Monday, March 25, 2013

Reflecting on Student Led Conferences

PYP students are reflective. The think about their work, think about ways they do well and what they can do differently to improve in the future. Within my teaching, I try to model this for my students with my own performance as much as possible. When we have an activity that will be carried on for the next year, I always try to ask the "experts" (my students) how I can make it better for the class coming in.

We do a Plus/Delta activity. This is something we used to do on the admin team at Spectrum Center, my previous job in the states. It was a great way to reflect and plan for the future.



Plus
(What Went Well This Year)
Delta
(Suggestions for Next Year)
The goal station was great

Make the time longer in the classroom
Miss Rorey supported our goals

Tour the class first
Stations were spread around the room

Teacher gives positive and goals too
Miss Rorey praised and gave evidence

Reading- Do activity boxes
Math- We could choose any game

Math- Do minute math
Reading- Do reading for parents

Make a unit station
We explained portfolios
After, have 10 minutes of free time in the classroom
Parents asked lots of questions
Games were hard to play against parents

Put friends together


Have RAZ Kids as an option


The most important message I give to my students is that reflection is good, but in order for it to be meaningful, you have to act on your reflection in the future. For me, this is often done through publishing the reflection on my blog and keeping a permanent product of it. This way, next year, I can search for it and make my teaching better in the future. 
 

Friday, March 15, 2013

New PYP Water Unit Word: calving

In class this week we read about glaciers. The word calving was in the passage and we didn't know it. Luckily, the definition was right in the passage and we were able to figure it out. The kids were so interested in glaciers, that I searched on google for some images and videos. The kids eyes grew wide as I showed them the info on the smartboard. I love it when I learn right along with the kids.

Enjoy this video!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Math Story Problems from 3R

Yesterday the students created their own math story problems. Try to see if you can solve these and leave a comment with the answer.

Arran's- I am inviting some beavers onto my trampoline. My trampoline can hold 100 lbs. How many 20 lb. beavers can come on?

Saniya's- It's the first day of the Injured Aqua Animal school. We will be teaching one 200 lb. harp seal, four 300 lb. common dolphins, two 50 lb. sea otters, one 2,500 lb. walrus and three 400lb. bottle nosed dolphins. How much do all of our students weigh together?

Yuna's- We are going on a field trip on an airplane and I have to tell how strong the airplane has to be. We are going to have two gray whales and two beluga whales on. A grey whale is 45,000 lbs. and a beluga whale is 2,000 lbs. How much do they weigh?

Annalisa's- I'm going to the yacht club with the snowshoe hare, three walruses and the harp seal. They all want three pizza's. How much would I need to pay if every pizza costs $12.00? Oh, wait, another animal friend comes and he wants 5 pizza's. How much do I need to pay?


 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Math Day Photos

While I was sick in bed last Wednesday, Miss Irene and the kids had a great day week going around to all of the stations for Math Day. It looks like everyone had so much fun! To all of the teachers and parents who helped make this such a successful day, thank you!













 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Mad Libs

Last week, Sara brought in a book of Mad Libs to share with me. I fondly remember doing Mad Libs with my mom and sister and roaring with laughter at some of the wacky combination of words that we used in the stories.

Today for a writing warm-up, I shared a Mad Libs website that I found and we did a story together. It turned out hilarious. Read it below and if you want leave a comment for us. We would love to hear about your memories of Mad Libs as a child or hear about your wild stories.



A Visit to the Zoo 

By: 3R

Zoos are places where wild teachers are kept in pens or cages so that students can come and look at them on Sunday afternoon. There are two zoos in New York City. One in the Bronx and one in soaked Park. The Park Zoo is built around a large pond filled with clear sparkling juice. Swimming in the pond and eating fish you will see several parrots. When it is feeding time all of the animals make cute noises. The elephant goes buzungus and the turtle doves go bazanga. In one part of the Zoo there are two silly Gorillas who love to eat cats. In another building there is a spotted African car that is so fast it can outrun a dinosaur. But my favorite animal is the Hippopotamus. It has a huge motorcycle and eats fifty pounds of pies a day. You would never know that, really, it's nothing but an oversized pink pig!

 

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Adding Solids to Liquids

I found this experiment online where students add vinegar to different solids. I remember doing this as a child and finding it fascinating. Actually I used to enjoy anything involving mixing, combining and observing. I have fond memories of my sister and I using various bathroom products to make concoctions in our sink, similar to George in Georges's Magic Medicine, although we never fed it to our grandmother.

We did this experiment on Monday and I will have pictures to follow, but if you want to do this with your class, feel free to use the experiment template I created to go with it.


 

Friday, March 1, 2013

Water Experiments: Matter on the Move

Yesterday the class did an experiment called Matter on the Move from Inquiry in Action. They were excited to see what happens when food coloring is placed in different temperatures of water. They observed what was happening and wrote down what they saw. The students then made a hypothesis about what they thought was happening within the water. Some of the key words they used included heat, temperature, energy, and molecules. Check out the photos. Can you guess which cup shows the reaction of the food coloring with the hot water versus the cold water?