Changes are a-coming....

As most teachers know, as the school year winds down, the discussions about 'changes for next year' start.  And now that the school year is complete (for the students, at least) and this is when the changes begin.  For me, there is a lot changing for next year.

First up, I am moving up to 7th grade.  I have mixed feelings. I am very excited about working with the 7th grade teachers (I hear good things about them) and I am happy to be moving up with my students.  I think the other changes that are coming fit in nicely with 7th grade and their abilities.   However, I do love 6th grade and am sorry to be leaving.  I love all the other 6th grade teachers and my team was a strong one.  One of my strengths is getting the 6th graders settled into a new school and new routines and other newness (like lockers).  I am not looking forward to moving all my stuff into a new room.  Luckily one of my classes has a bunch of wonderful volunteers who helped me take everything down and start the purging process.  I am further along in the moving process than I planned - which is a plus.  

The other big news is that I was selected as the Next Generation Digital Classroom (NGDC) teacher for my campus.  It is a RRISD initiative and you can find more information here.  I am very excited and very nervous about it.  The exciting part is that I get a class set of Samsung Galaxy Notes for my class and the expectation is that we use them everyday as a part of class. The scary part is that I have to take what I learn and then teach it to other teachers - so that technology becomes more of a part of every classroom.   I know it is going to be a lot of work, but I think I am up to the challenge!





Lastly, I have decided that I am going to flip my classes next year.  I was going to do it before I got the NGDC, but with that addition, it made the change more imperative.  I think the technology will be used more effectively if the students are "digging into" the math during class time, rather than just listening and taking notes.  I have been reading and bookmarking a lot about flipping since I first heard about it a few months ago.

So if you have any advice about 7th graders or using Galaxy tablets or flipping your classroom? I would love to hear it!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 25, 2014 at 8:23 PM

    I sort of flipped my 5th grade class for the last two years. It turned more into blended learning though where they sort of watched the videos in class.

    I wrote a blog on it:
    http://wp.me/p3LdGY-x

    And here's my website with the videos I made using LiveBinder:
    http://tinyurl.com/mathatiduma

    ReplyDelete

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