Trying New Tech

It seems every year, or every month, I am trying some new app or web program.  Some are great for a a week or two and then the fad passes, but every once in a while I come across one that is a jewel that makes life in the classroom all the more engaging.  Seesaw is one of the latter.  One of the perks I loved about my previous school was the use of 1:1 technology.  My current school is using class sets of iPads, so the students are sharing on more of a 1:3 ratio.  One thing I didn't want to sacrifice was the ability for students to keep digital copies of their work and progress throughout the year.  The solution was the web-based digital portfolio called Seesaw.  We are implementing the use of this app for the first time this year and it has been wonderful. The students love using the iPads for pictures, drawing, recordings, videos, and more.  They love the social media look of it and the ability to "like" and leave comments (with emojis of course) for their classmates.  The parents are loving it as well, since it gives them more of a peek into the daily life of their students.  On the teacher end it has been wonderful.  It is very user friendly.  It allows us to track student skills.  It is a wonderful platform for providing effective feedback that both students and parents can see without having to sort through piles of graded papers.  Speaking of grading papers...I can grade kids photos inside the program as well, so I'm not dragging piles of papers and journals back and forth from school.  I have also been using it to reform "homework" by getting rid of worksheets and assigning kids everyday fun and having them notice how those experiences are also learning opportunities.

Math Makeover

This summer I read Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler, a great read for inspiring quality math instruction in our classrooms.  As school started this past week, I implemented my new mindset about teaching math right away.  The kids have been having mathematical discussions and debates.  They have been more than willing to share answers that they know might not be right, and I have been amazed to watch their faces light up with discoveries as they share different strategies for solving problems.  My favorite moment of the week was listening to my fourth graders work in groups to solve The Four 4s. They solved 8, 12, 16, and 20 pretty quickly, but then the room got very quiet as the obvious answers were gone.  Over the next 15-20 minutes the noise level steadily increased in proportion to their excitement as they made one discovery after another.  They used creativity, noticed patterns, used one solution to help them solve for three more, and they surprised themselves with their ability to keep going when the math seemed hard and finally come out with solutions for all 20 numbers!  They are also enjoying learning a new math game every day as playing with math is an expectation in our room.  If you are implementing mathematical mindsets in your room, check out the cute posters below:

Mathematical Mindset Posters