More Classroom Gameification!

So I tried my hand again at my hybrid Gameification/small group instruction activity I call "Leveling Up" it it was successful! I wanted to move through the basal knowledge on Andrew Jackson and try to work in some nice CCSS close reading skills. I was able to find the information I wanted them to read, online (I'll leave out the name of the textbook for copyright reasons) and modified the work activities to meet my needs. I decided to focus on vocabulary, nonnegotiables (words you must use in order to truly understand the passage) and summary. I created my levels and instead of a focusing on content, like I did last time, I focused on those skills.

Students worked on the activities at their own pace and when they wanted to test out or ask a question, they spent time with me at the Leveling Up Station.

When they proved competency they received a badge for completing their level.

Here are my adorable badges that I printed out on colored card stock.

Again, the kids really enjoyed it and let me know (one of the kids walked in, saw the class set up and exclaimed, "Sweet! We're leveling up!"). This time, the students really enjoyed being able to take a vocabulary quiz when they felt they were ready. Two of my colleagues sat in one of my classes and really enjoyed the activity. They are going to be trying it in their own classes and I can't wait to see how it works.
To be brutally honest, it wasn't 100% successful this time. Two of my classes succeeded but my class that struggles with academic and attentional weaknesses didn't fare as well. Don't get me wrong....they loved this activity and kept telling me but after they had focused on the vocabulary portion of the skill set they stalled. For homework, every night, I told them what should be completed for them to be successful and they totally ignored the timeline. Unfortunately, since it was my first time doing this unit this way, I had booked the library to launch our Grand Jury Project (wait till I tell you about it.....it was AMAZING!!!!) and due to other teachers needing the library, I couldn't move my dates. Instead of giving all the kids the one more day they needed in class for this, they got a due date of two days outside of class and of course it was due on the day grades closed. Well..... They didn't do it. Two classes did amazing and one class just blew it. So what can I do to change the outcome next year? For classes that struggle, this was too much work even though it was broken up. I think I would give the vocabulary assignment for homework before I launched the activity. Also, this class needed even more check in than others. My husband suggested a completion chart should be posted that they filled in after they completed each small section. I am usually against public humiliation but I do think they would have benefitted from a little casual competition.
Even though I hit a snag this time, I still absolutely love this activity. I think I need to make sure it isn't too long so the kiddos don't get bored. I polled the kids after and they told me they wished they could do this all the time, so I think that is still a vote for success! As with all education, even this type of activity needs to be differentiated for my varied groups of students.
So, what are you doing to try to work individually with the kids? What do you do to let kids work at their own pace? I really would love to know!!
If you would like to try this in your classroom, here is a link to all the resources.
I linked up with The Fourth Grade Flipper and shared this in Tried it Tuesdays!

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EdCamp Granite State....so worth it!

Today I attended my first EdCamp and it was soooooo worth it. I sat in a great work session on iPad apps, had a really fun experience in a "Things that Suck" session and met some amazing colleagues who will definitely be my new BFFs on Twitter.

Probably the coolest thing for me was taking the plunge and presenting during the first session. Since I got such great feedback here, I decided to talk to everyone about creating their own opportunities for professional development. The middle school kid in me had an inner dialogue going on about nobody showing up but I decided it was worth risk.

Check out my pink sticky!

I decided to use this blog post as a guide so I could also show off my cool blogging and design skills (dork alert!). What ensued was a great conversation! People were really interested in Twitter so we started with that and probably could have done a full hour or more on just that. I showed them the other resources in the post and then others joined in the conversation and showed some more amazing ideas for PD.

Edmodo

Classroom 2.0

And EdWeb

I have used Edmodo and Classroom 2.0 but EdWeb is new to me so I am psyched to play with a new resource!

I loved how organically the conversation moved from there and I just adored how jazzed people were getting to both share and take. I was able to have some great conversations and meet some amazing people. I can't wait for the next EdCamp! So .... Have you been able to attend an EdCamp yet? Was yours as successful as mine? Let me know!!!!

 

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Currently April

Ugh..... I totally remembered to do this on April 1st and then stupid life got in the way.  Here is my currently:

Go check out Farley to see where this originated.  Now I need to run to joint the last 15 minutes of #sschat and finish my Andrew Jackson PBL.  Have a great week!

WeSeed to Teach the Stock Market and Kidblog to Process

I might sound a little bright eyed but I had another fabulous week at school with the kiddos. I do think that blogging about my experiences puts me in a different mindset and I look at every unit as an opportunity to spread my wings.
We received new NH State Social Studies Standards about 6 years ago and we finally completed them about three years ago. I threw myself into aligning and reworking and at the end of every year I skipped the same unit: the stock market. We have a singleton set of standards on personal finance and my grade received the standard that has students creating and implementing an investment strategy. Interesting? Yes! Fascinating? Sure! Do I understand the stock market.....heck to the no!
Don't get me wrong.,,, I understand the basics of the stock market but I really like to be an expert when I teach. I made the decision that this would be the year I did the stock market and I even signed up for the national stock market challenge.... and chickened out. Before he became an amazing math teacher, my husband actually worked in finance so I finally went to him with a list of about thirty questions and he remediated me through the process. Now I just had to find the right vehicle for our challenge but I was having no luck.
About three years ago I found this amazing stock market simulation website but my hard drive blew and all my bookmarks were lost. I was strolling in the Edmodo chat rooms, about a wee ago, when I saw someone mention the fabulous website I lost three years ago. Its called WeSeed. This website is amazing!

