The End of Summer!

My Plan for the week:
It is the end of summer break as we know it! School for teachers officially starts this week. The kids will be strolling through the doors with brand new binders, pencils and locker decorations on the 25th. I am excited to see the class roster - as well as the size of classes I have been tasked with controlling :). On Wednesday, I will be reporting at the bright and early time of 7:30 AM. (Since starting this post, I have received my class roster and have found my class sizes to be around 38 students) Some may think that 38 or 40 students is a lot (as do I!) but it becomes second nature in no time at all. Class expectations are the number one thing you must decide upon before beginning the class. This weekend, I am finishing up the decorating and table set-up in preparation for my 190 +/- students that will walk through my classroom doors. 

What I did/Where I went:

This week has been extremely busy. With moving my classroom - packing and unpacking - hanging posters and getting my classroom ready I was slammed. There were plenty of beginning school meetings to attend as well as paperwork and new name tags to retrieve. I'm hopeful this school year starts off with a bang and the incoming 8th graders are more respectful and ready to learn than last years. Although I didn't have many problems, I saw a level of laziness from many students that I was unable to change. I attempted to motivate through labs, hands-on-activities, and outdoor activities. I have been told that the incoming 8th graders have a great behavior record and were prepared to learn last year. Other than working on my classroom, I didn't do much else. This weekend, I have spent most time at home minus a quick trip to the dog park. I needed to relax and get my groove on! 

What I learned:

First off, I think this is extremely exciting - My school is a five star school in the Clark County School District (out of five stars). We were afraid we were going to drop a star since one entire grade level couldn't be tested for mathematics. What this meant is that all scores are based entirely on the 7th and 8th grade students. Well, they did fantastic! In reading and writing - we have an increase in scores and a gap that is closing quick. My subject - science - went up 5 points in one school year. Needless to say, the principal is very pleased with the results. Is it the kids? Is it the teachers? Is it the parents? I'd have to say that it is a combination of positive behaviors from all involved. Educating our youth is important and when a positive approach at teaching and learning is valued, kids learn. I'm very excited to see what happens this year. 
Live binders is kind of neat. We used this to show our favorite web page but I noticed that you can click through the entire website on Live binder. I thought this was fantastic. Live binders has many different lesson plans for all grades and subjects. It can be difficult to weed through the many lessons but worth the time when you find a fantastic lesson. 

One of the other students in my education class used Popplet as a demonstration and I thought it was kind of neat. I decided to create my web 2.0 by using Popplet. I know that I always like a PDF version of a step-by-step how to guide. Popplet allows you to create this. I am happy for my progress. Here is the link to the Popplet and how to set up an account and create a test in Socrative http://popplet.com/app/#/1992713.

What I decided for my website:

When looking at the rubric for my website, I realized that I was missing one or more of the required pages. Because I teach 8th grade science, I didn't find a parent page to be as useful as a lesson page. I have decided to add a page for parents that will talk about upcoming lessons and tasks the students will encounter. I am making my final changes. During the last class meeting, another student commented on my website about needing more color and photos. Although I do like colorful websites, I don't believe color makes a website any better. I firmly believe in ADA compliance and believe that my students (with more pictures and miscellaneous colors) may be sidetracked by material I added for aesthetic purposes. This is why my website is white.