Rubrics

Hello everyone! This week has brought yet another milestone for us as we registered for student teaching and applied to graduate! It's so close, I really can't believe how fast this semester is flying.

This week, I want to talk a little bit about rubrics. As college students, rubrics are especially important to us. They tell us exactly what the professor expects of our work, and if we follow the rubric then we have a good idea of what kind of grade we will make. On the flip side, rubrics are also important to us as future educators. It allows us to communicate our expectations to our students, eliminating the excuse "well, I didn't know what to do" or "I didn't know you wanted us to do that."

This week, I overheard another teacher complaining because she assigned a project to her students a week ago and many of them did not create a project that was up to her expectations. She told her students that while they did in-fact complete the project, she expected more from them. My immediate thought was, did she give them some kind of rubric? I later found out that she did not.  As teachers, we absolutely have certain expectations and standards that we want our students to live up to. However, if we don't communicate that to our students in a clear manner, then its nearly impossible for them to succeed.

I know many of you are planning to teach at the elementary level and may think that's a little to early to introduce rubrics to your students. I've included a link to a resource that may change your mind on this and give you some ideas for using rubrics in elementary school. I also really like the idea of using rubrics for classroom management. Here is a link for a rubric that describes a teacher's expectations for attitude and effort. Finally, here is one more link that can help you get started with creating rubrics. While rubrics are usually displayed in a table format, don't be afraid to get creative with your rubrics and make them more "pleasing to the eye," especially for elementary or middle school students. The most important thing to remember when creating rubrics is that they clearly communicate the expectations of the teacher.

My personal opinion is that it's never to early to introduce rubrics to your students. At the elementary level, they don't have to be elaborate or excessively detailed. They can be simple "checkbrics," or checklists. Students know if they check off everything on the list, they (probably) made a 100. As the students move up in grade level, the rubrics can get more detailed and formal. This not only helps them succeed in class and on projects/assignments, but also prepares them for high school and college later on.  Clearly, rubrics are a great tool to assist teachers with facilitating learning (NCTCS 4).

Thats all I have for this week. I hope everyone has a great week next week and a happy Halloween!

End of October, Say What!?

Hey guys!
It's been a few weeks since we've blogged and a lot has happened! About two weeks ago I was able to teach two lessons in my clinical. I was super nervous, but I think it went well. To help with my refection of the lessons, after my second lesson I had the students answer a few questions:
1. Did you learn anything form Miss. Ramsey? If so, what?
2. What did you like about Miss. Ramsey's teaching?
3. What did you not like?
4. How do you feel about Miss. Ramsey teaching you next semester?
5. Leave any other comments for Miss. Ramsey.

I stressed to the students to be honest on these questions and not worry about hurting my feelings. I wanted them to take these questions seriously so I could get a good understanding of how they learn best. I also wanted to know how they genuinely felt about the dynamics of the classroom changing after Christmas break, so that I can do what I can to help make the transition easier for everyone involved. I gained a lot of useful information through this short reflection activity. Some of the students admitted that they were nervous about having a student teacher, and they were worried they would not do as well. This was a major wake up call for me. I have been focused on my own achievement next semester, but I hadn't stopped to consider the achievement of my students as well. This really changed my way of thinking about next semester. It's important that my student teaching semester is successful and beneficial to my professional growth, but the connection has now been made that the academic success of my students is included in my success. One cannot happen without the other.

This short reflection was super helpful and provided me with some great information about my students. If you have the opportunity, I would suggest doing this with your students, especially if they are older and can take the reflection seriously. And, of course, this all relates to NCTCS 5: Teachers reflect on their practice.

Also, within the past few weeks, I have begun to move out of the "observation stage" and started working with the students more, particularly during their independent practice time. This past week the students took their quarter one benchmarks. It was interesting to see how this whole process took place. The beginning of the week started with my teacher preparing the students and reviewing the material that would be on the test. She spent class time reviewing and also stayed after school for two days to provide tutoring. On Wednesday they took their test, and some finished up on Thursday. Friday was filled with mixed emotions as I watched some students celebrate their scores as others were disappointed. This, I found out, was one of the highs and lows of being a teacher. You celebrate with the students who did well, while your mind races trying to figure out how to help the other students in the weeks to come.

