#GeminiProblems

June 8th is my birthday, which makes me - yes - a Gemini. Now as much as I read my horoscope and somehow convince myself the stars know my life, there is one thing they most definitely have on point. I am constantly and consistently an INDECISIVE human being. I am notorious for NOT being able to make a decision about pretty much anything. Enter: nails of the week. Yes, thank you Gemini status for giving me the curse of sometimes painting my nails 5 times in one day because I can't pick a color. Alright, it was only four three times today so I'm sharing my top two (anxiety semi-averted).

Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It - OPI

I wanted to brighten things up a bit - and this polish did it. It is a hot red/orange which lasted about... hmm three hours on my nails. 

Then I went into Sephora - got a sample of their new Formula X polish I've been hearing loads about. That lasted about 10 minutes on my nails (not even enough for a picture - ouch). Just wasn't a fan of the color, soon I'll give it another go.

Take 3.

Koala Berry - OPI

It photographed a bit more purple than it is on the nail. It's the perfect pink/purple mix. Thank you OPI and the Australia collection! Here is where I shamelessly admit I may have picked this color because I saw Keith Urban (and all his GODLY Australian everything) in concert and am slightly fan-girling over him at the moment, so I gave him a nice tribute manicure. I feel like one of my sixth graders, oye. 

On the lower portion of the pic, you will find my bulletproof manicure must haves - just do it. 

So I am apologizing in advance for the lack of graphic evidence from my classroom this week. I had my second formal observation of the year on Thursday. My wheels were constantly spinning on what to do for my lesson and I just couldn't put my thumb (or all ten fingers) on a set of ideas/strategies/activities. Thank you Gemini tendencies. I am one of those people that has SO many things I want to do that I need to force myself to s i m p l i f y. I tend to just hold multiple brainstorming sessions on multiple sticky notes until something really stands out. I want to show off how amazing my students are, so I let their skill set guide my (forced) decision making. 

In the past we have ordered Scholastic News as a nonfiction resource, which I do love. This year our district offered an additional resource for nonfiction and we chose National Geographic magazine. LOVE LOVE LOVE. I'm a complete sucker for a good layout, accessible information, and AMAZING GRAPHICS. 

Behold: the glory of this informational text goldmine. 

This magazine also comes with some phenomenal resources. There is a wonderful website containing lessons. With the subscription you also have access to a digital version of the issue, an interactive whiteboard version, projectable edition, and teacher's guide. 

As much as I love Scholastic News, the Nat Geo magazine has three longer articles that contain a decent amount of depth for the students. 

Penguins happen to be my favorite animal, sooo there's that. I have penguins be-bopping all around my classroom so my 6th graders didn't expect anything less from their penguin-obsessed teacher.  I introduced the lesson with discussion about genre. I showed the following movie clips. 

March of the Penguins Trailer (ooh and ahh, then die of cuteness) 

Happy Feet Trailer (done!)

What I loved the most about the Happy Feet trailer is that the Spanish speaking penguins were featured. My Spanish speaking students LOVED it (well really, all of them loved it). It was a great opportunity for my second language learners to lead discussion with their classmates on what was said in the clip. Oh hey, awesome. 

We used my reciprocal teaching strategy called "Baseball Reading," for this lesson - which is hands down my FAVORITE way to have the kiddos reading and collaborating. My first year teaching my beyond fabulous teammate showed me her version called "Football Reading," and I knew it was a must. Baseball Reading will need it's own spotlight post, for sure. 

Happy MLK Day my fellow educators and polish enthusiasts!

Stay chip free and standards based!

  

Penny TALK!

PHEW! Winter break is officially over. After a two day (miraculous) extension because of the frozen tundra that is Illinois, we are finally back into the swing of things. First and foremost - this busy week back I am teaching in Penny Talk by Essie. A metallic rose gold to die for. I had to let go of my darks for the sake of repetitive nail polish blogging... but I've got money on another dark nail next week, surprise surprise!

Yes, Disney World is the happiest place on Earth - but welcome to the SECOND happiest place on Earth...

Just bask in the glory of this picture please (because that is all I did for hours after putting this bad boy up, sorry I'm not sorry). My Essie polishes are just so HAPPY! Courtesy of my best friend (who clearly knows and fully supports my sickness) this frame is just perfect for those little loves! Over in the world of OPI...

