The name of the game is engagement, but let us all be honest with each other; if you aren't targeted about your engagement, then it is just fluff. I think I spend about 1/2 of my waking hours thinking of ways I could incorporate cross-curricular and real-world items into my lesson plans. Shouldn't we all be though? Well... maybe not spend 1/2 your waking hours thinking about it, but definitely incorporating cross-curricular and real-world items into your classroom. I always tell my parents life is not a worksheet, but let's be honest... sometimes you ARE stuck with using them! I like to break away as much as possible! Sometimes though, those angelic (cough) students of mine could care less. We know they don't! They don't care how much of our own money we spent, how long we spent planning something just for them, the only thing they care about is whether it is fun, and not "boring".
I would like to invite some chat and thought into this process. I'm reaching out to all of you! Yes, you! I don't care about your subject, your grade level, but I would love to collaborate and pick your brain.
I'm currently teaching 5th grade math. I have found that as crazy as it sounds, these kiddos still love to be read to. Especially if you can read with some serious inflection in your voice. Can you speak in different voices? Even better! I always pick something that would be about a 10 minute read, and I like to buy the books digitally so that I can project them on the board. Illustrations are a must because let's face it... they are looking! There are plenty of books that someone on YouTube is reading (which is Free for you to watch), but if I can buy a digital copy instead, I'm all over it! This is my first project this year:
I then gave students parameters such as "only recyclable materials, must provide a descriptive written piece about the living room, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and the kitchen. Must provide measurements (length, width, height, perimeter, area, how does this relate to real world sizes? How did you figure that out?...) and then of course they get to present their awesomeness to me! Right now, my classroom looks like a war zone of cardboard, plastic bottles, and glue guns. However, my students are engaged, thinking, creating, building, designing, writing, researching, imagining, and yep there is even some math thrown in.
What are your best projects? Why was it the best?
Okay, unless you are out of touch with your students (and pretty much social media) then you've heard about the game Fortnite. I will admit that I have downloaded it in my own home to play just so I could see what in the world my students are ALWAYS talking about. And I mean ALWAYS! Remember back in the day when it was Minecraft? Why can't it still be Minecraft! So many mathy things, and social studies things, and literacy things... anyway, I digress. The new rage is Fortnite. I will 100% admit that I use it as a behavior tool with my students (in partnership with their parents of course). Work hard in class? Get Fortnite at home.
Photo Credit: www.epicgames.com
What if though, we could bring this in the classroom? I know what some of you are already thinking, the violence in the game. They kill stuff... BUT, so far I've seen no blood, no body parts flying, and I'm going to be honest... they play anyway. I saw on Pinterest where a teacher is using the lingo in Fortnite to create a culture in her classroom of behavior standards and rules. How cool is that! My husband said educators should get together and talk with Fortnite creators to make an educational version. (Hey Fortnite creator... if you happen to read this sad little blog...how cool would that be!) He said how cool would it be that students would have to solve a series of problems to unlock the password of the day to play with their classmates at night when they got home? How cool indeed!
What are your thoughts on Fortnite? Does it have educational possibilities? Do you already use it? If so, please share how!
I'm on a quest to up my game. I am reading "teacher books" such as Tony Wagner's Creating Innovators, and Ron Clark's The Essential 55. My goal is to not just be the exhausted teacher, but the exhausted teacher that makes an impact on each of her students. Please chime in and tell me how you are upping your game.
I would like to invite some chat and thought into this process. I'm reaching out to all of you! Yes, you! I don't care about your subject, your grade level, but I would love to collaborate and pick your brain.
Topic 1: Literacy in Math
I'm currently teaching 5th grade math. I have found that as crazy as it sounds, these kiddos still love to be read to. Especially if you can read with some serious inflection in your voice. Can you speak in different voices? Even better! I always pick something that would be about a 10 minute read, and I like to buy the books digitally so that I can project them on the board. Illustrations are a must because let's face it... they are looking! There are plenty of books that someone on YouTube is reading (which is Free for you to watch), but if I can buy a digital copy instead, I'm all over it! This is my first project this year:
I then gave students parameters such as "only recyclable materials, must provide a descriptive written piece about the living room, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, and the kitchen. Must provide measurements (length, width, height, perimeter, area, how does this relate to real world sizes? How did you figure that out?...) and then of course they get to present their awesomeness to me! Right now, my classroom looks like a war zone of cardboard, plastic bottles, and glue guns. However, my students are engaged, thinking, creating, building, designing, writing, researching, imagining, and yep there is even some math thrown in.
What are your best projects? Why was it the best?
Topic 2: Fortnite
Okay, unless you are out of touch with your students (and pretty much social media) then you've heard about the game Fortnite. I will admit that I have downloaded it in my own home to play just so I could see what in the world my students are ALWAYS talking about. And I mean ALWAYS! Remember back in the day when it was Minecraft? Why can't it still be Minecraft! So many mathy things, and social studies things, and literacy things... anyway, I digress. The new rage is Fortnite. I will 100% admit that I use it as a behavior tool with my students (in partnership with their parents of course). Work hard in class? Get Fortnite at home.
What if though, we could bring this in the classroom? I know what some of you are already thinking, the violence in the game. They kill stuff... BUT, so far I've seen no blood, no body parts flying, and I'm going to be honest... they play anyway. I saw on Pinterest where a teacher is using the lingo in Fortnite to create a culture in her classroom of behavior standards and rules. How cool is that! My husband said educators should get together and talk with Fortnite creators to make an educational version. (Hey Fortnite creator... if you happen to read this sad little blog...how cool would that be!) He said how cool would it be that students would have to solve a series of problems to unlock the password of the day to play with their classmates at night when they got home? How cool indeed!
What are your thoughts on Fortnite? Does it have educational possibilities? Do you already use it? If so, please share how!
I'm on a quest to up my game. I am reading "teacher books" such as Tony Wagner's Creating Innovators, and Ron Clark's The Essential 55. My goal is to not just be the exhausted teacher, but the exhausted teacher that makes an impact on each of her students. Please chime in and tell me how you are upping your game.
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