Digital Learning

I know many of us educators are chartering unknown waters at this time. In a time when digital technology is all around us, how do we turn our classrooms into 100% digital without warning or training. Don't worry you are not alone. I can sympathize with parents trying to "homeschool" their own children, as I sit here and try to teach my own 4th and 5th grade children. My 14 years of classroom experience did not fully prepare me or any of my colleagues for this. I love that our superintendent told us to just to do the best we can! They are not holding up this bar and expecting teachers to reach these unreachable goals. Our district checked out Chromebooks to families that did not have enough technology for digital learning, free lunch/dinner provided for our free and reduced population, some even had the food delivered to their homes if needed and much more.

I'm living by the mantra JUST BREATHE!

As a gifted and talented teacher, most of our classwork is done with group work or hands on. Moving to a digital platform is a challenge that I feel like I'm slowly tackling everyday. I'm blessed to have such wonderful parents who are supporting me!

I'm currently working on a STEAM Challenge packet for homebound students! Praying that we can get back to the grind and see our babies soon!

Things my family and I are enjoying today outdoor recess and my outdoor office!

Pumpkins in the Air

I absolutely love doing holiday themed challenges with my students. This month I am challenging my classes with Halloween themed activities. There are so many unique challenges to complete, that I often struggle to decide which to try. This month my Kindergarten students were challenged to build a new fence for the 5 Little Pumpkins, which coordinates with the song and book.

The first STEAM challenge for Kindergarten is always exciting and eye opening. It makes me realize how much students grow within a school year. My sweet students have never been asked to work with 5 students before to complete one goal, many of them have never attended a formal school program. So asking them to build ONE fence together is often a challenge in itself. The excitement on their faces when they start working together and build their first fence is a sight. Below are pictures of wonderful fences built by my Kindergarten students. 

This year is a little different in the 3 years I have taught Steam lab at my school we have grown from 7 classrooms to 10 Kindergarten Classrooms!

Check out my TPT store for this challenge. TPT 5 Little Pumpkins

Protect the Egg: Egg Drop Challenge

With Easter right around the corner, our favorite STEAM challenge is the egg drop challenge. Each year, I love to clean out my closet and let the students use random building materials such as index cards, mini Dixie Cups and any other scraps we could find! I found the more obscure the item the more they would use their imagination to create a safety contraption for the confetti egg to drop safely from a 5 foot ladder.

This will be my third year to complete this with my second grade STEAM lab groups. I will have 9 groups come and protect the egg from the fall. Check back to see pictures of our successes and failures!

Protect the Egg STEAM Challenge

Building Winter Boats-Steam Challenge

Kindergarten is back in the Steam lab this week. In the Kindergarten homerooms this week, classes are studying winter. To help tie into the winter theme, this week Kindergarten will be challenged to design and build a boat that can float in freezing water and support weight. To introduce this topic, I start with a video from Sci Show Kids on YouTube called Float a boat. Sci Show has great 4-5 minute intro videos about various science topics. I will also show students pictures of boats used to break through the Arctic ice. After explaining the challenge with the printed challenge cards students will build and test their boats in ice filled water. Once their boat can float, they will add marbles until their boats sink.

To purchase this unit please visit my TPT store! Steam Challenge: Crossing the Winter Seas-building Boats

Happy New Year!

This school year is flying by! I am working on new material for 2019. Hopefully I will post more activities within the next few weeks.

I stumbled across a new website found that I am in love with! Only wish I had this while I was in the classroom. www.classroomscreen.com  This is a teachers dream!
Included:

• classroom timer
• clock
• pick a random name or roll dice (1-3 dice)
• QR Code display (you type in the website and a code is shown)
• sound level meter
• drawing screen
• text box where you can type
• work symbols (silent, ask a friend, work together)
• traffic light (you change)
• you change the background to display (image)