Ms. H

Just ordered fingerprinting powder and brushes!  I’ve got several awesome blood splatter, teeth mark, tire mark, K9, and identifying powders labs lined up too. We are going to have fun with science until the end of the year if it’s the last thing I do!

*screams due to pent up aggression over standardized testing*

Ok guys, this is real life.  The winners have been announced, and we are one of them.  Yesterday one of our administrators attended the meeting where she learned a little more about how this is going to look, and today the information was passed along to us.

We’re getting a full time tech person. (We only have part time now.)

We’re getting a full time technology in education person.  Their job will be all about helping use the technology effectively in the classroom.  They’ll be like our mentors and masters (We have teachers that only teach 2 classes and spend the rest of their time doing support and leading PLCs.)

There will be 50-100 stipends for people in the county who would like to take on additional responsibility in various ways related to the technology.

Of the 10 chosen schools, only 4 are receiving a device for every kid and every teacher.  (The others get class sets or are doing 1 grade.) WE ARE ONE OF THOSE FOUR!

We’re going to get a laptop/tablet hybrid.  Currently choosing between:

• Dell XPS 12
• Dell XT3
• MacBook Air
• Aus Taichi
• Lenovo Thinkpad Two

Two weeks of training this summer.

Not sure what kind of software we’re going to be using on the computers to make them educationally friendly  (ability to freeze screens, block websites, locate the device, etc).

Oh and did I mention that I was personally asked to be on the Steering Committee next year to help plan how we’re going to roll this out effectively.  (The district wants every teacher using these babies effectively by the end of the year.) YEAH, ME. A FIRST YEAR TEACHER!

I’ll keep you all updated. I am incredibly excited to tackle this beast.

I have an unannounced observation coming up, and we’re going to be reviewing for the second half of this week.  We’ll cover the last 2 standards and then begin reviewing pretty hardcore for the TCAP.  What are fun ways you review/reteach?

So up to 10 (depending on the budget) schools in our district are going to get tablets for every kid in the entire school.  We’ll be able to wirelessly control their screens and sync different people’s screens to the smart board to show good examples. The possibilities are seriously endless I drool just thinking about it.

The best part, though, is that the rest of our faculty is just as into it as I am! The grant will be awarded based on faculty buy in. There’s a 10 day training in the summer for one thing.  And they don’t want these to just be an occasional thing.  Basically we could go paperless.  A large percentage of the faculty willingly signed the commitment form to be in this 100% today at our meeting!

I know my school is PERFECT for this.  We’re collaborative.  We’re innovative.  We’re a TAP school (anyone else ever heard of this?).  I’m going to be devastated if we don’t win.

OMG you guys I only have a second but there’s an emergency faculty meeting tomorrow after school to get our crap together to apply for a grant that would put a tablet in EVERY kid’s hands at our school. We have 1 month to prepare a presentation.

I will sleep tonight with visions of technology centered instruction dancing in my head.

Does anyone else use this website?  What do you think of it?

The feeling of going from extreme stress due to insurmountable work load to extreme relief and relaxation due to 3 days to complete said work load all in one instant was a rather cathartic experience.

Today I was asked into the principal’s office.  I was so nervous, but he asked me if I’d like to teach math or science next year.

I HAVE A JOB NEXT YEAR!!!!

Should I switch to math?  I’m hesitant to start all over again on a new curriculum and subject, but I think I like math better.  But there is also more pressure there.

Any advice???  (It’s 7th grade.)

I’m having some issues with my curriculum.  I don’t think I’m really teaching science. Instead I am teaching memory techniques. 

Unfortunately, I have a wide array of topics to cover in a year.  Our units include

• Inquiry and Technology Unit (designing an experiment, steps of the scientific method, independent vs. dependent variables, steps of the engineering design process, adaptive vs. assistive technology, )
• The Earth (classifying minerals, 3 rock types, rock cycle, 3 layers of the Earth, plate movement)
• Motion (6 simple machines, Newton’s Laws, speed distance and time problems, parts of a wave, transverse vs. longitudinal waves)
• Cells (parts of a cell, functions of major organ systems, mitosis, diffusion, photosynthesis vs. respiration) 
• Heredity (sexual vs. asexual reproduction, parts of a flower, Punnett squares)

I’m finding that I barely have enough time to cover these topics, much less in the detail it would take to give them any meaning.  Instead I’m teaching mnemonic devices so that hopefully they’ll be able to pick the correct answer from 4 multiple choice items.  I’m so frustrated right now.  This isn’t what I signed up for. Rushing through the rest of our curriculum so that we’ll have time to reteach basically everything in time for our standardized test.

More pressure.

Nothing like a parent email that says “Does another teacher have a science class this period? Because [I think you suck]” 

I paraphrased.

howdoiputthisgently: