Creating, Playing, and Learning in a Math Class

Man what another fun week in class!  So this week we're gearing up for our Math Benchmark next week.  Being a classroom that doesn't teach test formatted Questions and that doesn't do worksheets, we tend to do things a little differently.

On Monday we did a rotation exercise.  Kids were split into groups of three and there different stations around the room with word problems that I had made up.  The groups would rotate through the different stations solving the problems and keeping track of their answers.  I was also one of the stations and my job was just to talk to the kids about their struggles and work on different concepts they didn't feel comfortable in.

Tuesday we had a Benchmark for Reading that went from 9:00am until 3:00pm, don't even get me started.

The rest of the week we did different games and group activities for the kids to practice the skills they had been learning about all year.

On an side note we also did something really fun for our Classroom Champions Athlete.  The kids were given coloring pages of Joshua Sweeney (our athlete) and they designed them however they wished.  Then the kids made videos talking about what josh has taught them or what the program has taught them, and then we used the Aurasma app to turn their coloring pages into an Augmented Reality experience.  We were able to send the pictures to Josh virtually and he was able to scan them and watch the videos of my kids! It's so cool.  Right below I've put a few of my kids coloring pages.  If you download the FREE Aurasma app, search for "Nesloney Classroom Champions" and then click "Follow" you can scan the pages straight from your computer screen and see my kids' videos!  They pages are also posted in the hall for anyone to scan.

Another awesome thing we are starting is a collaborative experience between my homeroom and Brad Waid's 3rd grade class in Michigan.  We're going to do a Google Hangout every Friday for 30 minutes and just allow our kids to share with each other what they're learning about in school and what cool stuff they did that week. This week was our first experience, and man was it a blast.  My kids, four hours later, are STILL talking about it!  They just loved getting to share all the stuff we're doing and hearing about the stuff Brad's 3rd grade class is doing.  Brad and I are very much looking forward to doing this every week.  Our classrooms will become "brother classrooms" that work together and what our goal is that next semester we'll also do random GHOs where my students will teach his a quick lesson over math, or his will teach my students a quick lesson as well as continuing to share with each other!

Another great idea I got this week was to allow my kids some creative and fun freedom.  So on Friday we had a fun day.  What that means is that I set up different stations around the room.  

- One station was our Hot Dots system we got through Donors Choose last year.  The kids were able to practice math facts and other math skills using the system.

- Another station was logic puzzles that the kids had to figure out.

- A 3rd station was new tech.  They worked with some technology that we're getting to beta test.  They worked with Tangible Play, SparkUp Reader, and more!  They love playing with new technology.

- and the 4th station was at our computers working on the FasttMath or ReflexMath programs our school has to master math facts.

It was such a blast to watch the kids just have fun and learn at the same time! 

We also created a #ChooseKind tree this week.  That was designed for the kids to find ways to show random acts of kindness to others.  Whenever they have someone preform a random act of kindness for them or whenever they do one, they get a leaf, write the act on it, and put it up on the tree.  It's been fun to watch the tree fill up with kindness leaves!

The final thing this week was we debuted our Augmented Reality Christmas Tree!  The students LOVED seeing "their ornament" come to life with their video.  Such a blast to see the excitement in their eyes.

 Here's to another awesome week!

Sparkup Reader - One of My New Favorite Devices

Recently I got the opportunity to play with an exciting new toy called the Sparkup Reader!  As soon as I heard about this device I knew I had to get my hands on it to play with it.  I’m not even a reading teacher and I absolutely love this little device.  Now, it’s not perfect, but it’s awesome!

So what is the Sparkup Reader?  Well essentially what it does it with the touch of one button you can record yourself reading ANY book, and then the Sparkup Reader will read the book back to a child.  But the cool part is that the Sparkup knows exactly what page the child is looking at!  And so if a child is flipping pages out of order, the reader will still read the page that the child is looking at!!

I took the device to school and played with it.  My students picked it up really easily and so did some other teachers I let play with it.

There is great potential to this device and the battery lasts quite a while too!  The only major downside is that currently there is no headphone jack!  That makes it a big disappointment for the classroom.  Supposedly the next version is going to have a headphone jack, so that is definitely something to look forward to! But if you’ve got young children this is a must have gift.  You can have grandparents, or any relative, record themselves reading any picture book you want with the Sparkup Reader!! Just imagine the possibilities.  If you’re looking for a great holiday gift, I highly recommend this device!

You can check out more and even order one by clicking here

Negativity Kills Creativity

I like to think that I'm a creative teacher who really strives to try out of the box ideas to make my classroom as fun and exciting as possible.  But in saying that, doing things like that doesn't come without some sort of push back.  Over the years I've been shut down by administration, other teachers, parents, you name it!  I used to think that it was just me who was always getting told no, or that my ideas were terrible, or that I wasn't good at what I was doing.

