West-Oak Middle
My first stop was at West-Oak Middle. My first classroom was 7th graders
who were in the high school credit course Algebra I. They were doing a review, and they had a new
technology tool. The students were using
the “Whack-A-Mole”
on the classroom Smartboard. A student
would be selected from the list, the selected student picked up a ball, and he/she
threw it at the Smartboard. Hitting a
mole would open up a math problem for all students to do on their individual
slates/whiteboards. They were figuring perimeter
of irregular shapes, graphing equations on balloons that were rising and descending
(When would they meet?), and determining if there were infinite or no solutions to problems. The young ladies at the desk grouping helped
me figure it all out. It was a great way
to merge technology and problem solving with a little competition.
I moved to see a sixth grade classroom. This class was a self-contained class, and
the students were working on fractions.
They were using manipulatives to replicate the directions in the
text. For instance, they were asked to
select four 1/8 pieces. What was the
equivalent fraction? What was the
percentage? The teacher used the
Smartboard as a marker board and helped the students figure it all out. Again, they were thinking and working
on some complicated concepts in fractions.
My final classroom was a resource class of 8th
graders who were working on “self-selected reading.” The SSR was enhanced by the students using
their e-readers (Nook). The students
were reading the second novel in a series.
One student quickly (and enthusiastically) filled me in on the first book,
The Hunger Games. The students were engaged, and the
students/teacher took turns reading. I
asked the students as the period came to a close, “Which do you prefer for
reading: Paper or Electronic?” They all indicated a preference for the e-reader.
It is always great to visit in a middle school, and these
students were working and enthusiastic despite it being such a dreary winter
morning.
Westminster
Elementary
I traveled the short distance to Westminster
Elementary. I arrived a little late (but
I was actually early). When I walked
into the classroom I was about 20 minutes early, but that was simply a typo on
my schedule. It gave me time to spend
with third graders working on math problems.
It was great to try to help the teacher by walking around to check some
of their work.
When the appointed time arrived, some students exited while
others stayed with their teacher. One
young man pulled me aside to show me a story he had written with an iPad. This third grade classroom is a one-on-one
pilot with the iPad. As the
teacher worked with a small group on the parts of a book using the iPad, other
students were reading leveled books on their iPads. As I walked out the door, a small group of
three students were having a book talk with their iPads, too. The technology seemed to be intriguing and
engaging to the students. I was excited to see these third graders so engaged.
I moved to a self-contained class where students were
working on both affective and academic skills.
There were four groups of varying numbers. Timers would go off, and the teacher or
assistant would make an assessment regarding their behavior. Everyone was on task and a couple of the students were able
to read me a story they had written about Valentine’s Day. I was encouraged to see the wonderful progress
being made by these students.
My final stop was in a 5th grade classroom. Inclusion with two specialists coming in to
assist the teacher was the strategy in use when I entered. The
students were incorporating some history standards into their reading class. The novels were all related to World War II
(escape from oppression). One student was
working using a graphic organizer shaped like a hand (remember, five main
events from the story). Grocery bags
were organizers for student writing (a neat thing I hadn’t seen before). It was great to see the literary circles at
work, and students taking time to have dialogue about what they had read.
My hat is off to these two schools for having stimulating lessons with very engaged students. Great job!
