Vlog

A vlog is a video blog. Here are some of my video reflections!



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Desmos in Elementary!

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If you are an elementary teacher, the tool Desmos Activity Builder might be new to you. While I see most current activities for middle and high school, don't let this deter you from giving it a try! There are some interesting and powerful ways to leverage this digital activity builder for you classroom. I've started making a few activities myself!

Some of the best things about Desmos is that you can use it on any device, it's free, the teacher dashboard/controls are awesome, and the activities you can build let you see student thinking in the moment! (Check out my blog post about 9 criteria to see how I judge formative assessment tech tools.)

I made a few screencast videos to help you get started and get some ideas of how you might use this in your K-5 classroom:


Getting started and adding card sorts to your activity options:






Adding a card sort to your activity:






Teacher Dashboard and Controls:





The power of sketch and sketch overlay:

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Block Schedule Planning

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I had an opportunity to teach on a 45-minute traditional class period schedule and a 90-minute block. Both models have their pros and cons. I think my own preference is block schedules because you have so much more time to dive into content. There are fewer transitions and it just seems calmer and more conducive to learning.

However, one major challenge is finding purposeful ways to fill that block. If you notice that you are doing one activity for a long period of time, it might be important to think about chunking. What I mean by chunking is thinking of you period in 15-20 minute chunks of time and planning activities within those chunks. I find it's difficult to keep students attention if something lasts longer than 20 minutes, so that was my maximum for any activity (except an assessment).

I developed the following sample block plans based on 85 minutes. So, if you have 60 minutes you can think about cutting out one of these pieces. If you teach 90 minutes, add 5 minutes to o…
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60 Minute Math Block Planning

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Recently I wrote a post about planning an 90-minute middle school block. Since then, I've been asked to think about ideas for teaching a 60-minute block in elementary school.

I came up with 5 ideas for ways to structure 60-minutes of time with 1st-5th grade students. Think of these as recipes. A starting point. Something you can try as is, and then, as you get more comfortable, move around and adapt to your needs and the needs of your students. I don't know if you like to cook, but it is one of my favorite hobbies.


I love trying new recipes. For me, I try the recipe as suggested for the first few times. Once I get comfortable, I might substitute in some herbs. Maybe I change out other ingredients or move things around. It's the same idea for these structures!




Option 1: This first idea is based on the 5 E's model: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate. I love this model for encouraging exploration and being true to the constructivist philosophy that I love.






Optio…
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