use?

Technology Insights from a Global Community

2013-04-01T15:07:00.001-07:00

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend and present at a technology conference hosted by the European Council for International Schools (ECIS). The conference inspired me in so many ways and has impacted the day to day teaching that I am doing already. Just being around all those teachers from all over Europe and the Middle East was inspirational. Then, to hear the speakers and take part in the discussions, it was amazing. For more specific information on the conference, check out the notes at my blog – Raki’s Rad Resources. In the meantime, here are five of the biggest ideas I took away from the conference. Please pin your favorites to get these ideas moving around our global teaching community.

Free Easter jokes cards

2013-03-28T06:48:00.000-07:00

Why does the Easter Bunny stay fit? Because he egg-cersises!

Head over to my blog to download more Easter jokes here!

Easter in Spanish- freebies

2013-03-16T05:53:00.000-07:00

If you want to download free resources for Easter in Spanish visit my Spanish blog and get your copies there.

Classroom Elections - Voting Practice

2013-01-22T16:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! This is Nyla from Trinidad and Tobago. How are things in your part of the world? I understand that yesterday, some schools were closed due to the very cold weather. I had the day off to but it was not because of any snow.

Yesterday, I proudly dipped my finger into the electoral ink as I practiced my civil right to vote. In Tobago, we have island wide elections once every four years wherein in winning party gets to run the Tobago House of Assembly.

This has been a very exciting time for us and we (my fellow teachers at school and I) wanted our students to be aware of the election process. We held a mock election campaign, debate and voting on Friday. The video below is a quick snippet of the winning party's campaign speech!

You can read more about it here at my teaching blog, Nyla's Crafty Teaching.

A Year in Preview ~What Will 2013 Have in Store For You?

2012-12-30T11:22:00.001-08:00

I feel like I haven't been here on GTC for so long! Where is this school year going?

With the holidays behind us and a fresh new year ahead, many of us begin to wonder what's in store for us in the new year. It's a time for some, to make resolutions for the year ahead and for others to reflect on the year gone by.

I'd encourage you, if you haven't already, to take a few moments and think about what you'd like to accomplish with the remainder of the school year. This doesn't have to be something big - it can something as simple as getting your desk tidied. Of course, work is not (and should not) be the only thing in life. Also, have a look at your personal life and ask yourself what you'd like to make a priority for the new year. I don't like calling these things "resolutions" because no one ever keeps those. I rather think of these things as goals, to consciously work toward.

What does 2013 have in store for you?

To help you get started...

I just wrote and linked up a post on my blog, Lessons From The Middle, to a great little linky party "A Year in Preview" which is being hosted by blogging buddy Michelle, from Making It As A Middle School Teacher. Come on over and have a look at what different teachers are planning for the new year in their professional and personal lives. It may even inspire you to look ahead for yourself and make some simple, achievable goals, or to reflect on how you're doing with the last goals that you set.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Making Sense of Senseless Acts - Part 2

2012-12-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

With the tragedy of the Connecticut school shooting still weighing heavy on my heart, I was so happy to be able to share something new with my students that, once again, made me so glad I teach in a private Christian school. Even now, almost a full week after the event, I can tell it’s still on the hearts and minds of my students.

I’ve been doing my best to try and explain to them why such tragedies occur (and I’m even trying to make sense of it myself... even prompting me to write a blog post about it over the weekend). Today during our Bible lesson, we were reading about the Christmas story in the Bible and we came to the part that explains how King Herod was furious with the Magi, or wise men, whom he sent to find the Christ Child, did not return to him as he requested.

Matthew 2:16-18 says,“Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

‘A cry was heard in Ramah—
weeping and great mourning.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted,
for they are dead.’”

I took a moment to point out to my students that we see an evil offense against innocent children in the Bible. I asked the kids to do their best to make a connection between King Herod’s actions and those of the shooter in Connecticut. We came to the conclusion that evil does exist in this world, and just like in the Bible, God can use that evil for good. This is just another reason why Jesus was sent to Earth and why each of us needs Jesus, a Savior.

I know there are many teachers who don’t have the same luxury as me in sharing this with their students. But I hope it helps those of you who are still struggling to find peace during this time.

I’d like to hear your thoughts and feelings about this post.

Sticker Stamps

2012-12-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

Here’s another holiday activity that was a big hit with my students. The kids made their very own stamps, and it was extremely simple to do.

Here’s what you’ll need:
About 8 bottle caps for each student
Large assortment of Holiday foam stickers
6-8 Red & Green Stamp Pads (I got mine at the Dollar Store).

Since I do my own recycling in the class, I begin saving bottle caps from water, Gatorade, and juices for this activity. I realized I was going to be a bit short this year, so I asked parents to donate and I received a whole lot!