As I've become connected to teachers all over the country (and the world) I've learned something.  I've learned that the battle for creativity is not a battle I fight alone.  I am not the only one receiving push back for some of the things I want to do.

But what I've learned, especially lately, is the power of words, and more importantly the power of negativity.  When you try to do exciting and creative things in your classroom or school, you are putting yourself out on a limb.  A limb where people can criticize.

Used to, when I was growing up, if someone was going to say something bad about me, they said it to my face or to others behind my back.  We've all been there.  We've all heard about something someone was saying about us, and it hurt.  And sometimes it hurts more than we can bare.  We're humans, we long for understanding and we want to belong.  But when someone tries to damage our character it leaves scars.  And scars can heal, but they'll always be there.

But that was then.  Nowadays we don't only have to listen to what is being said about us to others or behind our backs, but now we have to also read about it online.

Before I go any further let me admit something.  Years ago I had allowed circumstances in my life to define who I had become.  For years I had allowed myself to become bitter, angry, jealous, and negative.  I used to say "let's expect the worst, so that if it doesn't happen I can be happy I tried it".  I was angry at the world.  And my anger made me become an extremely negative person.  And I know in that period of my life I hurt people with my words and opinions.

Then one day I saw the damage my negativity was doing.  It was one of those 'wake up calls'.  And I knew I couldn't go back.  For me, it's a daily battle to remain positive.  So why do I do it if it's so difficult?  Because it's so necessary.

As educators we have enough people tearing us down.  We have enough people telling us we're not doing it right, we're not doing it good enough, or that what we're doing flat out doesn't matter.  We're surrounded by it.  Period.

So then, why as educators do we so often choose to attack our own?  Why do we choose to talk about other educators in person, behind their backs, on blogs, or on social media.  Why aren't we choosing to be better?  Why aren't we choosing to band together?  Because honestly, we ARE all in this together.

I've read so many hateful and hurtful tweets, facebook posts, blogs, and more lately.  Other educators complaining about teachers who do this, or teachers who do that.  Or Twitter should be used for this, or facebook should be used for that.  There is so much negativity and meanness being spread around, and more importantly, there is so much HURT being spread around.

I've sat back the last few weeks and heard story after story from my friends as they get ripped to shreds for doing this, or saying that, or trying this.  And it breaks my heart.  I've wept for the people I've seen be hurt recently.  And I admit, I'm part of the crowd too as I've listened to others tear me down recently.  But my  heart hurts more for those teachers who are incredibly inspiring people and I sit back and watch others try and break their spirits, and sometimes the negative crowd wins, and spirit is broken. And that's the worst part.

So why do I write this blog post?  I write it today to remind you of the importance of words.  Those spoken and those written.  We have enough pain and hurtful things going on around us, why would we choose to add more pain to someone's day.  The next time we want to complain or be negative, let us pause, think, and find a way to flip it around where we find the brighter side, or we keep our thoughts to ourselves, or we just don't say anything at all. Because it's true, negativity kills creativity, and in the end the person that it hurts the most are the children who are watching our every action and expect us to set the example for them to follow.  Let's show them what love, compassion, understanding, and a kind word looks like.  Let's show them why we chose to be teachers; to set an example worth following.

Perimeter, Twitter, ChatterPix and Christmas Augmented Reality

This week was a whirlwind!  I guess it's cause we're getting back into the swing of things after being gone for Thanksgiving break.

Monday we spent the day catching up on our Classroom Champions lesson, this month over "Community".  We watched a video from our athlete, Josh Sweeney, and then came up with a plan.  To show Community this month we have made a giant tree in the hallway and we're doing random acts of kindness.  Every random act of kindness will get a leaf on the tree!  Excited to watch it grow!

Another idea this week that I had was creating an Augmented Reality Christmas Tree using the app Aurasma.  So I made the tree, cut out light bulbs, and put the kids pictures on each light bulb.  Then I had them record a brief video discussing why they like Christmas.  I attached the video to each picture and now anyone that comes to our school can scan a child's picture on the tree and see a video of them talking about why they love Christmas! A TON of work, oh man.  But HUGE thanks to Drew Minock and Brad Waid for constantly being available to help me make the whole thing and figure out my mistakes :-)

We also did I project this week that I've mentioned before.  It's our perimeter project.  I gave each group of students a piece of chart paper, markers, pencils, crayons, yarn, rulers, play-doh, and blocks.  They had to trace a person's body on the paper, and then find the exact perimeter of that body using whatever tools they could.

I love this project because it really requires the kids to think about the tools necessary to find the perimeter.  Many want to go straight to the ruler to measure, but since they're working with curved lines they have to figure out that using the yarn is the best tool they were given.

I love the conversations that pop up and more!  So great!

