Wanna Take A Look...

into my classroom last week? 

It's Sunday night and I just finished writing my weekly Week in Review to my students' parents.  On one hand I am proud of what we were able to accomplish last week, and I love sharing the goods with the parents and keeping them in the loop, but on the other hand I am kicking myself because I have not blogged since August and I want to change that...When all of a sudden....I realized...my Week in Review has all the stuff I would want to include in a blog post! 

It's got:

• A lesson on Fairness (complete with YouTube link if you cannot get your hands on the book)
• A plug for a great assessment tool (Kahoot!) - again includes a link
• An example of how we used Skype 
• Getting feedback from students
• A snippet about ditching the desks
• Using Periscope in the classroom - Link!
• Info about a PD opportunity complete with...you guessed it! A link! 
• A new, creative presentation tool: Buncee
• An idea for doing public speaking
• AND highlights something that is incredibly important: Parent Communication

So, in order to break my blogging slump, and more importantly, hopefully provide you with at least one takeaway, here is a look into what Mrs. Krayenvenger's Kids did last week via my email to parents':

Good evening!

I’m not going to lie, this one is a long one… but only because there was so much good stuff!

Here is the breakdown:

·         Fairness Assembly

·         Kahoot!

·         Skyping w/ Mrs. K’s Sister

·         Feedback on the Classroom/Periscope

·         Buncee

·         Speeches

·         Upcoming Dates

Let’s get reviewin’!

Fairness

In a few weeks (Nov. 6^th), the 4^th grade will be presenting about fairness during Assembly.  This past Tuesday we started getting ready by reading the book It’s Not Fair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoSUnJqJ7Yw to the whole 4^th grade class.  

By the end of the story your astute children shared the following thoughts:

·         Fair isn’t always about getting the same things, but about getting what you need. 

·         It’s not unfair if your sister or brother wears bigger shoes, they have bigger feet!

·         We shouldn’t say it’s unfair if someone is better at football and can score a touchdown.  Maybe they practice more than you do.

·         What if someone is confused and you’re not? It’s not unfair for the teacher to talk to them a little longer.  

·         Don’t say something is unfair until you look at from different sides.

·         Sometimes things don’t seem fair, but it’s how you handle it.

Umm…WOW.

After the 4^th grade teachers picked their bottom jaws up off the ground, we then asked the 4^th grade to draw upon our previous discussions regarding patterns in writing and explained we wanted them to continue writing the book using the same rhyming pattern.  

In groups of three, they wrote three sentences that displayed a satirical “It’s not fair!” concept and decided who would illustrate each sentence.  They will continue polishing their final draft this week between 8:15 and 8:30.

We hope you will join us November 6^th when we present the final product!

Kahoot!

So last year I discovered this amazing game (it’s really an assessment tool shhhh) called Kahoot! (check it out here at https://getkahoot.com/ ) and my students LOVED IT! 

Naturally I have been champing at the bit to use it this year with this rock star bunch… and this week we finally did…and IT WAS AWESOME! The class was jumping up and down, cheering, high-fiving, and receiving immediate feedback regarding the concepts they understand as well as the ones they need to continue to  work on (and why).  They even begged to take the quiz…I mean play the game again!

Needless to say, it was one of the first times I have seen a group of people, besides my sister and her Legal Aid friends, jump up and down when talking about the Bill of Rights.  It was just wicked cool.

Kahoot! will frequently be used to assess your child’s understanding, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask, or come in for a demonstration!  You can even create your own account and Kahoots for the family! J

Skype

Speaking of my sister… My younger sister, whose name is Laura, is a Legal Aid lawyer in Manhattan, and she took the time this past week to Skype with us and answer questions our class had about the Bill of Rights.  It was great for them to be able to ask specific questions, listen to someone whose job it is to fight for people’s rights, and discuss which amendments they would keep, if they could only keep two, and why. (They had a little prep time with this earlier in the week when they wrote a persuasive piece in their Writer’s Notebook about which two amendments they thought were the most important.)

The experience definitely made the Bill of Rights more accessible, applicable, and authentic, rather than just a list on a sheet of paper or document on the internet.

Again if you, or anyone you know would be interested in sharing their expertise or interests with the class, please let me know and we will set up a Skype, Google Hangout, or Blab.

Learning Spaces/Periscope

On Thursday the class provided me with feedback regarding how the year is going without desks and in our new learning space.  To really up the stakes I told them to be completely honest and broadcasted their thoughts on Periscope https://www.periscope.tv/ . (These videos are posted for 24 hours and then taken down.)

Not only did I receive invaluable information (mostly positive – one child thinks there should be exercise balls for everyone and another thinks we should have pedals under the tables to help get rid of excess energy…I told them I will work on that!) regarding how these changes have impacted your children, BUT their thoughts also helped other teachers who are wrestling with the idea of creating learning spaces that are more user friendly and create a space where learners feel “free to find what works best,” “trusted to make decisions,” “like what they need and want matters.”

Your children’s perspectives are helping not only me as their teacher, but also teachers and learners all over the world.  They rock!

Buncee

This past Monday, while your child was using his/her day off to read and practice math facts (can’t a teacher dream?!?), the 4^th grade teachers were up in Port Jefferson, NY at the Talk with Teachers Summit http://talkswithteachers.com/summit/ .

It was an incredible day that left us chatting and brainstorming the whole 6 ½ hour ride home!  We wanted to implement everything we learned about immediately, but once the oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins started to chill out a bit and we realized that we might make our students’ heads explode (and no one wants that), we decided on implementing one new piece of tech this week and slowly implement others when and where we could.

The tech we decided on this past week was Buncee https://www.edu.buncee.com/about . This is an online presentation/creation website and app that allows teachers to create assignments and students to create and demonstrate their learning.  Attached is a picture of us getting our Buncee on!

On Friday all the 4^th graders, who were not giving tours, were mixed together and told, “This is Buncee. Tell us what you discover!”  We shouldn’t have been shocked when they discovered some bells, whistles and tricks that we hadn’t known about. Always incredible when they take over the role of teacher. 

They shared their findings by creating a list of things you can do with Buncee on the board, and then started a list of ways they can use Buncee to demonstrate their leaning. We were pumped when we saw Passion Projects and Book Buzzes at the top of their list!

Buncee was a definite hit and we are excited to see what we will create!

*Students who were giving tours during this exploration will be partnered up with a student who was present and given a tutorial.

Speeches

This past Friday during assembly, two brave 4^th graders did what no 4^th grader has done before.  They stood up in front of the entire Lower School and gave a speech on the topic of their choice.  They were incredible. Kindergarteners are a tough audience, let me tell you, but Quinn and Ire looked like they had been doing it for years!  I am so excited for each of your children to have this same opportunity and experience.  As I mentioned previously, when it is your child’s turn to give his/her speech you will be notified at least a week prior.  We hope that you will allow your child to write and create everything on their own.  They may even choose to use Buncee…just sayin… J

A huge thank you to Ire and Quinn for being the first to go, and a gigantic “can’t wait to see you up there” to the rest of our amazing 4^th grade speakers!

That does it for this past week; don’t forget to look below for upcoming events and dates to remember!

Have a great evening and let’s get excited for our next adventure!

Best,

Natalie 

So that's what our week looked like in homeroom.  I hope you were able to come away with at least one new idea, even if that idea is not one of "my" ideas per se.  

I also hope that if you have any questions, or want to know more, you will email or tweet me (@nkrayenvenger).  This calling is not one to be done in isolation, we have to be there to support and encourage one another.  

Wishing you all a week to remember!