Microhabitats and Biodiversity PBL w/ Technology!

Last summer our wonderful science department went on a department trip to D.C. for a Jason Learning conference.  While we were there, we were given a field experience in the Great Falls National Park. Using a netting, a pop-up table, rain boots and various hand tools, we looked for macro-invertebrates along a stream. Using a dichotomous key and pamphlet guides given to us by the program, we were able to determine the species present and determine if the stream was a healthy stream or not.

                         

We had a blast! Here we were, grown adults, and we didn’t want to get out of the stream for lunch. I can only imagine how excited our students would be if they were given the opportunity to do this. This activity covered multiple TEKS including abiotic/biotic factors, biodiversity, and dichotomous keys. As you can imagine, the teachers in us were completely geeking out. 


                       

My goal this semester to simulate this same activity on our campus. I’m meeting with our department chair to get the required materials to pull this off! I also want to leverage it further by including a pre-lab study and report at the end of the activity. Students would chart their data and type up a report in the library, and if time allows, present their findings in class.

      

I’m ready to give my students more LEARNING EXPERIENCES. I feel like real good learning makes you FEEL a certain way. You rarely get a feeling from a worksheet…unless that feeling is “oh geez”. I hope that by April I can post a follow-up blog with a success story!


-  Amanda Campos

Differentiation with the Tic-Tac-Toe Chart

Need an idea on how to differentiate your lesson?
Click to see an idea you can try: Tic-Tac-Toe Menu

Student Instructions: Since it is a tic-tac-toe menu students are instructed to select three assignments. The assignments must be in a row vertically, diagonally, or horizontally that would represent a winning game. My campus runs on a 54 minute period schedule so students were given three class periods to complete their three assignments. 
What it looked like in class: There were nine different options which led me to create my own outline of the tic-tac-toe on the white board, which you can see in the picture below. 

It made it easier to visually see a difference with color so I created a set of 8 for each assignment. Students completed their work in the "Book of Knowledge" aka interactive student notebook. When students completed an assignment they needed to get a teacher signature to show they had solved that assignment correctly.
Tips: If you trust your students to not cheat then you can create a self check station instead. If you are doing the teacher signature have your answer keys ready to go for a faster process. The assignment was created as a google doc so if you can send it through It's Learning or Google Classroom then make it digital. Lastly, get as creative as you like with the assignment options. 
Reflection: Next time I do something similar or like this tic-tac-toe assignment I would like to try and integrate a writing piece within each assignment to help my EL students. I would also like to include assignments where students create rather than just solve. 

Differentiating with Learning Menus

As I looked out over my classroom, I saw kids completely NOT on the same page. Literally. Five were sitting in a group, talking about the differences between conduction and radiation. Five more were scattered, sitting alone, coloring pages of cut-outs to glue into their interactive notebooks. There were three students with their Chromebooks open, taking the quiz on TEKS 6.9 A. Another five were using textbooks, iPads, and dictionaries to look up new vocabulary words and fill in Frayer models. Yep...it was going well. My class was up to their elbows in personalized learning. It was beautiful and ugly, neat and messy, streamlined and frustrating. It was awesome. It had kids engaged. It needed tweaking. I still have much to learn and even more to try out. My first attempt at using a personalized learning menu was definitely a dynamic work-in-progress and I can't wait to try it again.

Leadership: From Rags to Riches

Leadership: From Rags to Riches

The Rags

I graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with my degree in Elementary Education. I was ready to take on the world of education with brand new ideas. I packed up my college dorm room and made the 29 hour drive to Houston, TX. Not knowing anything about the area I secured my first job in another district teaching first grade. Needless to say, I didn't have the best experience. In fact, I absolutely despised teaching. I was a sinking ship full of panicking passengers. My students wouldn't listen, I didn't have a clue what TEKS were (Florida uses Sunshine State Standards), and I didn't even know where the faculty restroom was on my campus. I didn't have much support from my administrators and came home every day in tears of frustration. I was so close to throwing in the towel and deciding teaching wasn't for me. I actually went and met with a naval officer to try and join the Navy. Turns out I didn't qualify to fly jets for the Navy because medical conditions, so I only had teaching to fall back on in order to make my life 'successful'. I decided to try one more school in another district, and that is when God sent me Spring Branch ISD.

