Genius Hour in the Classroom

Check out this article about why you should be using Genius Hour in the classroom.


http://ajjuliani.com/try-genius-hour/

Using the 4C's in Room 248

In our classroom, I attempt to infuse the 4C's daily.

Communication -

• Students using Google Suite or ipad apps to share information with one another and with the teacher and vice versa.
• Working in small groups or with partners to complete research, work and assignments and providing feedback to  classmates work
• Google Hangouts - mystery states, presenting or practicing content with other classes

Collaboration-

• Students using Google Suite or ipad apps to share information with one another and with the teacher and vice versa.
• Working in small groups or with partners to complete research, work and assignments and providing feedback to  classmates work
• Google Hangouts - mystery states, presenting or practicing content with other classes

Creativity-

• Using different apps and websites to present or explain information learned.  
• iMovie, Google Slides, Doceri, PhotoCollage, and etc.
• Google Hangouts - mystery states, presenting or practicing content with other classes

Critical Thinking-

• Researching information typically in Science or Social studies and responding to the information after careful analysis.  
• Responding to literary plots and conducting character comparisons.
• Solving multi-step, real life math problems
• Hour of Code using in daily math rotations
• Working in small groups or with partners to complete research, work and assignments
• Google Hangouts - mystery states, presenting or practicing content with other classes

Weather Projects

A successful use of technology and DI.

Students could choose to use: Keynote, Google Slides, or Padlet to demonstrate their understanding of one of the key concepts in our unit: storms, storm safety, clouds, weather tools, or the water cycle.


Here are a few great examples:

Esmeralda
Zamouria
Kiera

They used the rubric I created to evaluate and help guide their work.

Padlet Collaboration & Creatiions

Collaborating with answers on padlet has become a regular activity in my classroom.

Check some out!

Reading Response
(After the kids did this one for the first time, we discussed how things were different with responses.  One thing that came up was the girls wrote more than the boys.  Therefore, when we did another response it looked much different....see below)

Reading Response 2

Padlet Creation-
After reading a passage called Pinky the kids had to create their own padlet which identified certain story elements and post their padlets to the Google Classroom Assignment.

Here was the example I gave them. Click here.

Here are a few that are my favorites:
Esmeralda
Kiera
Elijah
Alon'na

Aiming High on Tips

In an effort to reach the highest category on the TIP Chart in the area of research and information fluency, I have taken what I learned about SOLE and created an activity to begin using SOLE in my classroom.

My first thought was how can I get the students to self-teach the next social studies unit after learning about a way to engage kids in self-learning activities. I realized I needed to engage them in the process first.  So I have created a SOLE activity that me and another teacher are going to blend our class to complete together.

To check it out, click here.

Once we can determine our students can be successful at using the SOLE model we are moving forward with having them learn the next social studies unit in this way while we the teachers act merely as a facilitator.

Want to know more about SOLE?

Philosophy of Teaching

As an educator, I challenge my students to become independent, critical thinkers that are collaborators who can rely on their educational skills to propel them into the 21st century. I utilize data-driven, innovative and rigorous teaching styles that generate the interest of my students to become life-long learners. 

My Vision and Goals

Vision

A day in the classroom with ipads being utilized, as an ongoing resource, is my daily vision in my classroom.  A long term vision would be each classroom having one on one learning devices.

Each day, the world interacts with their electronic devices from cell phones to smart TV's to touch screen computers and even on-board vehicle systems.  However, our classrooms continue to have desks that hold books and notebooks which are lined up facing a smart board.  It's like we are teaching in the past and expecting our children to be prepared for the world that is filled with technology. 

As my teaching philosophy indicates, I want students to "use" technology in a way to help them learn and survive in the real world.  They should be critical thinkers that can collaborate using technology in the classroom so they are prepared to perform in the 21st century.  

Goals 

• I want my students to become critical thinkers when using their ipads and apps on them while they are learning.  
• I want them to be creative and make projects using various apps such as iMovie, Keynote and Google Slides and present information learned.   
• I want them to participate in flipped learning experiences in small groups and communicate with me and their classmates on content using the ipad.  
• I want them to collaborate with their peers in and out of the classroom. 
• I want them to become accustomed to learning in within the 4C model classroom.