Five for Friday...but on Sunday!

I feel like it has been an eternity since I've spent time here.  In blog time, that is probably true.  I've been busy getting my feet settled in 5th grade with a new group of kiddos.  To say they keep me on my toes is an understatement.  There are 27 of them and 18 of them are boys!  I love them, but by the end of the day I seriously need a nap!

So, to sum up my life for the past month, here's my first real post of the year! I'm going to try to link up with Doodlebugs, but I may have missed it.

This week my class started tweeting via Twitter!  We opened a class account and will be using it to share out the work that we do in our classroom.  My professional goal this year is to bust the walls of my classroom down and really show my kids that there is a world beyond our school and people will read what they write, watch what they create, and share with them if we choose to do so.  That greater audience motivation does wonders for work ethic as well.  Sure, kids will work hard when their work is being hung in the hallway, but imagine how much harder they will work if they know their work will be shared with thousands, hundreds of thousands, or maybe even millions of people through social media.

Our first tweet was about us using Kahoot! in our classroom to review decimals.  If you don't know about Kahoot! stay tuned for the Technology Tuesday post coming soon.  It's simply an online quiz site that you can customize with your content.  But, unlike other assessment sites, students earn points and compete with one another.  If you get the correct answer you are awarded points and are ranked within the class.  My kids love it!  You can play it from any device and students do not need an account to sign into it.

With 18 boys, you have to add a bit of competition.  This is a kid mid-fist pump.

 

When we tweeted out our pictures, taken by our wonderful IC, Kahoot! favorited the tweet and then shared it on their feed.  Talk about pumped!  My kiddos were over the moon when they saw it the next morning!

I'm fortunate to work in a school that is 1:1 in grades 2-5.  My kiddos are working with Dell tablets so we are able to utilize them throughout the day.  Students are keeping data notebooks in Excel, using OneNote to record notes when needed, and many other things.  I love the ability to use web based applications to keep my students engaged in the lesson.

We started our Westward Expansion unit this week and the first thing we needed to do was download Google Earth.  Students were then given "play" time prior to the lesson to figure things out and explore.  

Two days a week my challenge students leave the room and I'm left with 13 students.  We gather on the rug during that time and have deep lessons.

I've always been an early arriver to school.  There's just something about the quiet when no one else is in the building.  I'm able to get much more done than in the afternoon.  Ideally, you would think that if you get to school so early, then you would leave early.  Not really.  I haven't been able to master that yet.

I live an hour away so I leave my house at 5:30 am and arrive at 6:30.  This week, I was early and had to sit in the parking lot for the building to open.

That very same day, I didn't leave the building until 6:24pm and then drove home an hour.  Needless to say, I'm tired. 

I have a tradition and I'm not sure how it started. Since school has started, every Sunday night, I head to the local grocer and purchase one slice of cake to eat before going to bed with a big glass of raw milk.  It's shameful, I know.  Especially since I do so well during the week, but I love it. The new Publix opened this week and they have the best cake.  Couldn't resist.

Head over to Doodlebugs Teaching to see more Five for Friday posts!