Hanging with ODE

Yesterday I drove almost an hour and a half to be a guest at an instructional materials review for English Language Arts. I was pretty nervous about going because I really didn't know what it would be like and I didn't know any of the participants besides the man who invited me. It turned out to be really interesting. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I forgot my wallet, so I didn't have any money to buy lunch and knew it wouldn't be pretty to be driving home later in traffic while also starving. Have you ever heard the word hangry (hungry + angry = hangry)? That definitely would have been me.

Since I was only participating yesterday, I didn't get to see any of the publisher presentations or the actual review process because those are taking place today through Saturday. I would have loved to do that, but the individuals involved in the reviewing process were recruited last year and went through an intense process to apply and get selected. I was invited to attend as a guest by a man who also just completed his doctorate at PSU who is an education specialist for the Oregon Department of Education. When I got there he asked me to give him feedback on the process so they can continue to improve how they go about reviewing curricula in the state of OR.

The basic gist is that publishing companies present to this group of evaluators. The evaluators score the programs based on a set of criteria that has been established by ODE. The programs that meet a certain criteria are then put on a list of recommended instructional materials that address the CCSS.

During the morning while I was there, directions for the day were given and an ELA specialist from ODE gave a presentation about CCSS and how they impact ELA. There are 6 "shifts" that are taking place:

Increase reading of informational text
text complexity
academic vocabulary
text-based answers
increase writing from sources
literacy instruction in all content areas

All else aside, listening to the presentation was really interesting in terms of my own teaching. I wasn't there "to learn" but I was really thinking about my own instruction and am really glad I was able to attend.

I think the greatest nugget of the day was a statement that really gave me a new perspective on my own research. I have always believed in the importance of helping kids connect what we read with their own lives in order to ensure that everyone has a chance to understand the content. Yet, when the presenter was talking about asking text-based questions, she said, "departing from the text privileges only those that have experience with the topic." That statement really made me think. I don't agree with throwing out questions that ask students to relate the text to themselves, yet CCSS is really pushing to focus on information in the text and to ask questions that require students to actually read and understand the text in order to answer them. The CCSS really emphasizes that students can negotiate the content and think and respond in ways that are not canned. So, staying within the text doesn't mean asking simple recall questions, it means using the information in the text to think, process, and understand at a higher level. And, if we stay within the text, we are ensuring a shared understanding because we are discussing only what we have read together.

Good stuff. Still have to process it a bit.

Have you been using the CCSS to teach ELA?

What do you think about text-based comprehension questions?

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I am attending a CCSS Instructional Materials Evaluation session for English Language Arts through the Oregon Department of Education. I was invited to attend as a guest by a fellow doctoral candidate after he saw my presentation about my dissertation research at our PSU student research symposium. I'm not exactly sure what is going to take place, but I am excited to be a part of it--or at least to be able to watch it take place.

What I think is going to take place is that we/they will be looking at instructional materials for grades K-8 in order to evaluate how well each program covers the CCSS. I was invited to observe and listen to the discussion in order to provide feedback about the cultural responsiveness of the materials since my dissertation research was on the interplay between scripted curricula and culturally responsive instruction.

I'm kind of nervous because I really don't know anyone that is going. I have only met the guy who invited me once and I honestly don't even know if I will recognize him. I am also super excited because I have done a ton of work and research in the past 4 years and I would love an opportunity to do something with it. I truly feel like I have good ideas and the department of education certainly seems like a good audience to share them with. Hopefully I can do more than just watch, but like I said, I really have no idea what to expect.

Now I have to decide what to wear...

Are you a leader or a follower when it comes to your teaching?

Summer Reads

Yesterday I mentioned this post about 14 Books to Read Before They Hit the Big Screen.

I personally feel like books are always better than their movie counterparts, so I am totally on board to read these before I see any of the movies. I can cross off about half of these books because they just don't seem interesting to me. They're probably great, but after reading the story descriptions I am out. I have become very averse to movies that are violent. That's a whole other blog post, but I'll just say I do not think watching gun violence of mass chaos is entertaining. It just hits too close to some of the tragedies our country has experienced this past year. I don't do zombies or ghosts either. Or Sci-Fi. Yet, Mr. Sneaker drags me to a lot of movies that I wouldn't choose and sometimes I like them.

Anyway...

There are a few I have already read.

The Book Thief was SO good. It was pretty long, but I couldn't put it down. I am very curious how the movie will come out.

I really enjoyed Gone Girl as well. Definitely a page turner because it's suspenseful!

Reconstructing Amelia was good too. Another book where the story unfolds as you read and you really anticipate finding out what happens.

The ones I want to read from this list are

I already started The Fault In Our Starts. It's about a young girl who has Cancer who falls in love. So far so good, but I'm not that far along yet.

Divergent is the first in a series of three that is compared to The Hunger Games, which I loved. The third book comes out in October. I've heard from many friends that it's good, so I am excited to give it a try. I always love a good series because there's nothing like knowing that you get more of the characters when you finish.

The Spectacular Now is a love story. It is described as a page turner, so it sounds promising.

When I'm really into a book I typically finish in only a few days. I'm not really good with my reading comprehension in terms of remembering the details of books once I've finished them, but I'm not getting graded, so I'm just in it for the enjoyment factor while I'm reading. I'm so glad I finally have several books on my list to read. I have already downloaded them on my Kindle so they are reading and waiting.

