Terry Middle School
Library News
Vol.1 Issue 6: May 15, 2020
Tips, tricks, and resources you may want to use or share with your classes. All newsletters, along with other fabulous resources, will be housed on the Library website's Teacher Zone (feel free to bookmark it) ;)
Welcome to the Virtual Library Desk. We are OPEN!
PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR STUDENTS. They can use this link and the meets nickname is tmslibrarydesk. If they get a notice it doesn't exist or is unavailable, make sure they know they should be going through their MISD portal to meet me.
PBL: Project/Problem/Passion Based Learning
"If you think about your most powerful learning experiences, there’s a good chance at least one of these experiences involved a project. This is where you learned how to research, how to ideate, how to work with others, how to engage in productive struggle, and how to revise your work. These epic projects were what built those life-long soft skills that you use on a regular basis."
~John Spencer (Empower your students with Voice and Choice)
Keep in mind, PBL is not going to work for every student, but it does offer opportunities for deeper engagement with both the material and your class in general. Structure is important because student choice is involved and they'll need some help staying focused.
I really like how this article laid out step by step how these teachers not only set up a PBL project revolving around the American Revolution, but managed to make it cross curricular as well. Starting with the standards they needed to focus on and planning backwards, they were able to make sure everything they needed to cover was included. It's not the only way of course, but it made a lot of sense to me.
I'd love to work on this with anyone interested in trying it out next year. Just something for your back burner...
If this interests you, you can
Check out the MISDiTech slides from the presentation here
Or check out the link to the Recorded Google Meet Session here
Or see the article the training was based on here (it's got a podcast embedded on this site if you want to listen instead)
Staff Development Opportunities for Teachers
The Summer PFK Catalog has just come out, and there are LOTS of great worshops being offered this summer. I've highlighted just a couple sessions you might like to take a look at, but take a look through the catalog and see what else is available as well.
*****Planning
Pg.1: I Didn't Know We Had That (Secondary)- Emma McDonald will take you on a tour of the Tex Quest Resources available in our Library Online Resources and she gives great examples/suggestions on how to use them
Pg. 1: No Misunderstanding. Visualizing Data with Data Studio. If looking at numbers is not your thing, this new Google tool may be a great way for you to get a better picture of what your data is saying about your students.
*****Instruction
Filling Your Toolbox with Purpose: New instructional technology ideas to add to your current
Pg. 4 The Perfect Blend:Leveraging Blended Learning in the Middle School Classroom
Pg.5: Creating Student Agency Through Reflection
*****Learning Environment
Pg.10: Prepare Your Students for the Logistical Challenges of Distance and Blended Learning
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12eG9bWAdxe5WBGOZY6iiC0RBydYfRbii/view?usp=sharing
***Registration Opens Monday.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instructional Technology is still offering sessions this week as well
Check out this weeks schedule here
Check out their page here
The FULL calendar can be found here
Missed a session? Recording of previous sessions can be found here.
Resources for Parents and Students.
They can visit this page to access all of the videos and resources.
Guess Who???
Courtney Cross
30%: Courtney Cross (without a shadow of a doubt)
20%: Breanna Williams
10%: Wanda Hudson, Carla Proctor, LaKeisha Grant, Youlanda Sanders
Katrina Duncan
50%: Katrina Duncan (you have not changed one bit) (for sure- pretty but can keep up with the guys!)(If this isn't Katrina,... I suck)
20% Jackie Finch
10%: Jennifer Davis, LaKeisha Grant and Regina Beechum
Karen Syblik
40%: Karen Syblik (so cute)
30%: Linda Goodwin
10%: Kasia Varsak, Shelby Fosse, and (?)