They aren't my ugly step children I promise... I really do love my OPI. That's NEXT Saturday's  project :)

I also need to give a quick shout out to my most favorite new nail polish remover thingy-ma-jig. Compliments of my other bestie (God bless them for supporting my addiction.) You push the top of this and the nail polish remover comes right on out - MAGIC! Makes removing my polish not a complete chore.

Over to the classroom - Happy Place #3 (is there a limit to happy places you are allowed to have? Let's just go with no...)

We are focusing on collaboration and working together - positively. I won't go into a long yada-yada on my educational philosophy, but just know collaboration is HUGE in my classroom. Respectful collaboration is SO important - and happens to be a Common Core State Standard for my sixth graders - fancy that!                                                                                                             This is our CCSS "I Can" statement that talks about participating in group discussion (thank you tpt)! In a staff meeting once, we did a "yes, but - yes, and" activity. Saying "yes, and" to build on others during discussion is so important. Keeping things positive in the way you talk to others is such an important life skill. I showed the following YouTube clips to my students and we made anchor charts coinciding with the clips.

This was the perfect introduction to classroom collaboration. Not only did the students respond to the fantastic humor, I thought that they really tapped into the important messages in both video clips. It is so important to respect and rely on each other in our learning, and the students really got that. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       As we came back to a fresh start in January, resolutions were a must. In an academic setting we rolled right into goals, SMART goals to be specific. We discussed how important it was to strategically set goals, and I absolutely LOVE the SMART goal model.  I let the students (semi) create their own new name tags.  Right smack-dab on their new tags is their SMART goal they developed. I told them how I frame my New Year's resolution each year in my bedroom to help motivate me to reach my goals, and HIP HIP HOORAY - goals on their name tags. Also slipped a little "yes, and" graphic in there for a constant reminder of POSITIVE collaboration.                                                                                  

They make me oh so happy!

Stay chip free and standards based!

Merry Christmas!!

Never too old for an argyle sweater Christmas manicure! No teaching for a couple weeks. Many breaths of relaxation will be taken. Until January... Happy holidays to all :) now go rock those glitzy New Years manis!!

Getting Our Tech On...

This week I broke out a cult favorite. Dawning the Pinterest boards of everyone and their mother, here you have it. 

Super difficult to photograph true to color, but it's a beaut and everyone should have a taste of Ski Teal We Drop. 

I've been tinkering with the idea of alternative assessment this year. My group is not overflowing with strong test takers. So as I realize the importance of teaching them test taking and study skills, I also truly believe in creativity and letting them show me what they know through multiple modalities, not JUST a test. So as I differentiate to lengths for my reading tests (three versions to be exact) I decided not to test for Mesopotamia - Ooooh Ahhhh, yes Mesopotamia doesn't even exist anymore. I decided to make my sixth graders (sort of, OKAY serious) published authors.

Now I'm a tech addict so utilizing our 12 classroom iPads was a must. I gave my students a pretty simple outline for what their book should consist of. They had to have a graphic and text for each of the BIG 5 we study in 6th grade Social Studies. GRAPES: Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economy, and Social Structure. All of these aspects are apparent in each ancient civilization - nifty I know!

 

 Let me tell you, these kids SOARED with the project. Now one of those friendly little Common Core State Standards talks about my scholar students being able to display information including graphics and sound. Each student recorded their voices along with their text in the Book Creator app, while creating their awesome graphics in PicCollage.

We gathered 'round with headphones in hand, and just read/listened/discovered/learned through each iBook. As the students read they passed along a "compliment sheet." I really wanted to keep the discussion positive, so as they tapped through the pages of their classmates' books they were required to write one compliment and one new thing they learned from the publication. It was one of those moments where I just sat... and sat... and sat in awe. The lesson was student AND assessment driven, while they were engaging in positive academic conversation. TA-DA!

And lastly... if you have not tried Padlet (website) in your classroom, it is a must. While 11 and 12 year olds have a million and one of their own reasons why cell phones should be used in school and uniforms are a no-no, it is not fun when we all share out at once... UNLESS we can all share at once in an organized manner with our iPads. Hello Padlet! My outstanding (and I mean seriously outstanding) bilingual resource co-teacher showed the students a video and they had to defend their arguments with evidence. Padlet = Argumentative/Brainstorming Perfection. 

I projected their thoughts on my big screen as well as each of them popping up on the ipads as they typed. Genuis I tell ya, genius.

Stay chip free and standards based!

