Meet the Teacher!

Good morning! I'm linking up with Stephanie from Falling Into First for her "Meet the Teacher" linky! I've loved getting to know some of my favorite bloggy friends a little bit more, so here's a little bit about me!

I'm 29 years old and live in Charlotte, NC. I have been married for almost 2 years to my best friend in the whole world, my hubby Jack. He is one of my biggest supporters and pushes me to do my best at all times. I truly believe that he brings out the best in me and everyone he comes in contact with. I've been blessed! We do not have any human children, but we have the sweetest fur baby. His name is Tucker and we adopted him from a rescue a little over a year ago. He loves to cuddle on the couch and I think he believes that he's part human! 

I am starting my 8th year of teaching. During these 8 years, I've been at 3 different schools, the 4th one this year! I've taught 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 2nd grade. This year, I'm teaching 1st grade. I'm nervous about working with such little ones, but I am excited about trying something new! 

Now for a little Q and A!

 THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Tervis Tumblers, my new found love for the gym, Diet Coke, Iced Caramel Macchiatos from Starbucks, all things font and clipart related, binge watching TV shows, rainy Sunday afternoons, summer break, Christmas time, new school supplies (especially pens), and of course my Tucker Man

 IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?
I go back and forth with this one... Realistically, I'd probably be in real estate. I'd also love working for  a nonprofit, especially one that works with kids. 

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU. 

Motivated, Passionate, Happy 

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________,  SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

"I'd love if you brought your small children to our classroom when you volunteer... said no teacher ever!"
 

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

Luke Bryan, both of my grandfathers, Jim Gaffigan... really random list, I know!

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

I don't know about this one...

 Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

It's probably a machine instead of a superpower... I want something that will help clean the house (especially my closet) without me having to do the work!

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"Find something you're passionate about and stay tremendously interested in it" - Julia Child 

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 

currently, it would be "Be Okay" by Oh Honey! love that song!

 Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

I'm really good at around 10:00 AM and again around 8:00 PM. I can make morning and night work, but I LOVE my sleep!

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

I really like my "Classroom Quotes" pack that I posted last week. Nothing too special, but I love that it is something that can make my classroom a little more cheerful! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Subway-Art-Classroom-Quotes-1373675

Q: SHARE SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU

Other than the 4 years I was in college, I have lived within 5 miles of where I grew up. The house where the hubs and I live now is probably 10 minutes from the house where I grew up! I still shop at the same grocery store where I shopped when I was little I guess I'm a creature of habit!

Now it's your turn! Link up with Stephanie to share about yourself and to find out more about your favorite teacher bloggers!

 

Currently - August

I'm linking up with the wonderful Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for Currently for the month of August. I'm a few days late on this one, but better late than never!

Now that August is here and my mind is starting to get back in school mode, I'm setting a goal to really start blogging. Hopefully I'll be able to follow through with it this year!

What are you up to this month?

July Currently

I'm linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for this month's "Currently". This is my first "Currently" so I'm really excited!

Listening - Right now, I'm listening to GMA and the local news. On the news, they're talking about the tropical depression that is brewing off the coast of Florida. Hope it stays away for the rest of the week!

Loving - Vacation time with my family. I've been at the beach with my parents and my dog, Tucker, since Friday. My brother got here yesterday afternoon and my hubs finally gets here this evening. We have more family friends coming on Thursday for the long holiday weekend. Will be a full house, but it's always a great time!

Thinking - Since we've been at the beach, my parents and I have done something to exercise each morning. Our first 3 days were walks, but today we shook it up and went for a bike ride. I hadn't been on a bike in what seems like ages and my legs are burning like crazy! I'm starting to enjoy the burn! Hopefully I'll keep it up.

Wanting - DIET COKE! I know it's so bad for you, but I'm not so much of a coffee drinker. Diet Coke is my vice. I have tried really hard to cut back on drinking "DC" and have kept myself to only 1 a day, typically pretty early each day. I think it is about time for me to get today's "fix"

Needing - Can you believe that it's already July? I haven't really thought too much about my massive "to do" list for school. Not to mention I'm moving to a new school AND a new grade level. I have a LOT I need to get cracking on. My plan is to get a move on with it once I return from vacay.

4th Plans - As I mentioned, we're at the beach. Our plan is to hang out on the beach and then to grill chicken and ribs for dinner. Hopefully the storm thats brewing off the coast will move away from us and we can enjoy the day outside. Otherwise, looks like a "hurricane party" for us!

Who's watching the World Cup game today? I know that I am! GO USA! I believe that we will win!