I am going to relate this to one of the NC Professional Teaching Standards that we don't talk about as much: Standard 6, Teachers Contribute to the Academic Success of Students. A teacher's rating on this standard is measured by a student growth value calculated by the statewide growth model for educator effectiveness. The EOC/EOG assessments, Career and Technical Education Post-Assessments, and Measures of Student Learning provide the student data that is used to calculate the growth value. The student growth value places a teacher into one of the following categories:

• Does not meet expected growth
• Meets expected growth
• Exceeds expected growth

After the benchmarks, my teacher immediately started planning for how she can better reach those students who did not meet the expected growth during the first quarter. As far as how to approach the students, she reflected long and hard. In the end, she decided to not place to much emphasis on the grade. She assured the students that this grade would not impact them the rest of the school year, but she also stressed that some of them needed buckle down and work hard and let her know how she could help them. 

That about catches me up on the hi lights of the past few weeks. Moving forward into the next week, I have obtained a copy of my schools improvement plan and have started to research other information needed to complete LE 5&6 in EDUC 435. I can't believe that we are headed into the last week of October, but it feels good to be marking off those tasks. I hope everyone has a great week! 

Time is Flying

Wow, I can't believe that September is almost over. I have no doubt that October will go just as fast and before we know it, we'll be on Thanksgiving break thinking "only 2 more weeks!" When Dr. Parker told us how fast this semester would go, I honestly didn't believe him. I thought it would be the longest semester so far. But, I am ready to get stuff done and start student teaching! At the begining of the semester I was panicking, but the closer we get to student teaching, the more prepared I feel. I am really starting to fall into place at my clinical experience. I am a quiet and reserved person, so it has been hard for me to take those steps and talk to the faculty and the students and make myself known. I am much more comfortable observing from afar. This past week, I had more opportunities to interact with the students and assist them during independent or group work. I also had a chance to interact with some of them outside of class, like in the hallways or at lunch. Interacting with the other teachers and staff is still a struggle for me. I usually sit back and listen, but I have set a goal for myself to start conversing and adding my input. This should help me with NCTCS 1 and working collaboratively with my colleagues.

This upcoming week, I am teaching the Math 1 class on Monday and Wednesday. I have been working with my CE to plan my lessons and get everything in order. Currently, the class is studying slope and linear equations. My lesson on Monday is a review lesson from their introduction to slope last week. I have planned a game of SLOPE, or BINGO to help them review and practice these concepts a little more before moving on this week. On Wednesday, we will look at creating linear equations from word problems. I am looking forward to this lesson, because it provides me with a great chance to work on that literacy strategy component of edTPA. My CE gave me several ideas for this one, but I am still finalizing my plan. I am trying to come up with the best way possible to facilitate the learning of this concept for my students (NCTCS 4). At the end of my lesson on Wednesday, I want to know what my students liked and didn't like about my teaching to help prepare me for student teaching. So, I have created a quick survey for them complete for me. This will also help me reflect on my practice later (NCTCS 5).

I am really looking forward to getting my feet wet this week and getting a taste of what is to come in only a few short months. Good luck to anyone else teaching this week!

Week 4

It's the end of week four and we are already closing in on the end of September. I can't believe how fast time is flying, but I am so ready to get this last semester of coursework over. I am spending more and more time in my clinical experience, observing what's going on, and getting to know the students.  The closer we get, the more excited, and nervous, I get to take over the classroom in January.

Each week, I spend two full days in my clinical, usually Tuesdays and Friday's. Last Friday my CE did "break out boxes" with her Math 1 class. If you are like me and have not heard about break out boxes or seen them in action, I suggest you do! They are a great hands-on and fun activity that can be used in any subject area. The students absolutely loved it! Break out boxes start with a simple tool box that is locked on top of locks, on top of locks, on top of locks...Students begin with a QR code they have to scan to get their first problem. The solution to that problem opens a separate box that contains a key, a flashlight that will read invisible ink, and more problems. Students then use those materials to open the other locks. Once they "break out" there is a prize inside the box. Breaking out can be as easy or as hard as the teacher decides to make it. This is a wonderful way for teachers to facilitate learning for their students. During this time students are thinking mathematically and critically, they are exercising problem solving skills, and they are building their collaboration skills while working in teams (NCTCS 4). So much is going on here, and again the students love it! Here is a link to Breakout EDU so you can learn more about it.