Why HELLO Common Core MAP!

I displayed this beauty on my tips this week...

I'm totally digging the darks. What else is new? This deep just screams balsam to me. Doesn't smell like  Christmas, but that is what scented pinecones from Jewel and candles are for right?

As the snow falls outside visions of sugar plums are definitely not dancing in my head.  Frango mints might be though, I think I stress ate my weight in Frango mints this week actually (thank you Macys  Marshall Fields)! You know when you have those weeks that are just plain old rough? Where as hard as you try not to cry it just all lets loose... especially when your mom calls to ask how your day is going while your kids are in music class? CUE THE WATER WORKS! 

We took our winter MAP tests for reading this week. I consistently set the bar high, not only for my students, but for myself. This test was a rude awakening to say the least. I went in with the same expectations as I have had previously, but this MAP is Common Core, and as we all know - a different animal. This animal lives in the deep undiscovered depths of the ocean which educators humans have not yet explored, and after this week I'm wishing it would stay there.

So I did what any early career - bogged down - teacher would do when they are scared they are sinking more than swimming. I thought about my kids. What could I give them TODAY to truly be more college and career ready. I paused everything else and concentrated on self assessment. You can't learn unless you can actually monitor your learning.

Enter: Metacognition. 

We broke it down. Talked about why in the world a 6th grader would care about the words metacognition and self assessment. After relating the "meta - above and beyond" to Buzz Lightyear, and "cognition - thinking and comprehension" to Mr. Psychologist... we annotated. Still going heavy on the annotations, but in time they will dwindle so I'm not complaining. Their homework was to go home and achieve the highest level on their self assessment scale, teach their parents about metacognition. The fact that they could give their parents homework was just way too exciting for them. My students explained metacognition to their parents  *along with how it relates to them and the process of their learning* Then (insert adult figure at home) had to summarize what their 6th grader taught them. We ALL got a lot out of this lesson and it made this wounded teacher smile a little brighter. 

                                                                       

Each student not only has a "Self Assessment" tag on their desk to consistently rate their learning, they each now sport a "Metacognition Tent." These consist of a green (4-5) yellow (2-3) and pink (1) notecard stack, which they change while I am teaching depending on their understanding of the topic. I love these because the students are consistently thinking about their thinking! They are taking their learning into their own hands. Students who are not always comfortable raising their hand have their own power for self assessment. 

Oh, and say "Hi," to our new friend Ollie. He is our new class pet - Ollie goes hand in hand with our class read aloud. All I am going to say is if you have not read Out of My Mind, just do it. 

Stay chip free and standards based!

Here We Go!

Thanksgiving break is over and we roll into the most fun three weeks of the school year (yes, taste my sarcasm). Why on GOD'S GREEN EARTH would this twenty something decide to start blogging during this time of year? Well here's the scoop. I love teaching, and when I say I love teaching I mean I was that freak child who always had a classroom of my own. Yes, 5 year old with big brown eyes teaching about Martin Luther King to her little brother and plethora of dolls throughout the month of January. So here it is. My love for creating all sorts of pretty in my classroom and seeing the sparkle in my kiddos' eyes will be here. My hub of love. If there is something I love JUST as much as teaching (and you can ask anyone in my life) it would be my sick and I mean SICK obsession with nail polish. So here we go, each post will contain the color I adorn my tips with and a short description of my thoughts. On top of that, the meat and potatoes of my posts will be all about my classroom and it's happenings. Here's to growing young minds and marvelous manicures. Cheers!

Teaching this week in...

Loving this color for fall and the ever so lovely transition into the holidays. Oxblood? I'd like to think so, borderline black on the nails though... foxy.

Before break I started the ever daunting task of a lifelong lesson for readers - cue the choir - ANNOTATING! I went with the true gradual release. Showed my 6th graders some models, did an article together on "Too Much Txting" (always a fave with this age group), then assessed their skills with Sandra Cisneros' "Eleven." The amount of connections they had was INSANE. I can't wait to see what they do with their new found skill of annotating. Lifelong lesson I tell ya! Nonfiction is next on my list. 

Got these bad boys from my Donors Choose project. GOD BLESS ALL OF MY DONORS! The kids went WILD when they finally got to use the "smelly markers." Fruity-est annotations I've ever assessed, that's for sure. 

And one last ode to my inspiration for blogging...

Pinterest how I love you. 

Stay chip free and standards based!