Sioux Falls Area Teacher Swap Meet

Check out the SF Area Teacher Swap Meet Facebook page for more details as they post them!

Shake Up Semester Review

It's that time of year when most classrooms move into review mode, and I've seen or heard about some interesting approaches, including a review activity that merges Old Maid with prepositional phrases. If you are looking for a few ways to approach review in a new way, check out these ideas that I stole from my friend Chris.

Quiz-Quiz-Trade (No technology)
Write review questions & answers on notecards. Each student gets one notecard. Students get up, mingle, ask each other the quiz question, then trade their cards. They mix again, ask, trade...Continue until most students have asked and answered most questions. *BONUS: If the students write the review questions, they get double review in some ways AND have to process the information at a deeper level!

Partner Problems (No technology)Split a worksheet into 2 columns. (Typically this ends up being odds vs evens). Each pair of students gets one worksheet and one writing utensil. Fold the worksheet in half so only one set of questions shows. Partner A reads question 1 and explains the answer; Partner B agrees/disagrees and explains why; then, Partner A writes down the answer/work. Partner B takes the paper and pencil, flips the page and does the same with #2. Partners continue doing one problem at a time on their half of the paper, checking with the other student, and then writing down the answer until the entire worksheet is complete.

6 Slide Challenge (Technology)
Assign students different specific topics for review. Have them create a 6 slide Google presentation about their topic, and time each slide to last only 10 seconds. Students will present their slides to the class, but only have 60 seconds to explain the concept. (ex: literary terms, rhetorical devices, grammar concepts, etc.)

Socrative Space Race (Technology)
Lastly...Socrative, which I know many of you already use in some form.  Set up Space Race questions on Socrative.com. Students will login to your “room” that you set up, and compete to get their spaceship to the end of the track first. It’s like the carnival game where you shoot water in the clown’s mouth to move the thing up the pole… except that getting the correct answers is the water that moves your space ship. The first student or team that hits the end wins - or the team that gets the farthest, as you can’t get to the end unless all answers are correct.

Equity and Access Training Opportunity

Last week, I mentioned a number of summer learning opportunities for educators, including the district offered Red Apple classes. One particular Red Apple class that might be of interest to many of you is the Access and Equity training. This particular session will address questions such as: Why do some students experience success at school while others back away from challenge? and Does our educational community unknowingly have beliefs or use behaviors that inadvertently create inequity and deny students access to learning? Conversations will focus on how our district can work towards eliminating gender, racial, and class-based achievement gaps by addressing areas such as access; pedagogy and curriculum; and student, teacher, and community identities. Time will be spent exploring recent research in these areas through group work, individual reflection, and small and large group discussions.

If we truly believe that we as a district are seeking "To educate and prepare each student to succeed in a changing world," these are the ideas we need to explore and the conversations we need to have.

The Access and Equity training will be offered twice this summer: June 20-23 (at New Tech) and August 8-11 (at CTE). Like other Red Apple courses, graduate credits will be offered at a small cost through Augustana and USF.

I urge to you to consider this training as part of your summer learning. Once you've decided to do it, register here. ;-)

Operation Spring Cleaning

As you wrap up the year and start to clean out drawers and cupboards, please keep these two things in mind.

1. For the first time, the Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation is hosting a teacher swap meet next fall on Thursday, August 11th. If you have items you no longer need but another teacher may want, consider reserving a table at the swap meet. You can choose if you want to sell your items (you set your own prices) or trade for other items. See the details in the poster below.



2. If you don't wish to participate in the swap meet but are looking for a place to dump your no-longer-needed-treasures, please consider emailing me! I will help the treasures find new homes. (Because I have 1/2 a cubicle at IPC, I am unfortunately unable to accommodate really large treasures...) On the flip side, if you are looking for an item, you may also email me to see if I have it.

Summer 2016 Graduate Credit Opportunities

Free grad credits are nice...but they aren't always available.

In the meantime...If you are looking for grad credits to move you to the next lane on the salary schedule or to finalize your recertification, here are a few options to consider.

First, a few degree advancement reminders...

If you are looking at completing any graduate credit work this summer or early next fall, remember to submit your Coursework Pre-Approval forms. The district review committee will review forms one last time this school year, and forms are due by noon on Friday, May 27. Access documents and guidelines on inSite.

FREE Graduate Credits

The Dakota Writing Project is hands down some of the BEST PD I've had, and their Summer Institute is coming up quickly. It runs June 13 - July 8, and this year, the first three weeks are on campus at USD and the fourth week is online. The DWP just sent out information that they can pay 100% tuition and fees for the first 12 who register. (The Institute is worth 6 graduate credits!) If you are interested, please email Michelle Rogge Gannon before May 23 at mrogge@usd.edu for the details. (Email her ASAP so that you can be one of the 12!)

Online Graduate Credits

​If you are interested in completing self-paced graduate credits in your PJs and in the comfort of your own home, you might want to check out Learners Edge Professional Development. Learners Edge offers (mostly 3 credit) courses on: Teaching Excellence, Instructional Strategies, Classroom Management, Literacy, Brain-Based, Technology, Leadership, and Design & Assessment. Browse their Summer/Fall 2016 Catalog here. Also, a handful of colleges endorse their courses, and you can request your credit through one of the colleges listed on the Learners Edge website. (Augie is one, so if you already have a few graduate courses through Augie, you can add any Learner's Edge course to your Augie transcript.) Lastly, if you are new to Learners Edge, use promo code FRIEND20 to receive $20 off your first ​3-credit course.

Local Graduate Credits

There are also a number of great opportunities available here in town. 

• ​The District offers Red Apple courses, which offer teachers opportunities to get grad credits for less than the typical university cost. View the Red Apple calendar here. 
• Augie and USF both offer continuing education courses during the summer. View Augie's list here and USF's list here.
• New Tech is also offering the Project Based Learning Academy again. There are two courses offered: Academy I - Introduction to Project Based Learning, and Academy II - Integration of Project Based Learning​. (Click on the links to view descriptions.) Registration closes on May 23.

Happy learning!

Author April Henry

I KILL PEOPLE, BUT ONLY ON PAPER

Welcome to my little corner of the Internet. I'm a New York Times bestselling author who loves kung fu, Brazilian jujitsu, and all things salty. 

Anyone slightly worried about me? (Hopefully not because I am unfortunately NOT a New York Times bestselling author...and nothing else in that list describes me, either.)

So who does the list describe and why should we care?

YA author April Henry welcomes guests to her website with those words, and we care because she is coming to hang out with us (I mean, our students) next fall!

Something about hearing that an author is coming to visit our schools always stirs my little bookworm heart...

Anyway, next fall, Henry will be spending almost a full week with us in South Dakota, and sandwiched between her speaking engagements with the 2016 SD Festival of Books and the SD Library Association's annual conference, she will be visiting some of our Sioux Falls schools. (Ask your librarian if she is visiting your school because I don't have all of the details.)

I spent a little time snooping around her "little corner of the Internet" because I haven't read any of her books...yet. (I plan to this summer.) I am intrigued! She has some interesting quick reads under her Bio tab:

If your students are headed to hear her speak, they might have fun searching through her pages. (And a few of them might work well as informational text practices, too.)

Have fun exploring!

"Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies"

"Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies" is an amusing approach to understanding fallacies. It associates 24 types of fallacies with an image, provides a definition and an example, and connects the type of fallacy to the real world by explaining where it is often used. Look at all those "best practices" in action! Bonus: If you like the "Thou Shalt" information, you can download a free PDF poster for you and your students here. (Scroll down to the bottom to find the free PDF, or if you really like it, you can pay for a large, colorful poster.)

"Logical Fallacies or Fallacies in Argumentation"is more straight-forward by providing a list that includes definitions for 20 types of fallacies, along with two examples of each type. Students could build upon this by creating a visual summarization and/or coming up with the real-world application.

What Author Should I Read Next?

"What else do readers of _______ read? The closer two writers are, the more likely someone will like both of them. Click on any name to travel along."

Looking for a new author to explore? Have a student who could use a suggestion or two?

The Literature-Map website is designed to provide readers with quick access to other authors they might potentially enjoy. The reader types in the name of an author he/she enjoys, and the Literature-Map produces a web of names. Each name on the map is an author similar (in some way) to the submitted author. As the tagline says, the proximity of the names visually tells the reader how likely they are to enjoy both of them.

(I tried it out with a few authors I enjoy, and it provided me with some other names I know I enjoy, as well as new ones to explore.)

Like that? The Global Network of Discovery also has a music map and a movie map. Check them out here.

Padlet Hacks

Padlet is by no means a new tool for the classroom, nor is it new to our district. I have seen it used in classrooms, and for a while, it was a regular on the list of tech tools to explore during building PD sessions. (For those of you who jumped on the bandwagon early on, remember that Padlet was formerly known as Wallwisher.)

Padlet created this padlet "Hacks" wall a few months ago, and it contains tips and tricks for using Padlet more effectively. If you use Padlet or are considering using it, I would encourage you to check out the hacks.

Happy hacking. Happy posting.

Dear Friday

SD Retired School Personnel Scholarship

If you are a K-12 teacher in South Dakota, have 5+ years of experience, and are working on an advanced degree or national certification, you may be the next lucky recipient of a $1000 scholarship from the SD Retired School Personnel (formerly the SD Retired Teacher Association). The last step you need to take is to fill out the scholarship application.

The application deadline is a little over a month away: April 5, 2016. The winners of the SDRSP scholarship will be notified and later recognized at the SDRTA convention on May 3, 2016.

Good luck!

DWP "Teaching Shakespeare" Workshop

You may have heard that Shakespeare is visiting South Dakota this spring as part of a nation-wide tour (if not, click here to read my previous post about it), and while you probably won't be able to make all of the events during the First Folio's 27-day visit to USD's National Music Museum, this might be the one to put on your calendar.

On Saturday, March 12, the Dakota Writing Project is offering a FREE "Teaching Shakespeare" workshop. It is a five-hour commitment, unless you add in the commute to-and-from USD. Here's what the DWP has to say about the workshop:

“Teaching Shakespeare: Bring the Folio Experience into your Classroom"

Dakota Writing Project Workshop

Saturday, March 12, 2016
10am-3pm
Cost: FREE!

"At whatever level you teach Shakespeare, come to this workshop, share your expertise, and learn new ways to approach Shakespeare in the classroom. Workshop facilitated by Darlene Farabee (Associate Professor, Department of English, USD). The Workshop includes continental breakfast, lunch, tour of the First Folio!exhibition, and supporting materials for classroom exercises. Spaces for the workshop are limited."

I realize the description is not very in-depth, but I have participated in two DWP experiences in the past, and they have been some of the best PD I have received. If you are at all interested, please consider attending! Plus, it is free!

Space is limited, so you will want to register soon if you are interested. Fill out the online registration here.

Shakespeare in South Dakota!

Did you hear?!

SHAKESPEARE IS COMING TO SOUTH DAKOTA!!!

That's how I picture your reaction, anyway. Shakespeare being, of course, the English teacher's Beatles...You squealed when you read that line up above, right?

Even if your squeal was more of an "Oooo!" or just a "hmmm" like the girl on the right, you may want to keep reading because this is pretty cool.

2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. To celebrate, the Folger Shakespeare Library is sending out four of its 82 copies of Shakespeare's First Folio to tour the United States. For South Dakotans, that means 27 days of a copy on display at USD's National Music Museum and a plethora of Shakespearean events to commemorate the occasion. (This is starting to remind me of Sir Nicholas' deathday party in Harry Potter...)