The 4Cs... part 3

**This is the 3rd post of a 3-part series discussing incorporating the 4Cs (creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration) in a 21st century classroom.**

In the past, when I would see the word “creative” used in the context of school, I always assumed that it meant artistic or having the ability to create pieces of art. Never was that word that I would have used to describe myself. I was the student in art that had complete meltdowns, ugly crying and all, because my drawing didn’t look like the example. As an adult, my art skills are limited to coloring within the lines in a coloring book or taking pictures with my phone and using a filter before posting it Instagram.

The more time I spend teaching and researching creativity in the classroom, the more I am exposed to the true meaning of creativity. I now know that being creative is much more than being able to sketch something. It is a true ability to use your understanding to take it a step further and apply this understanding to a different context.

There are several ways that teachers can incorporate and encourage creativity in their classrooms.

OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE AND EXPLORE

Free exploration is something that is often thought of when teachers think of a preschool classroom. You imagine students rotating through centers where they are able to try out different things. I know that in my classroom, I love to have free time where I encourage my students to explore and build with math manipulatives. It is amazing, that even during a 20 minute block of time, that they come up with some great creations! Occasionally, I will ask my scholars to write about what they've created and how they created it or I will have them write a story incorporating their creation.

I think that it is very important to expect students to create. This creating doesn't have to be cookie cutter. What one child creates might, and should, be very different from the next student. When we set the expectation that students will create and think outside the box, the students understand the importance of this creativity in being successful

INTERDISCIPLINARY UNITS

A great way to incorporate creativity to academics is to use interdisciplinary units. An example of an interdisciplinary unit is a "geometry and art" unit. Within this unit, students can use their understanding of geometry (two- and three-dimensional shapes) to create works of art. Scholars can also examine pieces of well known art for examples of specific geometric shapes and patterns that they found. 

SPECIFIC PROGRAMS

There are specific programs that can be used to help students build creative thinking skills. One of those programs is Odyssey of the Mind. While participating in OM, students are required to use their creative thinking skills to solve spontaneous problems that are given to them on the day of competition. They also have to find a creative way to present a 7-minute solution to a "problem" that allows them to draw on their acting skills as well. 

Another model for building creative thinking skills is the Parnes-Osborne Creative Problem Solving Model. With CPS, students are given a global problem to solve. They then generate ideas for solving the problem and come together to create a solution for this problem.

Thinking about integrating creativity into lessons is something that involves some creativity on the part of the teacher, but when things fall into place it is a wonderful thing. 

The 4Cs... Part 2

**This is the second post in a 3-part series on incorporating the 4 Cs, also known as 21st Century Skills, in your classroom daily** 

Critical thinking is, by definition, the intentional application of higher order thinking skills. These higher order thinking skills include analysis, evaluation, and creation as well as problem solving. Something you don’t typically see included critical thinking skills are regurgitation and memorization of information and facts. In this post, I will examine ways I facilitate the development of critical thinking skills in my classroom. 

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QUESTIONING
One way to develop critical thinking skills in my classroom is by using a variety of different questions. While “yes” or “no”, “black or white” questions are great, and easy to think of, I think that it is extremely important to ask questions of varying difficulty of all students.

 Following a classroom observation a few years ago, I was given the suggestion by a facilitator to have a document like this on hand during lessons. I started trying to choose more questions from analyze, evaluate, and create instead of remember, understand, apply. I realized that by asking higher order thinking questions, my students were had to think more critically. In turn, they were learning more.

 In addition to asking students more difficult questions, you can also teach your students to ask these questions on their own. They can become Question Masters, tasked with asking and answering questions about topics and texts that they have read about. Kathy Bumgardner (www.kbumreading.com) has an activity posted on her website where students use “Bloom’s Bucks” and earn points, or money, based on the complexity of the questions they ask. You can find these “Bloom’s Bucks” here.

SOCRATIC OR PAIDEIA SEMINARS
 A more intentional way of developing critical thinking skills in the classroom is through Socratic seminar discussions. Prior to a Socratic discussion, students are exposed to a text, piece of music, or art. After multiple exposures to the seminar piece, a teacher leads the students in a discussion. The questions the facilitator asks are open-ended and require students to think critically prior to answering. 

Being the facilitator of a Paideia Seminar is one of the most difficult things I've done when it comes to actually leading instruction. Imagine listening to amazing conversations between your scholars and only being able to ask questions and nod. Not participating in these discussions has been a lesson in self-control for me! 

