One Room Schoolhouse?

In our program we have students in grades ranging from 1st to 8th. We are fortunate to have 4 adults working with the students so our student to adult ratio is low. This has allowed us to provide support one on one or in small groups. For example I read a story with the 1st and 2nd graders today and there were 8 students. I was able to ask comprehension questions and solicit responses from all of the students. A group of 3rd, 4th and 5th graders were able to work on an informational text and comprehension questions with another teacher. We were able to check in with all the students to set their math goal for the week. We were also able to use technology for individualized math practice and support as needed. We have worked to create a balance between the relaxed, informal atmosphere and still working hard to learn and practice skills.

The hands-on projects have generated excitement and authentic learning opportunities. It is my hope to continue project-based learning in my classroom next year. It is challenging since it can feel less structured. I will have to be intentional about consistently tying the project to grade level standards. This is obviously how all teaching and learning needs to be but going outside traditional curriculum that has been aligned to the standards requires it. In a way though it forces me to be a better teacher because I am relying on myself more than the curriculum. Not sure how this blog entry ties to the title completely but this is all about the journey.

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Ollies and Math

Thanks to generosity of Chevron through Donors Choose , my math class experienced a new mobile technology, Ollies! Ollies are programmable robots made by Sphero . We used the app, Macrolab to program the Ollies. I modified a lesson from the Sphero website to teach the concepts of measurement and data. The first day, we explored how to program the Ollies and how changing the variables in the program affected what Ollie did. The students recorded data to capture what they were seeing. On day 2 it was time to be more methodical with our data collection. Students only changed one variable at a time. This allowed students to discover the relationship between time and the distance that the Ollie traveled. The students changed the variable of the delay between the roll and stop commands to develop this understanding. There was definitely a lot of excitement and motivation to learn measurement. On Day 3, we analyzed the data recorded from each group. There were some noticeable differences

Roller Coasters

The students chose words to describe roller coasters. We recorded them using Answer Garden . I think it also describes what building roller coasters is like. There was a buzz of excitement as groups of students designed and constructed marble roller coasters. One of the student remarked, "This doesn't look like regular library time." He had just asked me if he could tape the roller coaster ramp to the wall and was shocked when I said, "Of course." The students were so engaged with their projects that they did not notice a visitor from the Hillsboro Tribune . Kathy Fuller came to learn about what was happening in our building this summer. We are proud that we will be featured in the newspaper. I will make sure to include the link in a future post. We will be continuing our roller coaster construction tomorrow. I am very thankful that our custodial staff is supportive of these messy projects. This video captures the feelings expressed in the wordl

Halfway

I am taking it as a positive sign that we are halfway through our summer program and there is still tons of positive energy. Mrs. Gonzalez and Ms. Ayala's phone calls resulted in 5 new students today! We are expecting even more new students on Monday. My hope is that we can bring the average daily attendance to 40 students. This article affirmed our purpose for the summer program and pushing the students to work on their math skills in addition to reading. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/13/5891583/summer-slide-achievement-gap-vacation I am looking forward to comparing their end of the year MobyMax math placement with their beginning of the year placement test score. Plans for next week... Model canoes, gardening, writing a Scratch character description and an art project

On the move

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