Kelly turned me onto Good Reads, so I've been trying to keep track of what I've read, what I'm currently reading, and what I want to read. It's fun to keep a list and connect with other people for book recommendations and reviews.

I also have the Good Reads app so I can see updates and enter books I want to read or mark when I have finished a book.

Have you read any of these books? Any favorites?

Do you always read books before viewing the films?

Proud New Owner

I am now the proud new owner of this baby

see that hefty price tag?

not. what. I. paid.

Lakeshore is currently having a big sale with 20% off tons of stuff. I'm not sure if it's storewide, because there always seem to be exceptions, yet this puppy was on sale for $69.99

Yes, that would actually be 54% off! woot woot!

Plus, I had $55 in giftcards that parents gave me last year.

So, basically, this beauty cost me 14.99.

SCORE!

I also stocked up on the laminating pouches because those were eligible for the 20% off. I got two boxes of the 9" by 11.5" and each box contains 100 pouches. I really have no idea how quickly I will go through those, but each box was $15.00 today, so that's not horrible. I also think I could order pouches from amazon for cheaper that would also work. I got the 3-mil pouches which aren't quite as thick as I was hoping, but I am still a happy camper.

So, let's take a look...

pretty!

My first laminating job is the desk tags that we are going to use this year courtesy of my teammate who created them. She used an idea from a catalog and put our Journeys sight words on it. We plan to laminate them and have the kids keep them in their work buckets as opposed to on the tables. That works better in my room for sure since I share the classroom with another teacher and any kind of name tag on the tables take up too much space on the table since there have to be two at each table spot.

out

voila!

You may be wondering why I would need my own personal laminator when there is one available at school. Well... there are rules about laminating at school that require us to leave the items we want laminated by the machine labeled with our name and grade so that once a week a parent volunteer can do the whole stack. This is in order to prevent the waste that goes along with laminating small projects. I am never organized enough to have my stack of things that need to be laminated ready in time for the volunteer. I just don't work that way. Also, if I get a new student on Friday, I hate to wait all the way until the following Friday to get items laminated. Now, I can conveniently do that at home whenever I need to.

I probably would not have made this purchase if it was not on sale because it normally isn't cheap, but considering I had the gift cards and it was on sale, I figured it was meant to be. I am really glad I had gift cards too because that means I'm not submitting the receipts for reimbursement, which means that the laminator is my property and not the property of the school district.

The only thing that could make life better would be getting one of those amazing Cricut machines.

::drool::

My teaching partner/roommate has one of those, so I guess I can live vicariously through her....and she shares.

Do you get money through your school district to spend on school related expenses?

How much out of pocket money would you estimate you spend each school year?

Home Sweet Home-My Bedroom

The next stop on my home sweet home tour is my bedroom. I think it's really important to be in love with your bed--and I am.

Our bedding is LUCIANNA MEDALLION DUVET from Pottery Barn. I always love me a blue & white color scheme and fortunately Mr. Sneaker and I agreed on this bedding set. I think it's a good balance of our tastes that is feminine enough without being too girly.

Closer look?

I like to read in bed, so I have my iPad, my Kindle, and a real book on my night stand. And Baby Sneaker likes to read in my bed too, so I have one of her books as well. I started to read the Dreamkeepers by Gloria Ladson-Billings awhile back and I never really got into it. I think I am burned out on non-fiction education texts for the time being. Now I'm onto some books from this list of 14 books to read before they hit the big screen.

(more about that in another post).

Some of my favorite things in my room are

Bo the teddy bear. Mr. Sneaker gave this bear to me on our first Valentine's Day together. He's been a favorite sleeping buddy since. Yes, I sleep with a teddy bear. ;0)

I love this photo of Baby Sneaker. She is so serious, but her eyes are so big and blue and it always makes me smile.

I also love my closet. My color-coding doesn't stop in the classroom and I always group my clothes by color and style. I love the longer hanging space for dresses and for the hanging shoe bag that houses all my ballet flats.

And of course, I love my sneakers!

What do you love about your bedroom?

Good Finds-Math Version

I met with my Kinder team yesterday to discuss our year plan. I shared the math plan I've been working on and we discussed our plan for all subjects and aligned our science units/lessons with the themes in our new reading program. I like the idea of fitting the various content areas together which is not something we have really done explicitly in the past. Teaching that way just makes sense to me, so I am getting really excited for the upcoming year.

It doesn't necessarily make sense to share my plan for math, but I thought I would share some of the resources I recently purchased from TPT to go along with our math instruction. Since I am using the CCSS to guide my instruction more so than just my math curriculum, I was on the lookout for resources that are aligned with CCSS. I am always in awe of busy teachers who somehow find the time to create incredibly cute and creative items for their classrooms. Sadly, I do not share their talents, so I will continue cheering them on by buying their cute products.

I love these teen number pages.

Number Sense Know How! {THE TEENS} Number Worksheets For Eleven - Twenty

Common Core Math {Understanding Teen Numbers 11 to 20}

And these are great posters to hang in the classroom

Teen Number Posters- Common Core Aligned Numbers 0-20

I also thought this would be a fun game for the kiddos to play to match the teen numbers with their dots representations on the 10-frame. Our math program introduces a ladybug puppet called 10 bug, so this game goes well with the ladybug theme.