Virtual Teaching

 This year we embarked in uncharted territories as our district offered in-person, live, and recorded learning all from the same classroom to provide education during the pandemic. We were trained to use google classroom and created ways that students could safely and effectively learn on all different platforms offered. 

Sadly, our classroom was forced to shut once more and move to fully virtual. While it feels weird teaching from an empty room, I know it is for the best to keep everyone safe. The empty classroom was starting to get to me and I wanted to find a way to make it more exciting for both myself and my students! I have taken the jungle animals I received through a grant and set them up in every student's desk. The kids loved seeing the animals at their desk and it made the classroom feel more lively. 

At Halloween we had a student dress up game. Students practiced their writing skills by creating clues to who they were. They were then asked to read them with their google meets camera off. Each student got a chance to guess before the big reveal. To spice things up even more - I dressed up as a skeleton. My students have come to know Bart our life size jungle skeleton. I found a way to rig Bart to the fan in my classroom and have him move while I was off camera. What a fun day and brought some light into a sad situation. I tell parents throughout the year, education is extremely important but not to forget the little thinks that made kids smile. These are the things they remember and keep them engaged!

Lego Lending Program

 I am very excited to announce that our classroom received funding for a Lego lending program. Schools are currently closed and I wanted to bring something to cheer students up as we all face quarantine and unprecedented times. Students will be given the opportunity to borrow Lego kits of various skylines around the world. This will promote family building time, engineering concepts, direction following skills, and a sense of accomplishments at the finish of the project - all while learning about another country and city (my favorite)!

Update: We have received more funding to continue the project thank you to All State Foundation and Lyda Hill Philanthropies. I have been able to add Harry Potter, Star Wars, Minecraft, 3-in-1 Creator sets, and many more kits for students to explore. These all range from easy to advanced! Students are already hard at work building and learning about different sets. Make sure to check out the update as students design and print related objects on our new 3D printer thanks to the Lyda Hill Philanthropies IF/THEN initiative. Each kit has a carrying case that students will be able to transport home safely. The boxes will be out on display so students can go shopping and see the actual boxes. A few weeks in and they are building like crazy!

The students have started calling me "Amazon Package Queen" from the amount of packages being delivered from the grants. They may be right! I made a stack of the first round for fun to see how big it could get. Ultimately we had to take the boxes down to make room for new ones. The students "sanitized" and safely walked the boxes down to be recycled and to be used in other STEAM projects for the older grades. 

Ready, Set, Caterpillar Race

My favorite time of year is here... Butterfly Time! Our classroom received our caterpillars a few days ago and boy let me tell you were they excited. This group is not afraid to touch the caterpillars so I was able to bring back a fun activity. The students let their  caterpillars out and tracked their path and then raced them against friends!

Some of them raced their two caterpillars against each other while others raced their friends.

When we were all done we measured the distance from start to finish.

First Grade in 360

I am thrilled to announce the newest technological addition to our classroom! With the help of Donorschoose our room has received a 360 camera! I am really looking forward to being able to share our learning experiences with the community. These experiences will range from everyday activities, fields trips, and even my summer travels. This summer I look forward to creating virtual reality experiences that my students will be able to experience as if they were there with me. The camera is simple to use and will allow us to capture some of those special moments. Students were excited to try it out when it came. Here is a snapshot of our room in Tiny Planet Mode!

Science Fair

 

As part of the STEAM committee this year I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Middle School Science Fair. Typically the elementary school does not participate, so this was a very exciting thing. We had two different stations!

1. World Landmark Engineers

For the past few years, I have been having bi-weekly STEAM landmark competitions. It has been a fabulously exciting way to get students thinking. Every other week I introduce a new famous landmark that I have visited. Together I show them some pictures and learn about the history. Students are then given opportunities during their free time and centers to choose to work on the project. Each student will use QR codes I created to learn more about the landmark. Next, they fill out a planning sheet and create a plan. Then they try building their landmark with the different materials from the STEAM bins. Finally, they take a photo and upload it. At the end of the two weeks we go through all of the projects and the top few are selected for our Hall of Fame.

At the science fair we wanted to share this experience so that other teachers and families could see and have the opportunity to incorporate it themselves. Students ran the centers and explained to others how to give it a try. This was so exciting to see elementary students so involved for the first time at the science fair.

2. Butterfly Project

As many of you know, I am extremely passionate about butterflies and restoring their habitats. Each year we raise butterflies and release them. Last year our first grade classrooms planted and restored a butterfly habitat at a local park. This year the new first grade studied the monarch caterpillars we found at the park. Together we tracked their migration down to Mexico (if you would like to read more about this refer to my other blog post!)

The second grade came down to help create a student made bulletin to teach those at the Science Fair all about the migration track and how they helped! It was amazing to see this come together because it was almost entirely student made.

Virtual Reality Field Trips

Thanks to an amazing grant last year our students now have access to virtual reality field trips! This has probably been the most exciting of all grants that I have received. Students are now able to take this virtual reality field trip to places that we will learn about in our units. What better way to learn about the moon than to take a virtual trip to the moon!!

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas!

The holidays are always such a fun time. This year we were surprised to find some Jolly old elves visiting our classroom. One day we walked in to find Jolly riding a hippopotamus and playing the music as we entered the room. What a silly elf he is!