It is made for anyone who is interested in learning to play the market. It is perfect for teachers because you can have the students join your group and you are able to track them. It also offers lesson plans and printables. Students are able to make a portfolio.

They can also do research on companies, read the most recent news on them and chat with other faux buyers of the stock.

I took the lessons and tweaked them to fit what I needed (Click here for the activities). Students were exposed to activities that immersed them in both the stock market and this particular website. We spent about four days in the computer lab and completed the first third of the packet. We will be going to the computer lab in two weeks to check in and the winner, at the end of June, is going to get a pizza party.
The kids adored this unit. They seriously couldn't get enough of it. Because the website did all the work for me, I could focus on talking to the kids about things like stocks splitting and penny stocks. One of my paraprofessionals (who started her own account:) ) said her favorite part was listening to the conversations. She said she loved hearing them talk about stuff they were learning!

Kidblogs....
In order for them to process and act as guinea pigs for next year's class, my students created Kidblog accounts and wrote their first blog entry on their initial investment experience.

I love Kidblog! It is easy to use and seamless since you can upload from Google Drive. The kids needed limited directions to sign up and were writing their first blog entry within 10 minutes (if they werent spending 20 minutes on finding the right avatar). The kids loved that they could personalize it with backgrounds and avatars, I love that they could personalize it with MINIMAL backgrounds and avatars. What I really love is that at the end of the year, I will have a a writing portfolio that I could easily share with the high school when they are considering placement.
I'm on to Andrew Jackson, but I'm really happy I left my comfort zone and did this unit. It was one of the best ones I did this year.

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Get the Kids Moving: White House Rallies, IPad Movies, Classwide Twitter and Philosophical Chairs.... In One Unit!!!!

It's Friday night and oh my..... I deserve a weekend! This week was one of those where the kids were AMAZING but the job was stressful. I have certainly earned some blogging time, some Netflix and a glass (or two) of wine!
As I've mentioned in past posts, I just finished a huge unit on foreign policy. Although we don't actually have the History Alive! Series at my school, through the wonders of technology, I have stumbled upon all the resources online. I used this unit last year and this year I really owned it, reworked it and put my spin on it. The unit presents students with a foreign policy dilemma for the first five presidents. Students are given four different scenarios to choose from as they consider how they would have acted if they were president. Students work in groups and once they decide how they would have reacted they are to complete a processing activity. The book has them protesting in front of the White House for every dilemma and although I loved the idea, last year the kids got bored of the protest quickly. So here is what I did:
1. Dilemma 1: What should John Adams do about the French and the XYZ Affair?
Using my cheap whiteboards, the kids had to come up with a slogan that they would chant at a protest rally. I told them that at the rally they would be interviewed by the press and would have to tell the reporter what they think John Adams should do and why he should do it. I gave it a CCSS flare by telling them for their reason they had to cite textual evidence. I projected the White House onto the Smartboard, split the class in half and interviewed them. They looooved it! One kid told me it was his favorite lesson all year. My favorite slogan was, "Don't hate....negotiate!" I videotaped all the segments so I could make a full foreign policy movie at the end of the unit.

2. Dilemma #2: What should Thomas Jefferson do about the Barbary Pirates?
The kids had the same directions and options but instead they had to make 30 second commercials urging the president to listen to their foreign policy advice. I used iMovie to put all these movies together, with the protest and showed the whole thing at the end. I would show you these but I'm really a stickler of showing my kids' faces. Take my word for it..... They are hysterical!
3. Dilemma 3: What should James Madison do about the British impressing our soldiers?
This time, the kiddos took part in an analog Twitter conversation. As a group, the kids came up with a Twitter handle and hashtag that would explain their stance on involvement with the British. They then wrote a Tweet about their opinions. After this, each student was given three sticky notes. They had to comment on the group before them, the group after them and a group of their choice. They had to agree or disagree using textual evidence.

This really turned out to be a great way to process. They were able to work together and then process individually. After we did this I felt like is till needed to spend some time on the War of 1812 so I showed the kiddos this.....

OMG..... The kids giggled all thought this. To show them how perspective plays a major role in the story of us, I showed them this....

They loooooved this!
4. Dilemma 4: What should James Madison do about the new Latin American countries?
For this, I tried my hand at Philosophical Chairs and I was so proud of my kiddos. I had four corners of the classroom, one for each option they could choose from. They each went to the corner and started to defend their cases with textual evidence. Whenever they stopped believing with their side, they were able to move to a new corner. For the first time, I though this went so well. I can't wait to use it in other debates as well. I love the simplicity of it and the lack of set up. The kids loved that I let them sit on the desk. It's the simple things:)
All in all, it was one of those units that you poured your blood and soul into and in the end it returned the feeling threefold. And of course, there was this......

Click here for the foreign policy activities.
Click here for the reading.

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