The Transparent Tech Teacher |
Hope this back to school diddy leaves you smiling. Name the movie for extra credit!
My audio clip this week is humorous, not to be confused with taking this assignment as a joke. I'm having a hard time with the idea that school is starting NEXT WEEK! I thought a little humor could be beneficial to us all. Laughter IS the best medicine!
This is a follow up to my previous post, Back to School. Another way to combat the back to school blues is to focus on the coming year and how to make it successful. I've compiled a list of five back to school tips for teachers.
1. Establish Classroom Rules and Be Consistent
This sends a message to students that they can learn self control. Students will never be better behaved than they are on that first day. Take advantage of the time to communicate your expectations for a disciplined, respectful and collaborative classroom. You can always ease off on the discipline as the year progresses, once students see that you mean what you say. It's a lot easier to go from being strict to having more fun with the students, but it's difficult the other way around. 2. Be Prepared It seems simple, but oh so effective. Arrive early and have the room in order. All supplies needed for the day should be prepared beforehand. Hang a welcome sign on the door, post the schedule on the board, organize desks in a way that will be conducive to learning and have student name tags on desks. This sends a powerful message to students that the teacher knows what she is doing. 3. Establish Routines and Schedules This sends a message to kids that school is safe and predictable. I teach in a school where teachers and students are always on the go. In my computer lab, we move even faster since we only have 30 minutes together. Having a routine for what students do when they enter my classroom not only saves time but eliminates classroom management issues. 4. Preview the Curriculum Give students an overview of what they'll be learning in the coming year. This can both build excitement and give students a foundation upon which to orient themselves. It can also ease some of the first day tension students feel. 5. Freezer Meals This one is just for the teacher! One of the things that can become cumbersome during the school year is the need to take a lunch every day. If you'd like the meal to be satisfying and healthy, you've got even more of a job on your hands. What if you have a freezer full of homemade casseroles to take for lunches? This would definitely ease the burden, leaving more time for other life or teaching tasks. Resources The Best Back to School Tips From Real Teachers Top Ten Back to School Tips
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Argggggh, do I REALLY have to go back next week?! How is it already time? If there's one thing that depresses me in life it's going back to school after a break, especially a really long one. I usually get the blues after each break. Christmas, Thanksgiving, or a two-week spring break...these are all very difficult to let go of. But summer break is nearly impossible! I cling to her like a lady in a shopping mall on Black Friday who's just managed to scoop up the last PS4. The beautiful temps, the time I've been able to spend in my garden, days at the pool, family reunions, sleeping in, staying up late; it's all very beautiful to me, and to most of us. So how can we muster up the courage to step back into the classroom? With a smile, no less. I've discovered that focusing on others usually minimizes my worries. So, what about students and parents? How are they feeling about all of this back to school business?! As is demonstrated in the info graphic below, they have concerns of their own. You also probably noticed that some teachers are excited for school to start (of course, these are usually the new teachers!) I have found over the years that going back to school isn't as bad as I make it out to be in my mind. Sure it's difficult to get back in the teaching mindset and daily work routine, but I find that just getting there is a majority of the battle. Once I'm back, I realize I'm surrounded by great educators and students. If a girl has to work to make a living, this ain't half bad! Happy 2017-2018 school year everyone!
Top Four Reasons You Should Teach Your Kids to Code1. Coding Helps Kids Develop Problem Solving Skills
Linda Liukas, founder of the Rails Girls coding organization, describes computational thinking as a "a way to structure your thinking in a way a computer understands it." According to Sol Shaikh, a teacher of tech, computational thinking is, "the logical thought process, the ability to spot mistakes, and a willingness to solve a problem." These skills all come from learning to code. Although my experience is not vast, I have worked with coding enough personally and with my students to see these skills being developed first hand. Coding rarely works right the first time. In order to make a game, program or character work, one must be constantly evaluating the written code, the process, and the order of things. This ability to stick with a task through it's completion and all of the skills that come from learning to code can be helpful in any career and in every aspect of life. "Learning to write program stretches your mind, helps you think better, and creates a way of thinking that I think is helpful in all domains." -Bill Gates 2. It is the Wave of the Future Check out these statistics on the growing job market for computer programmers:
Technology isn't going away! 3. Learning Coding Empowers Kids Coding gives kids tools to express themselves in really cool ways. With a spike in technology use in education today, there are surprisingly few schools who extend technology use into the coding arena. Kids no longer just need to know how to use technology but how to create it. 4. Coding is the New Literacy Computing is a language. Learning to code expands our options for communication in the same way learning a new language, such as Spanish or French, does. Coding is quickly becoming the universal language. Being able to speak the language of code will prepare our kids to thrive in this technology rich world. Resources Statistics on the Coding Job Market 5 Reasons to Teach Kids to Code Why We Need to Teach Kids to Code Promote Computer Science Why Learning to Code Benefits Kids The 2017-2018 school year will be my first time teaching a 6th grade coding elective. In my research on what resources to use to develop my curriculum for this course, I refined the tools to those I view most helpful. I've included a brief description of the website, why I prefer it, and the appropriate age level. Coding WebsitesScratch-I fell in love with this free website, developed by MIT students, during a BSU course I took last summer. It has a phenomenal array of tools and endless programming capability and is yet quite simple to understand. Students LOVE this site!
Recommended Grades: upper elementary and middle school students (even high schoolers) Kodable-This is an excellent FREE resource. It is written in a concise and organized manner including everything that the teacher in me loves: teaching objectives, vocabulary, direct instruction lesson plans containing short videos that present lesson content to the teacher, and informal assessments. Recommended Grades: lower elementary Code.org-For the past four years, my students (grades 1st-6th) have used this website in some form, whether they participate in the Hour of Code, visit the website when they've completed their project that week or are completing an assignment for my class. I love this site because it is extremely user friendly and the website is so well developed. Their graphics are amazing and they are constantly adding activities to match current student interests (Frozen, Star Wars, Minecraft...whatever is popular at the time.) They also offer a curriculum for both elementary and middle schools. Recommended Grades: lower & upper elementary and middle school |
AuthorBecky teaches tech to 3rd-6th grade students at Compass Public Charter School. ArchivesBlogrollCategories
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