My CE goes above and beyond the expectations set on her to use a variety of instructional methods (NCTCS 4). She refuses to teach from a textbook. Instead, she looks for ways to keep her students engaged and focused. She prints out guided notes for the students everyday and the students have an interactive notebook which they tape their notes into. She's also doing small activities almost everyday and a larger activity at least once a week. These activities always build on the students understanding of what they have been learning. I honestly wonder how she does all the planning she must need to prepare for all that she does. She has offered me access to her notebooks from previous years, I know they will be a huge help to me next semester.

As for outside research, after hearing Dr. Clark talk about the 8 mathematical practices, I knew I needed to refresh my memory on these. I have heard of them in the past, but I didn't know them off
the top of my head. I found a very helpful Scholastic article on this topic. Here is a link:                     8 Mathematical Practices. This article lists the 8 mathematical practices, describes what each one means, tells you how you can "own" each one, and gives some great resources.

Settling In

It's the third week of classes and I'm just starting to settle in and get into my "groove." I've got my class schedule memorized, I've found a set time to be in my clinical each week, and I'm staying on top of course work. Now, I'm just counting down the weeks to December, and then May. Can you say senioritis?

On the topic of clinicals, this was my first week actually being in the classroom with the students. I have scheduled it with my CE to come on Tuesdays and Fridays each week and stay all day. This week, on Tuesday, I mostly observed what was going on to get a feel of the classroom. Tomorrow, though, my CE has asked that I help her with some activities she has planned for her classes. One of the first things I picked up about my CE is that she is not a "textbook teacher." The only time she even cracks open a textbook is if she is sending work for a student to do in ISS. This may seem hard for a math teacher to do, but she tries her very best to keep the students engaged and entertained while learning. She is GREAT at facilitating learning for all of her students (NCTCS 4).

To give you an idea of what a typical day may look like in her classroom, I'm going to quickly describe how one of her classes went on Tuesday...Before students can even enter her room they must greet her at the door. Sometimes she simply requires a hi-five or a hello, but other days she may ask them a quick mental math question that reviews something from the day before. As students come in they grab their printed, guided notes and any other sheets and take a seat. My CE is very creative in the way she designs her guided notes. They are specifically set up in a way that helps the students memorize whatever notes they are taking, therefore the setup changes day-to-day. From there, my CE goes over announcements and then jumps into the lesson. She has everything she needs already pulled up so she can walk around while she teaches. After taking a few notes, she has everyone stand up and they play a quick game to help further their understanding of what they just learned. Then, she continues teaching and the students continue taking notes. To end, they play a matching game, this time working in groups.

I really liked how my CE organized her lesson in the order of "notes, game/activity, notes, game/activity. I think it really helped keep the students engaged and focused. It also helped her teach towards a diverse population of students (NCTCS 2). Those who learn from taking notes and listening were reached, as well as those who prefer to be hands on or active.

With there being so much to absorb during my time in my clinical, I got to thinking about how I can organize my thoughts and ideas. So, I ended up purchasing a simple daily planner with plenty of space for me to write in. Each day I spend in my clinical, I can jot my observations down on that specific day. This also allows me to keep track of any methods, teaching strategies, games, classroom management strategies, etc...that I observe and don't want to forget. I also glued sticky notes to the inside of the front cover in case I need more writing space. Since it's already a calendar, its also great for keeping track of the school system's important dates, events, early release... This planner is separate from my usually planner. This one has sort of become my "all inclusive clinical notebook."

I think that about catches me up on the events of my week so far. As I've been settling in, I've become more and more excited to see what all this semester holds and how much I learn.

I'm praying you all stay safe in the event Irma makes her way to us this weekend/next week. We may get a crash course in how to keep our classrooms and students on track with chaos going on around us.

Enjoying the Last Parts of Summer...

My blog this week will be shorter, since I am pretending that school hasn't started back and spending one final week at the beach. This will probably be the last time I am able to vacation at the end of August, as in years to come I will be getting ready to start the school year as a teacher and not a student.

Obviously, I was not able to make it to my school this week but I have been in contact with my clinical educator and she is expecting me for majority of the day next Tuesday. In the mean time, I gave her a copy of my clinical experience checklist and she has sent me a few things this week that she thought would help me in completing it and prepare me for her classroom. Some of these things included the school handbook and schedule, as well as her classroom schedule.

I have focused on reading and becoming familiar with the school handbook. Knowing this informtion may seem like a simple task, but it is an important one. The information in it helps prepare me to be a better leader in the school (NCTCS 1), and helps me create an environment in my class that best suits the needs of the school (NCTCS 2).

