Oh the Places You Can Go...on a Walkthrough!

Take a Walkthrough in the building, and you'll be amazed by the great learning happening in so many classes.  Read below for a quick snippet of what was seen on a recent walkthrough in math classes, and take a moment to be proud of what we do at TMS!

 

Teacher One:  BuzzMath allowed advanced math kids to work on 7th grade CCSS probability problems. They were solving real-world math problems and receiving immediate feedback on their progress. Every student was on a laptop completely engaged in the activity, and the teacher was able to circulate the room and answer questions.

Teacher Two:  Students too their placement test on socrative.com.  Only 3 kids didn't have a device and they used class laptops.  One student didn't feel comfortable, and the teacher allowed him to use a paper copy of the test.

Teacher Three:  Students were studying misleading graphs in pre-algebra class; students were looking at real-world data and discussing what makes graphs good or bad.  Great mathematical conversations were taking place.

 

Teacher Five:  Teacher and students were reviewing March eValuate with students strategies with each other to discover where they went wrong.  So many questions had 100% correct!

Teacher Six:  Students were doing factoring in small groups on a math "scavenger hunt". They had to solve one problem and then walk around the room and find the answer to their problem to be directed to their next math problem to solve. Every student was definitely engaged!

Truman is "Flipping Out!"

If  you haven't seen them yet, check out these websites being used by Truman staff to engage students in content learning.  In the Flipped classroom, students watch videos/take notes on the direct learning objective - this is their homework.  Then, during class, they use that newly attained knowledge to collaborate and problem-solve with peers as well as the teacher.  An added bonus is that students have 24-hour access to review the information if they need additional reinforcement. 

Pre-Algebra: http://trumanprealgebra.weebly.com

English:  http://tms8thgradeenglish.weebly.com/

Engaging Students with Blogs

Check out this great example of how students are accessing technology at home and connecting it to their learning in class.


On Wednesday, you will take home "Cinder Elephant" and finish it at home. You can find the story at the end of this sentence - of course you need the story to RAP:). Cinder Elephant

Thursday homework - due Tuesday - watch both videos on my blog on foreshadowing and flashback -

http://msolearysenglishclass.blogspot.com/ - blog your newfound understanding of the words - you will share what you write from your device on Tuesday:)

Sometimes We All Need a Little Reminder

Enough said!

 

Kids Just Wanna Have Fun!

Who doesn't want to have fun? I know that I do, and I know all of you well enough to know that you do too. And, so do our kids. By throwing in a little fun, we increase student engagement and overall learning. In the pics below, you can see kids simulating parachuting onto the beaches of Normandy in this interdisciplinary science experiment. You also see students in math making a game of their learning. These little tricks make learning fun for kids. It's no wonder we have such academic success at Truman!

A Risk Taken

It makes me proud of the integrity and willingness of TMS staff. In February, I asked you to take a risk, try something new...and, you did it. Check out this example of a teacher who changed it up in the month of February!