Finding Gems



The Hope Diamond

While reading literature in our class, we are always on the lookout for GEMS: sentences that catch our attention, sentences we would love to imitate in our own writing. Basically we are looking for great examples of writing.  I started doing this in my class after reading Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson.

Well, just recently I have found another GEM, something worthy of imitation, The Teaching Channel.  Here you can find actual videos of classroom teachers who are masters at their craft.  You can find videos by subject, grade level, or topic.  If you are confused about the Common Core, there are videos to help you sort through that as well. 

Someone once said:  "The best teachers are made by the teacher next door".  When I first started teaching more than 30 years ago, that teacher for me was right across the hall, JoEllen French.  Whatever she did in her class, I did in mine.  She was a GEM! 

Now we can find GEMS who are literally thousands of miles away. If you haven't already visited The Teaching Channel, I encourage you to spend some time there.  You never know what GEMS you will find!

The Unknown

 

 photo by wingedwolf

Tomorrow my students will take their end-of-the-year state test for math. This is our first year implementing Common Core Standards and this is my first year flipping. Everything boils down to this one test.  Are they prepared? I think so. Will they be successful?  I hope so!



Time will tell.

Edmodo and Washington, DC

Q:  How many rooms are in the White House?
A: 132 rooms

Q: How much does a panda eat in a day?
A:  A Lot!

 This was the third year we have taken a group of fifth graders to Washington, DC for Spring Break.  The trip was wonderful, as usual.  We visited monuments and memorials for just about everything we have learned about in social studies this year:  Vietnam Memorial, WWII, Iwo Jima, Holocaust Museum, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorial, Pentagon Memorial, Arlington Cemetery and more.  We also managed to spend a little time at the zoo, visit the Nation's Capitol and still had an entire day to explore the Smithsonian Museums. You name it, it's there. 

However, this year was a little different.  This year we had Edmodo.  I posted photographs throughout our trip along with trivia questions for the students to answer.  Not only could the students on the trip respond but students that did not travel with us were able to "see" some of the sites we visited.

As usual, it was a great trip.  I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!  I just found out there is an African American Civil War Memorial.  Maybe we can see that next year.  One thing's for sure, I will definitely take Edmodo along!

Inside the Capitol

"Freedom is not Free"~ The Korean Memorial

The Vietnam Memorial

Arlington Cemetery

Thurgood Marshall ~ Civil Right's Leader, Supreme Court Justice

Iwo Jima Memorial

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial