Owl Booklets

Don't you just love when a new idea actually turns out to be a good one?  My students made file folder booklets a couple of weeks ago.  We took a file folder, cut it in half, then put the edges back together before folding it into a book, and then stapling.  The pages are super sturdy.  On the front they glued a cover, and then inside we had 6 pages to work with.  

The first 2 pages were dedicated to our science unit with Owl Pellet information and the Owl Food Web.  The Owl Pellet Dissection sheet came from Jivey's Owl Unit, and the Owl Food Web came from a google image.  

After that the kids took the half size papers from Jivey's Paired Texts about Owls to glue in the informational paragraphs, one per page, and then had to write summary paragraphs next to them.

The booklets look so good!  I'm so proud of my kiddos!

  

Parent & Teacher Conferences

I survived Parent & Teacher Conferences this past week.  My district has this wonderful schedule, Monday is a full day conference day, Tuesday is a normal day with award assemblies, and then we have minimum days on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I have 15 minute conferences all day on Monday, and then from 1:00-3:30 on Wednesday and Thursday.  Even with having 32 kids, I still have leftover spots and a break without touching Friday.  Friday afternoon turns into a teacher work day for me.

In the middle of October for a solid week we have our conference time spots posted on the office windows.  Parents sign up for a time that works best for them.  After a week I get my schedule from the office and then fill in the missing families with a time slot.  This year worked beautifully, I usually sign up the missing families for my Monday times (and usually they never show up), this year I filled them in on Wednesday and Thursday - they all came!  This year I also had a phone conference.  I sent home the report card a day earlier, and then called at a specific time to make sure they received it, and to answer questions.  It was so simple!

Other things I do for conferences... On the Friday before, I send home a reminder slip for families of the day and time they signed up for.  I send home a mass email letting parents know their students are bringing home a reminder slip, and ask them to wait outside our classroom to ensure privacy.  Students clean their desks (as best they can), because I tell them that parents almost always look inside their desks.  :)  Motivation at its finest!  On the actual days, I stick a copy of the schedule outside the door in a sheet protector, and place 2 chairs outside in the shade.  

As in past years I have additional information for the parents that I go over after we discuss the report card.  I try to show parents the difference between what we learned in 1st trimester to what the plan is for 2nd and 3rd trimester, how expectations grow as the year progresses.  This year I turned these 2 slides into half sheet pages that fit onto a single piece of paper.    

I ask that the students come to conferences, and it's amazing how misunderstandings clear up during our talk.  I want students to hear me praise them to their parents.  I want them to have a say (in front of their parents) of what they are working on.  

What else do you do for conferences?  

Online Math Test Issues

This year we have a new math program and the students are supposed to complete their math assessments on the computer.  It's been a transition to do so.  With the first test I realized that I needed a way to show my students and parents their scores without printing out hundreds of papers, so I used some task card templates by I'm Lovin Lit to create the above Math Note.  Now I just take my powerpoint version and edit the chapter number, what the test covered, and the possible score for the new chapter.  I only print out the assessments for the students that didn't pass (which parents then have to sign), and it's saving a lot of paper.  

Another issue that I found was that the kiddos would race through the test, answering questions on their whiteboards, and I didn't have any accountability from them, since they just clicked a multiple choice button.  I couldn't see how they were solving the equations.  My easy fix was to have them answer the entire test on binder paper, showing their work, proving their answers.  That binder paper gives them additional points (not included in their test grade).  It's working! 

Any other helpful hints that you have learned about online test taking?  I'm open to more ideas!