NWE Game Plan!
News You Can Use!
Friday, February 26, 2016 [Volume 1, Issue 12]
*We are diving back into the focus of Academic Language this week! Check your email!
*Please read over our Read Across America school plan! Check your email!
Upcoming Events! Please mark your calendar & also check the school-wide online calendar frequently:
February:
26 - Northwoods Spelling Bee @ 1:00 in MPB
29 - Mar. 4 - Read Across America Activities
News from your Digital Learning and Teaching Facilitator
My Challenge to You...Go Paperless for One Week!
Ideas for the challenge:
- Post a question of the day on your class blog
One of the best ways to engage student (and family) interaction with your classroom is to have a class blog. While these are becoming more common, I like the trend of having a daily/weekly student “guest author” write up the ideas and learning objectives discussed in class. This is also a good place to discuss appropriate commenting behavior on blogs and websites. You can even embed your blog onto your class website.
- Have a class twitter account to post a tweet about the day’s learning
Just like a blog only smaller. Nominate a “guest tweeter” and have them summarize the day’s learning in 140 characters or less. Then ask parents to follow the account so they can also get a little insight into the happenings of the school day.
Create an infographic as a review
- Make a parody of a hit song
The ultimate form of stardom is when Weird Al makes a parody of your song. Why not take that to an creative level and have students re-write lyrics to their favorite hit or a popular tune? Sure, this might take more time than it’s worth academically, but the collaborative sharing and engaging aspect of producing such a thing can be a positive. Who knows, maybe someone will remake “Chaka Khan” into “Genghis Khan” or something like this classic, To Late to Apologize: A Declaration. Then upload your song to your website, Youtube or Rev.
- Integrate Selfies into your curriculum
This one might take some outside the box thinking, but I’m guessing that there are students in your class that could come up with a creative way to do this. Maybe take a selfie next to a science experiment? Or a selfie with an A+ project? #SuperStudent
- Create your own class hashtag
Tell your students and their parents about the hashtag and have them post ideas, photos, and questions to it. It’s a great way to get people from not only in your class but also around the world to contribute to your class conversation. You can also use this with your blog posts or classroom tweets. Bonus points if you use something like VisibleTweets to display your posts in your class.
- Participate in a Twitter Chat
Twitter can be like drinking information from a fire house at times, but finding a good twitter chat on a topic and participating can be a great way to learn and grow as a teacher. Check out Cybraryman’s list of twitter chats and times to find one that interests you. Don’t see any you like? Make your own! Remember when you created your own class hashtag?
- Make part of your classroom “Augmented”
Why not make take an app like Aurasma and hide some easter eggs around your room? You could make them about a project or just secret nuggets about you. It’ll keep kids engaged and turn dead space in your classroom into an interactive learning opportunity. Need some ideas? Check out Lisa Johnson‘s List.ly List
- Perform in a LipDub Video
This can be either a solo project or for even greater effect, tie in your parody song (#3) and have your students act out their learning throughout the video. Don’t forget to hashtag it. Bonus points if said video goes viral like this one. Post it to YouTube and Rev.
- Become an activist for a worthy cause.
If the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge can teach us anything, it’s that sometimes a little creativity is all you need to awareness to a cause. Whether it’s helping a country in need or finding a cure for a disease, our new connected society can be a powerful thing when galvanized for good. Participating in a global project gives students perspective on their own lives while helping others with their own life challenges.
Just know that as a teacher in the 21st century you ultimately hold the key to unleash this creative beast. So try something on the list this year that may force you a bit out of your comfort zone because there is no better way to learn than trying.
Just be sure you blog about it when you are finished as learning in isolation helps no one.
Oh….and be sure to hashtag it.
Instilling that Number Sense
News from your EC Program Coach
Increasing Parental Involvement in the IEP Process
It is important for parents to be involved in the IEP process. By law, parents are equal partners on their child's IEP team. They have intimate knowledge of their child's strengths, struggles, and development. Their input regarding the IEP is valuable. Parents are also the only constant IEP team member that they will have during their school career.
5 Tips for Positively Involving Families in the IEP Process
- Develop Collaborative Relationships
- Practice Transparency
- Active Learning Opportunities
- Respect Culture, Beliefs, & Ideas
- Integrate Ideas
Information above was collected from
www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/ieps/playing-a-role-in-the-iep-process