The Folger traveling exhibit, First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, includes an interactive display along with a copy of the the First Folio. USD's NMM will host the exhibit from March 7 - April 2, 2016. During that time, USD and the Vermillion community will also host Elizabethan/Shakespeare-related concerts, movies, lectures, and family events, most of which will be free to the public. Click here to see the full schedule of events.

Also, USD's Shakespeare Folio website provides some useful pieces for the classroom. First, it offers a brief history of the book and connects learners to more information via the Folger's website. Second, Darlene Farabee, Chair of the USD Department of English, speaks to students about Shakespeare and his book through three quick videos: "Shakespeare's Connection to Music," "What is the Shakespeare Folio," and "Why is Shakespeare Important?" (Scroll to the bottom of the website to locate the videos.)

Was I right? Pretty cool? Maybe I'm in the dark on this one, but this is the first Folio visit to SD of which I am aware, and I am hoping to catch a glimpse of this historical book. USD is just a wee bit closer than the Folger Shakespeare Library in D.C. Let me know if you want to carpool!

Managing Electronic Late Work

Figuring out your system for organizing online paperwork can sometimes take a little trial and error. This week, I had two teachers share how they keep their sanity with electronic late work, and when they showed me, I had one of those "Huh. Why didn't I think of that?" moments. Maybe you already have your method perfected. Maybe you did think of this. But just in case you didn't, I give you...the Electronic Late Work Form!

Overall, the teachers utilize the same process. There is a stack of little forms by the class turn-in tray. When a student turns in an assignment electronically, he/she also picks up one of the forms, takes two seconds to fill it out, and turns it into the tray. The form then serves dual purposes. First, it not only informs the teacher that the assignment was turned in, but also tells the teacher where it was turned in, which is probably the more important of the two. (Knowing it was turned in doesn't speed things up a whole lot if the assignment is aimlessly wandering the halls of Google High School.) Second, the form becomes a receipt for the student; after the teacher grades the assignment, she writes the "graded date" on the form before returning it to the student.

Here are both versions of the form that teachers said I could share with you. Version A is only available as a Word document because Google goofed up the formating. Version B is a little more elaborate and available as a Google Doc.

If you have another method to manage the digital madness, I'd love to hear about it. Please email me or leave a note in the comments.

Starting the New Semester...

It feels so strange to me that today officially marks the end of first semester and that we will all be off and running with second semester starting Monday. This new calendar is messing with my semester transition schema! As you look ahead to Monday and the start of the new semester, here are a few transition pieces for your perusal.


In 5 Tips for a Successful Second Semester, a teacher reflects upon a challenge he received after completing his first year of teaching: "How do you plan to improve next semester?" He shares five tips that helped him respond to that challenge.

Looking for a new way to set or review classroom expectations? Hang poster paper on the walls, each with a question important to how the classroom functions. (Examples: What does _____ look like? What rules help a classroom function more effectively?) At the start of the semester, arm students with sticky notes and have them add their responses to the poster paper. (This activity could easily be tweaked to fit other pieces throughout the semester, too! And, adding movement to the class period can positively impact student engagement and learning.)

In 7 Mid-School Year Reminders on Finishing Strong, an administrator shares (you guessed it!) seven helpful reminders for getting the second semester off to a better start and finishing the year well.

A Winter's Tale at Augustana University

Looking to add a little bit of literature to your life? (Beyond the classroom, that is...)

Augustana's Mikkelson Library is hosting an evening of readings and music, hosted by one of my favorite professors, Dr. Sandra Looney. See the details below.

"Dr. Sandra Looney '62, professor of English at Augustana, is the mistress of ceremonies for this program of literature and music. The event's readers are Carrie Aaron, Jill McManus, Ron Parsons, Charles Holmes, Margaret Novak and Kyle Rogers.

Music for the afternoon will be provided by Craig Spencer and Gary Pederson.

A reception will follow the event.

Tickets are $15 and are available at the door.

Contact the Library for more information: 605.274.4921."

Buffalo Buffalo?

Need a little humor as you wrap up review and head into semester test? Have your kids try to explain how and why this sentence is grammatically correct.

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."