Tomorrow, my vacation comes to an end and next week I will be forced to buckle down and focus on school. While I dread it, at the same time I look forward to embracing it and finishing my last semester of course work with a bang. I am super excited to see what my time at Shelby Middle School will bring.

Let's Get It Done

I'm sure everyone is just as excited as me about this being the last semester of course work. I am indeed excited, but I'm also terrified! It's only week one and I am already feeling overwhelmed. There is so much to be done before December and I stress over wondering if I have what it takes to get it done. Then there's student teaching a mere 5 months away, another exciting yet terrifying experience.

During this time, I have found myself reflecting (NCTCS 5) on all that I have done and learned up to this point. Thinking back on 4 semesters of EDUC classes, I feel a little more confident to embrace the next 2 (and final) semesters for what they are. I know my content (NCTCS 3); I have been trained in classroom management (NCTCS 1&2); and I have a vast pool of resources, strategies and teaching methods to assist me in facilitating learning for my students (NCTCS 4).

On another note, I met my clinical educator on Tuesday and took a tour of the school. While I was there I had the opportunity to sit in on a team meeting. That was interesting as I was able to watch a team of 4 teachers plan for the school year. I'm already tucking away ideas for my own classroom. For example, they agree as a team to not fight the "pencil and paper battle." Students are able to check out pencils and take paper from a classroom stack, no questions asked. Another thing I loved is my teacher's "turd warnings." She has a stack of small, medium, and large poop emoji cut outs. If a student is "being a turd" she quietly places a small poop emoji on their desk while continuing to teach. The student knows this is their warning and they shouldn't let their poop emoji get bigger or they will face a consequence.

I was there for several hours and absorbed a lot more than just poop emojis, that was just a favorite of mine. I really like my clinical educator and look forward to working with her. She seems like the kind of teacher who establishes a relationship with all of her students. She said that everyday her students are not allowed in her classroom until they say hello, give her a fist bump, or acknowledge her in some other way.

Tomorrow, I get to attend student orientation and meet some of my students and their parents. So exciting! As I have typed out this blog my stress has started to fade away (I'm sure it will be back) and I am getting really excited for what this year will hold!

Writing

The past few weeks in class we have been looking at reading strategies and exploring how we can incorporate them into our different content areas. This week we bagan looking at writing strategies. In math, we probably won't do a lot of "essay writing," but I do like the idea of having students write out explanations when they are solving problems. By doing this, I of course am implementing that literacy component, but it also shows me that my students understand what they are doing. If they can  explain to me how they got the answer, then I know they understand the concept and they will most likely be able to do it in the future.

In middle school, math class starts to pick up speed. Students are expected to build on their basic math skills, memorize formulas, and learn step procedures for solving problems. Flow charts are commonly used as a pre-writing strategy, but they can also be great in math when learning step procedures. For example, see the picture below of a flow chart used to guide a student through factoring quadratic equations.

You're asking me?

Do you ever look around for an adult and then realize you are the adult? Yeah, that's happening to me a lot lately. Pretty soon we will not only be adults, but also teachers. Talk about responsibility overload. In each of our EDUC classes, we are being prepared to teach the little minds that will one day be in our classroom, but until this week I had not thought about the possibility of teaching "bigger minds." There may be an opportunity when we are asked to lead a faculty meeting, or to share a strategy that we use in our classroom (which, by the way, is something we should strive for because it probably means you're doing something right).
This week we had the chance to practice this. We were able to collaborate with each other and pull together reading strategies that could be used across multiple disciplines. Then, we presented our work to our "colleague(s)." In doing this we practiced multiple teacher standards by: demonstrating leadership in the school and in the teaching profession (NCPTS 1), working collaboratively with other teachers in the lives of our students (NCPTS 2), recognizing the interconnectedness of content areas (NCPTS 3), and taking steps towards professional growth (NCPTS 5).

On a side note, the semester is on that downhill plunge towards summer!

How Do You Read?

"How do you read?" is a hard question to answer. At this point in our lives reading is not something we think about. We just do it. So as (probable) future middle and high school teachers, we expect our students to "just read" something we hand them. Unfortunately, it is not always that simple. It is a scary fact that 19% of high school graduates cannot read (according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2014). It is quite a possibility that a student will enter your classroom and not be able to read, or read below their grade level. So how do you tend to those students?