The other cool thing we did this week was use a new app I found thanks to Drew Minock, called "ChatterPix".  This app allows you to take a picture, choose where you want the mouth to move, and then record yourself saying something and watch your picture speak it.  To say the kids loved this app is an understatement.  So I decided to give them some homework.  I told them to take the ChatterPix app, and record themselves singing our "Perimeter/Area" song.  They LOVED it!  They came back with so many hilarious videos of cows, hamsters, cars, and even toilet paper singing the song!  It was so much fun they begged to do it again the next night.  Awesomeness.

The final thing that happened this week that I loved was that we were doing a writing lesson and sea animals came up.  One of the students asked if a Starfish was considered a fish....I didn't know...so of course the kid jumped on google to look it up.  At the same time, another student was trying to be funny and said that a starfish was "a star that fell from space, and it the water, and came back to life, like Jesus" I thought it was so funny that we then tweeted it out.  Well wouldn't you know a friend of mine Jenny Buccos, who runs Project Explorer, tweeted us back and shared a link to a video about starfish. We watched that video in class and learned even more!  The kids were in AWE that someone saw our tweet and then shared something with us.  Let's just say that the entire rest of the week the kids were trying to get me to tweet more and more out to see if people would respond.  I even had a child tell me his group was arguing and that he wanted to record them and put it on YouTube to show how juvenile they were acting! Love it!

And how could I forget that this week, I also got to interview Science GURU Steve Spangler on EduAllStars with Chris Kesler. Such a cool experience!

EduBlog Awards Finalists

EduBlogs has released their finalists for their EduBlog Awards for 2013!

Man there are some really great finalists in each category.  I highly encourage you to check out their site and vote for people you respect in the online world!  You can check out all the nominations here

I was super excited to find out I am a finalists for the "Best Individual Tweeter"!  I would love your vote :-) you can vote for that by clicking here or clicking the arrow pointing up below.

But just as exciting, if not more exciting, is the fact that the podcast I co-host with Chris Kesler and Stacey Huffine, EduAllStars, was nominated for "Best Podcasts or Google Hangouts".  We would LOVE your vote to support our podcast, EduAllStars.  You can vote by clicking here or the arrow pointing up below.

We have many friends that were nominated too!  Erin Klein, Shannon Miller, Two Guys & Some iPads (Drew Minock and Brad Waid), Pernille Ripp, Matt Gomez, Amber Teamann, Eric Sheninger, Angela Maiers, Kevin Honeycutt and so many more!  So go, check through the lists and drop a vote! And yes you CAN vote for more than one person/group per event!

Thanks again for all the nominations!  I love my PLN.

They're Begging You to Listen

Yesterday while working with my students a realization just came over me.  Something that I often talk about, but that yesterday just hit home so much.

Kids want us to notice them.  Kids want us to care.  Many times as teachers we get so caught up in the paperwork, and planning, and preparing for the test, that unintentionally we forget about the individual child.

We forget that there is a little voice in that body saying, "what are you going to do to inspire me today"?

My kids come to school, and they come to class, and they come into an environment where they know that they are loved, they are valued, and most importantly they have someone that believes that they can really change the world.

I write this today to encourage you to step outside of your comfortable zone.  Have lunch with a group of students, play football during recess, or just let a kid know that you notice them and that you think they're amazing.

You have no idea how much of an impact you make on a kid with just a smile, hug, handshake, or kind word.

Your students are begging you to inspire them.  They're begging you to prove to them that you care.  They're not begging you to teach them math or reading or science (that comes after the relationship is built).  Everything comes back down to relationships.  So listen to them say "INSPIRE ME" and step up to the plate, and inspire.

My Nominations for the 2013 EduBlog Awards

Blogging is something that I really got into a little over a year ago.  Never would I have ever imagined myself being a writer.  But the more I write, the more I also connect with other educators blogs.  I'm proud to announce my nominations of some great educators/blogs that have inspired me!

Best Teacher Blog

Kleinspiration 

Written By: Erin Klein

Best Group Blog

Education is My Life

Organized By: AJ Juliani

Best New Blog

Two Guys & Some iPads

Written By: Brad Waid & Drew Minock

Best Administrator Blog

Passion, Purpose, Pride

Written By: Jimmy Casas

Best Ed-Tech/Resource Sharing Blog

Engage Their Minds

Written By: Terri Eichholz

Best Individual Blog

Blogging Through the Fourth Dimension

Written By: Pernille Ripp

Best Free Web Tool

Remind101

Twitter: Remind101

Best Individual Tweeter

Brad Gustafson

Best Educational Podcast

2 Guys Show

Twitter: 2 Guys

Best Mobile App

AR Flash Cards

By: Mitchlehan Media

Best Open PD

K12 Online Conference

Twitter: K12

Thanks to all these and soooo many more who encourage, challenge, teach, and push me every day.  I love reading, and reading these blogs makes me that much of a better teacher!

You can learn more about he EduBlog Awards here.