SELF REFLECTION
 Another way to encourage students to think critically, and to think about their thinking, is to have them reflect on their own learning. Thinking about their learning doesn’t just mean that students say “I learned _____ today” or “I had a hard time with _____”. I try to have students share their answer to a question in addition to why they feel that way or how got that answer. This “why” and “how” is something that my second graders have struggled with. So often, I have found that they know the answer to a question, but have no idea how to verbalizing how they found the answer.

 One way to encourage students to reflect on their learning is to have students practice explaining how they know to a partner. By implementing this turn-and-talk strategy, students grow more comfortable with sharing their thinking. This makes it a little easier when they have to make the transition to sharing their thinking with the entire class!

Critical thinking is an integral part of 21st Century education. It is imperative that we find ways to incorporate it into our daily teaching! 

The Four Cs

I was recently approached by one of the academic facilitators in my building to participate in our district-wide teaching and learning blog. She asked me focus on 21st Century Skills, better known as the 4Cs. I decided instead of writing a single long post, that I would divide it into 3 shorter posts. Here is the first of 2 posts I've written so far on the 4Cs...

You can download posters for each of the 4Cs on my TPT store. 

Part I - Communication and Collaboration

When I started Kindergarten twenty-three years ago, the focus of our schools was on the “3 Rs”. You know them- “reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic”. In the time between leaving Kindergarten and becoming a teacher myself, many things have changed. Tides have shifted in education. We still focus the majority of our instruction on reading, writing, and math. However, the “4Cs” and “21st Century Skills” have become just as important. There is even a section in the CMS K-2 Report Card where students are graded on their 21st Century Skills. 

 The “4 Cs”, as they are referred to in education and this blog post, are communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. This blog post is the first of three relating to the “4 Cs”, and will focus on integrating communication and collaboration in the classroom.

I chose to combine communication and collaboration in this first blog post, as I believe that they are closely related to one another. In my opinion, collaboration is simply an extension and development of communication. 

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PREPARING TO USE COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION IN THE CLASSROOM
The first step in implementing communication within the classroom is establishing a classroom community where students feel comfortable sharing and engaging with one another. Students who do not feel comfortable or do not feel that their opinions are heard and respected are unlikely to engage with their classmates or their teachers.

Once this classroom community is established, it is necessary to model how to communicate effectively. This step is extremely important, because if students do not know how to effectively communicate, then implementing the “4 Cs” in the classroom is futile. At this time, teachers should model active listening, as well as asking good questions. Students should also learn how to respectively disagree with others during classroom discussions. By being able to listen actively, ask good questions, and respectively share their opinions, students are ready to communicate with each other. 

WAYS TO USE COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION IN THE CLASSROOM
There are a number of different ways that communication and collaboration can be integrated into classroom instruction. These methods range from ones that can be done on a daily basis to ones that might take longer to implement.

Turn-and-talk – Students can turn-and-talk with a partner as a part of everyday instruction. Teacher guides student partners by asking class the same question, then partner teams share their thoughts with partner before sharing with the whole class.

Socratic or Paideia Seminars – Students participate in academic conversations about a given piece (text, art, music). Teacher serves as facilitator, asking questions. Students think in-depth about question before answering. Students share their thoughts freely and openly.

Group Projects – Students can work on group projects in learning teams. When working on projects, students work together to create a collaborative end product. It is important for students working on group projects to set rules and guidelines. Student groups should also create jobs for each team member to ensure that all team members are doing the same amount of the work.

Literature Circles – When participating in literature circles, students read an assigned text. They then discuss the text they have read.

Virtual Literature Circles– Virtual Literature Circles are similar to in person literature circles. However, unlike in live literature circles, students can use websites such as Gaggle to share their thoughts or understanding.

Padlet – Teachers, or students, can create a Padlet and ask a question or share a statement. Other group members can post their responses to the question.

Now it's your turn... how do YOU integrate communication and collaboration within your classroom? 

The Beginning

Here I am, Raegan. I'm the new kid on the blogging block.

Like many teachers, the majority of my time is spent either at school, doing work for school or thinking about school. Additionally, I love being able to share my ideas and thoughts about creative ideas for teaching and learning with other teachers that are as passionate as I am. A few days ago I thought, what better than to share my passion with others!?!? Now, here I am. 

My hope is to be able to blog a few days a week in order to share products I make for and use in my classroom. I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to communicate with other teachers and share all of our great ideas with each other. 

A little about me... I teach in Charlotte, NC. This is my seventh year teaching. I have taught 4 years in 3rd grade, a year in 4th grade and this is my second year in 2nd grade. I have a Masters in Reading and am currently pursuing a licensure in AIG. 

I'm super excited about diving headfirst into my newfound passion and hobby!