After today's guest speaker in (EDUC 316) class, I thought on this question. I did a little bit of research, and found a few ideas to ponder and attapt to fit my future classroom:

• Amend your materials to talking and listening activities
• Design assessments as oral (either for the whole class or just the student who can't read).
• *****Remember! Just because they can't read, doesn't mean they can't learn.
• Get parents involved. Encourage parents to read to their children, starting at infancy.
• If you do organize an activity around reading a text, either plan to devote yourself to helping the illiterate student through the activity, or assign the student a "work buddy." The work buddy should be someone who possesses patience and enjoys helping their peers. 
• You may have to spend extra time with this student, in class and after class. Don't be to busy for your students!
• Find resources for the student that can help them gain the literacy skills they need. 
• Be the teacher that goes above and beyond!

I am also taking ESOL 335 this semester and as I was researching ideas for differentiating for illiterate students, I realized I could also use these ideas to differentiate for ELLs (English Language Learners). ELLs are not necessarily "illiterate" but they too can struggle when it comes to reading academic texts. 

As teachers there will be times when a student enters our classroom and we have no idea how to teach them. That doesn't mean we should give up on that student and allow them to get left behind. Don't be afraid to research new methods. Get creative. Reach out to other teachers. There are umlimited resources out there for you to use. Some of the biggest parts of being a teacher are creating a classroom that is built for the learning of all diverse students (NCPTS 2), facilitating learning for all students (NCPTS 4), and reflecting on what can be done to improve academic achievement for all students (NCPTS 5).  

What Am I Doing?

 This week in class we took a look at rubrics. I received a few rubrics in high school but I honestly didn't use them much. In high school I found them as more of a nuisance. Looking back, I don't think I fully understood how to use them. Throughout my college career I have fallen in love with rubrics! If I don't have one I feel like I'm driving blind, especially on big assignments. Rubrics tell students exactly what the teacher/professor expects. It gives you a target to aim for and tells you exactly what you need to do to hit that target.

I don't know how frequently I will give my students rubrics in my math classroom. I could see creating one for a project, but I am also toying with the idea of giving students a rubric for the entire year. This rubric would tell students what I am expecting from them every day. It would include ideas like participation, completed homework, critical thinking, mathematical reasoning, respect towards teacher and peers, cooperation during group projects... They may or may not receive an official grade at the end of the year on some of these, but it would give students a sense of direction in my class as well as tell them what I expect of them as learners.

Rubrics allow the teacher to demonstrate leadership (NCPTS 1) as well as reflect on their practice (NCPTS 5). A teacher's expectations may sometimes be to high for the students. A rubric would allow the teacher to see how many students are reaching or exceeding her expectations and can make changes accordingly.

Love to Assess

On Valentines Day we discussed different types of assessments, which is a teachers favorite thing to do right? It may or may not be, however it is extremely important in the classroom.

There are 2 types of assessment that we, as teachers, are expected to utilize: formative and summative (or informal and formal in EdTPA terminology). The main goal of formative assessment is to allow the teacher to monitor student learning during the lesson, while providing feedback to the student. These assessments are not usually given a grade. Summative assessments tend to have higher stakes. They are given a specific grade and are used to measure the students' mastery of the learning standards. They are usually given at the end of a unit or chapter and at the end of the term/semester.

We also talked about "Assessent of-for-as Learning." Assessment of learning is a summative assessment where a grade is applied. It is given at the end of learning. Assessment for learning is a formative assessment which is on going during the lesson. Examples of these are tickets out the door, quizzes, homework.... Assessment as learning is where the student self assesses, or where peers provide feedback to one another. It is also on going during the lesson. Some examples of these are rubrics, peer feedback groups...

It is super important for a teacher to assess her (or his) students. A teacher always needs to know where their students are performing. If I had to pick one, I would say that formative assessment is more important. It allows the teacher to monitor student learning everyday. They are able to make sure that each student understands a concept before moving on. This helps every child to succeed. It also allows for a teacher to reflect on their practice (NCPTS 5) by helping them discover gaps in the students' learning. They are then able to adapt their teaching methods to better suit the class.

