Physiological Evidence for Mindsets?

Michigan State University is pursuing more research on Carol Dweck's mindsets. Even if you are still on the fence with mindset research, there is now physiological evidence to support the growth mindset message. Read a little bit about it here.

Conferences Are Coming...

It is hard to believe, but conferences are upon us already. Below are a few resources for both new and veteran teachers alike to help us get in a positive mindset.

ASCD article: Ignore the first part re: 30-minute conferences unless you actually have that!

Harvard Family Research Project: The middle section is specifically for teachers. Even if you just read the sidebars, there is some good food-for-thought.

Edutopia: 5 points, quick and succinct.

Model Peer Feedback Through the Butterfly Video

This week, I heard a few teachers talk about using the butterfly feedback video (from our August inservice) with their students as they approached the peer-editing process. The teachers received pretty positive student feedback. Here's the video if you wish to use it in some way as well.

Automatically Diagram Sentences Online

If you or your students are wondering what a sentence looks like fully diagrammed and need a little assistance, visit this site. It allows you to type in your sentence and then view it in a diagram. If you hover over a word, it also pops up a little information box that tells you how the word is working in the sentence. Kind of geeky; kind of fun.

Student Access to Google Classroom

There are a few different ways for students to access Google Classroom. Students can add the app from the Chrome App Store or they can access Google Classroom through the actual website (classroom.google.com). Once they are on the website, they can drag the padlock icon from the address bar to their bookmark toolbar to create a shortcut.

Convert Spreadsheet Responses to Google Docs!

To convert spreadsheet responses to Google docs, follow the steps below.

Add the Add-on

1. Open the spreadsheet with the responses.
2. Click on "Add-ons" on the spreadsheet toolbar.
3. Click on "Get add-ons" in the drop-down menu.
4. Search for "Save As Doc" in the search bar.
5. Click on the blue "+ FREE" button for the add-on called "Save As Doc" by thebowles.org.
6. "Save As Doc" is now added to your spreadsheet.

Use the Add-on

1. Back on the spreadsheet, click on "Add-ons" on the spreadsheet toolbar.
2. Hover over "Save As Doc;" in the pop-up menu to the right, click on "Start."
3. A "Save As Doc" box will open on the right-hand side of your spreadsheet.
4. Name your new doc in the "Save Doc file as" box.
5. Check the box for "First row of selection contains headings" if this is true for your spreadsheet. (It should be true because the first row should be your quiz questions.)
6. Check the box for "Add a page break after each row" to place each responder on a new page in your new doc.
7. Click on the "Select all data" button to highlight all boxes of text on your spreadsheet. (Alternatively, highlight what portion of the spreadsheet to include before you start the add-on.)
8. Click "Save as Doc."
9. Your new doc should show up in your drive (most likely on the "My Drive" page).

Native American Authors at SD Festival of Books (American Lit Teachers!!)

The SD Festival of Books is approaching. There is quite of bit of information on their website. I also highly encourage you to peruse the presenter list as there may be an author or two applicable to your classroom. At first I was going to pick out a few names to highlight, but my list kept growing! A handful of Native American authors (most of whom are local SD authors) will be presenting at events this year. Click on their names to learn more about each author.

Joseph Bruchac

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (Crow Creek Sioux Tribe)

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (Rosebud Sioux Tribe)

Kevin Locke (Hunkpapa - Lakota)

Gwen Westerman (Sisseton Wahpeton - Dakota)