Not sure of the answer? Check out the explanation here.

B&N "My Favorite Teacher" Contest

The Barnes and Noble "My Favorite Teacher" Contest is an opportunity for middle and high school students to give their favorite teacher a shout-out. Using a maximum of 500 words, students can choose to submit an original essay, poem, or thank-you letter.


Need a reason to entice your students to enter?

The national student winner will receive a $500 B&N gift card and a Nook.


Need a reason to encourage your students to enter? 

Five teachers will "win" on the regional levels, and each of them will receive a $500 B&N gift card. The national teacher winner will receive $5000 (!!!) and his/her school will receive $5000, as well.


Deadline: March 1, 2016

Paired Texts from ReadWorks

ReadWorks is a non-profit online reading comprehension tool, and it is FREE for educators to create an account and access ALL of their materials. (How often is the entire access free?! Woo-hoo!)

One of the newer features of ReadWorks is the expansion of their paired texts sets, which now includes a number of passages that are deemed 9-10 reading level or 11-12 reading level (according to their Lexile scores). Within the paired texts sets, teachers have FREE access to literary texts, non-fiction texts (some of which are primary sources), artwork, and question sets; all of the pieces are available for print or as a PDF download, which could then be shared with students via an online classroom (such as Google Classroom or Edmodo).

The question sets appear to follow this format:

• a few questions pertaining to text #1
• a few questions pertaining to text #2
• a few questions requiring the synthesizing of information from both texts

The purpose of the questions appears to focus on student ability to state an answer and support it with evidence from one or both texts. The questions could easily be used as is, but they would be enhanced by adding a few questions that look at other aspects of the Informational Text standards or research skills.

To view all of the passages available in the paired texts sets, click here. Filter the list keyword, grade, Lexile, topic, text type, or skill.

Chunk-Challenge-Chew-Chat-Check

You may be familiar with the concept of chunk-and-chew, where you break the content into chunks and allow the students time to chew (ie. process) the information.

It is time to take the chunking and chewing to the next level.

ASCD posted a Road Tested article​ that takes the concept further by adding a challenge, a chance to chat, and a quick check (formative assessment!). By expanding the traditional chunk-and-chew, teachers can walk away with a better understanding of the student learning going on (or not going on) in the classroom, and students can become more involved and engaged in the learning process. That's a win-win!

SMART Equity Sticks

Sticks.

No, not those Styx. These sticks.

Every time I talk with someone about discussion or cold-call strategies, the sticks inevitably make an appearance. Whether you put numbers or student names on the sticks, there is something wonderful about their simplicity. While they are not perfect (is there a tool that is?), there are a number of strengths hidden in their grain. The top two for me are that they add more equity to the questioning process and work to raise student engagement by raising their level of concern, both due to the randomization of the process.

While I am personally a fan of the tangible Popsicle stick version, there are also some digital versions worth exploring, and until this week, I wasn't aware of one that has been right at our fingertips. SMART Notebook has the ability to randomly select a student name from your roster! There are only a few steps to set this up, and my awesome colleague created this tutorial to help us get started. Thanks, Chris!

Teacher Loan Forgiveness

Did you pay big bucks so that you could teach? If you are looking to get rid of some of the debt that came along with that degree, here are two pieces for you to consider.

1. Horace Mann is offering a workshop on Tuesday, January 12, to help teachers determine if they qualify for student loan forgiveness or repayment programs and get started on the next steps. Interested? Join them at Washington High School at 7 pm in A106. Bonus: You can earn 1 CECH toward re-certification. Please RSVP to betty.erickson@sdea.org if you plan to attend. (They need a headcount so they can plan dessert accordingly.) UPDATE: Non-SFEA members are welcome to attend; there is, however, a $20 fee for non-members.

2. If you would prefer to look at your options independently, the Federal Student Aid website provides some helpful information. There are two types of loan forgiveness programs for teachers you can explore. If you have a Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan, you should look into the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program. If you have a Federal Perkins Loan, you should look into the Teacher Cancellation program.