Research Overload

This week has brought the normal load of homework along with 2 tests, 3 papers to write, 5 articles to read, and a whole lot of research in not just one, but several of my classes. Overloaded only begins to describe my stress levels. I can't tell you how many times I have thought "I'll just do it later" or "what's it matter if I do this?" Of course, after a little bit of procrastination, I completed the work that needed to be done. I know that the assignments I'm doing in my EDUC and MATH classes are only meant to benefit me as a future teacher, even if they seem rigorous and annoying at the moment. There will come a day when those 2 tests turn into 2x10 (or more) tests to grade, those papers turn into lesson plans to write, and all that research becomes a search for a new method to teach a concept that my students didn't get the first time around. 

Luckily we are getting a head start on some of that research. This week in our EDUC 316 class we began looking at our BPH (Best Practices Handbook) assignment. Specifically, we are unpacking standards from the Common Core Literacy Anchor Standards and applying research based instructional strategies to teach those standards. Each person in the class is assigned a couple of different standards. However, the exciting part is that by the end of the semester we will have a collaborative piece of work that unpacks the Anchor Standards, and provides us with strategies to teach those standards! This is a great resource that we can take with us throughout the rest of our college career and into our future classrooms. 

I can apply several of the NC Professional Teacher Standards here. The first standard addresses teachers as a leader, which includes working collaboratively with other teachers. We can also look at the third standard which states that teachers know the content they teach. This includes that teachers should align their instruction with the North Carolina Course of Study, along with making the information relevant to the students. Thirdly, we can see standards 4 here, which instructs teachers to facilitate learning for their students. To accomplish this, teachers must always be utilizing and researching a variety of instructional methods. 

You Know?

I have heard "unpack your standards" a hundred times in all of my EDUC classes. However, I was never given much explanation on what that means and how to do it myself. In math I am able to go to www.dpi.state.nc.us, click on K-12 curriculum - Mathematics - Standard Course of Study, then I click on the appropriate grade level and the standards are already unpacked for me. This is the resource I have always used for lesson planning, so I was a little confused when I heard that we were going to learn how to unpack the standards.

This week we dove into unpacking our first standard. We did this using a KUD chart - Know, Understand, Do.

Know: What are the facts? The vocab? What are all the little pieces that the students need to know?

Understand: What are the concepts? How do all those little pieces come together to make a whole?

Do: What are the skills needed for the student to demonstrate understanding? What is a tangible piece of evidence that shows mastery?

I know more than I did in regards to unpacking standards, but I will admit I am still confused. I am sure with more practice and class discussion the light bulb will flicker. As a teacher it's important that I become competent in this area. Standard 3a of the NCTCS says "Teachers align their instruction with the NC Standard Course of Study. I can't do that if I don't have the skills to take a standard apart and apply it to my lesson appropriately.

College = Stress

It's the third week of classes, assignments are starting to pile on and the stress is starting to set in. I'm at the point where I'm trying to get organized and get into a routine for the semester, but each day brings a new challenge in the form of assignments. You accomplish one, only to be assigned another.

I am a "planner." I keep a very organized planner and write down all of my assignments when they are due, along with my daily to-do lists. Even though I have a very expensive iPad and iPhone that go with me just about everywhere, I prefer to keep a physical planner instead of using the calendar and reminder apps. While I am looking forward exploring the technology resources Dr. Clark is exposing us to, I am a bit overwhelmed. For class organization purposes we have the typical BlackBoard page, OneNote, DO, and Remind. At some points I don't which one I should be using.

I absolutely do not feel that the cluster of technology resources is meant to confuse or overwhelm us, but instead to simply experience ourselves with. By the end of the semester we will be equipped with multiple resources. One day (in the hopeful near future) we can choose the resource we feel best fits our own classroom and use them to facilitate student learning (standard 4 of the Professional Teacher Standards).

Becoming a Kindergartener

I am not surprised that Kindergarteners can use technology better than I can. My niece is 3 years old and loves to play on my iphone. I am excited to learn about and use some of the new technology resources Dr. Clark is exposing us to. I am even more excited to use them in my own classroom one day. One of my favorites so far is Goose Chase. I had so much fun getting out of the classroom, interacting with other students, thinking outside the box, and racing to complete the tasks before the other team. I can't wait to create math scavenger hunts for my future middle schoolers.

Another resource I am looking forward to using is Remind101. I have used this before for other classes and clubs, however I had never thought of using it to keep in contact with parents. This an easy and great way to keep parents informed, as well as remind students about assignments without giving out my personal number.

I am super excited about this semester and all the technology resources I am going to experience and learn to use. We all know becoming an adult is hard, but in EDUC 316 we get to become Kindergarteners!