The Inspirations

I walked into my interview with Vivian Pratts at Edgewood Elementary and immediately fell in love. The building being beautiful was enough in itself, especially since my last school looked like a jail yard with metal detectors, but Mrs. Pratts was a gift sent from heaven. She was the principal and mentor I needed to remind myself teaching was for me. She saw something in me and has pushed me to leadership ever since our first time meeting in my interview. She immediately got me involved at school with various projects, invited me to attend district events, and introduced me to many important people. By working with Mrs. Pratts I slowly began to realize that I do possess leadership potential, and it is something I am very much interested in and want to pursue. So because of her I have begun taking the leadership journey.

The Riches

So now I'm sitting here in Vanguard Onboarding. I am taking on as many leadership opportunities as possible. I am concentrating on building my network of professional educators and filling my brain with as much knowledge as possible. I have met and formed relationships with many ingenious people in this district, and learn something amazing everyday. Over the summer I had the fantastic opportunity to be in the first cohort of aspiring leaders, and got be an intern for Jennifer Blaine. It was a fantastic experience this past summer. Due to that internship many other opportunities presented themselves. I am currently engaged in itslearning daily with my students which allowed me to lead staff developments on my campus and at the district level. Everyday leadership is at the forefront in my mind, and I can't wait for the next steps. My next step is to pass graduate school, get my principal certification, and become an AP this upcoming school year. Everyday, due to a completely packed scheduled, I tell myself 'just breathe'. Everything will all come together with time.

Student Voice

During the summer I discovered Flipgrid at ISTE. I found interest in the Flipgrid booth because their people seemed very upbeat (you obviously don't stop at a quiet, lonely booth). I automatically caught #flipgridfever because it reminded me of Youtube videos, which my students are obsessed with!

I have used Flipgrid twice in my room and my students LOVE it! They feel that they are "Youtubing" when really, they are answering a math problem. My goal for my students is to find different ways to show their work, explain the reasoning behind their work, practice using academic vocabulary and have fun. I have had students make an outline of their video before recording themselves as well as students who have gone to pull a word from our word wall to have it ready for the Flipgrid recording. 

What we've done well: 

• use of academic language
• putting an individual twist to individual thoughts

What we need to improve: 

• using only 2 stickers as opposed to 10
• placing stickers AROUND our face
• NOT deleting a video because our hair did not look cute

I'll definitely continue using Flipgrid this year. I can't wait to see more of my students' responses. 

Hopefully you'll catch #flipgridfever too!

Flipgrid

With discomfort comes growth...

Once again, my professional mantra has steered me in the best direction. 

For the past two years, I had no idea what Vanguard was about, other than the fact that all of the people in the photos tagged #SBVanguard seemed happy. I wondered occasionally what might be causing the smile, and I pondered if I was willing or able to join them one day. Luckily, Amy W. and Krystal W. encouraged me to apply. 

Even with their encouragement, and the seemingly happy people in the photos, I still questioned the move. However, I was considering it. I was considering it in a year that, on paper, seems completely overwhelming. I have taken on new roles, have new teammates, new curriculum, among other things. For these reasons, applying for Vanguard made me a little apprehensive. I considered putting it off until next year. I thought about all of the reasons that I should not apply. I noticed that there were multiple steps to the application, that there was a deadline to apply, and it was not that far away. I considered all of the obligations I had already agreed to, and thought it not wise to take a new thing on. Especially something so vaguely described.

Then, my mantra popped up at the end of my brainstorm. All of the things that were dissuading me to apply were causing a sense of discomfort that registered. I am learning to turn into the discomfort instead of running away from it. I decided to do it. I completed the application and went to the interview. Then, I was accepted! I was excited, but still unclear about what to expect and that was okay. I knew I would grow but I did not know how.

Today, I came to realize that I still don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into. I am certain, however, that this was the right move. I look around the room at strong, yet friendly teachers. I see a cohort forming and I am excited about the possibilities. I am excited about the uncertainty of what lies ahead. I am ready to push myself to a productive level of discomfort. I am ready to grow with these people. Let’s do this, SBVanguard (and go team ... )

Team work makes dreams work

I am excited to have cohort 3 join us on our Vanguard journey! 

This year my focus has been coaching the teachers on my campus in using the itslearning platform.  There have been many trials and tribulations, but I think the most valuable thing I have learned is that you must go slow to go fast.  I have a tendency to always want to jump in with two feet and take off running, but many people need to take baby steps in order to be successful.  This year I have had to take many steps back, reflect, and figure out how to slow down to the pace of the people I am working with.  Though this has been a challenge, I have finally started to see my teachers experience success with the itslearning platform.

Next year I am excited to move into year 3 and continue coaching, collaborating, and growing as a leader.  I am thankful that I have a team of teachers who are going to continue on the journey with me.  I am excited to see what all of the Vanguard fellows can do together as we grow, learn, and innovate!