Fan Freebie Certificates Coming Right Up!

Rereading Harry & Rosemary Wong's book, "The First Days of School," inspired me to start a Facebook discussion about student motivation and engagement. It's one thing to effectively track student progress in a way that they can SEE, it's another thing to keep that momentum going. Sharing progress with parents at conferences is great, but it isn't often enough. I decided to create some freebie student certificates for Facebook followers that can be sent home each time a student masters another level. You could start at 1, or wait until they've reached 3 or 4, different students need different amounts of external incentive. Students can color the numbers in to designate the level they've reached.
The great thing is that the certificates will double as homework passes, which every kid can get excited about!! I found these to be very effective for getting parents to engage in classroom activities or events as well, because the kids put pressure on them to get the freebie. :) The certificates indicate that the teacher has to approve the homework choice; I usually allow them to use it for one overnight practice assignment, not projects or packets.

I'd like to give people a chance to give some feedback - here is the preview. 

Visit me at https://www.facebook.com/MrsLsLeveledLearning and 

let me know what you think! 

I'll post the final version later this week!

You can receive these FREE certificates by following my TpT Store. Every month I send out Notes to followers with info and freebies.

Post by Mrs. L's Leveled Learning.

 November's Follower Freebie is a "Who Has" Game for practicing Pre-Algebra Expressions. Different sets allow differentiation for Grades 3-8! Sign up for my email Newsletter to get this exclusive offer! This offer will expire by Dec. 15th, 2014. Sign up today!

Sunday Scoop: AATM Conference was a hit!

Today I'm linking up again with Teaching Trio's Sunday Scoop! 

  

Yesterday was the big AATM, Arizona Association of Teachers of Mathematics Conference at ASU.

One big highlight for me was meeting a fellow blogger and seasoned TeacherspayTeachers.com Seller,  Jennifer Smith-Sloane from 4mulaFun! Check out her 5 FAB Fall FREEBIES for Math! Follow her blog link to see all the info for entering.  

Over 350 teachers attended and I had the chance to talk with at least half of them about what they're doing in their classrooms, and what kind of support they need the most. I found that most teachers are required to post learning goals of some kind ("objectives," "targets," etc.) in their classrooms, and an increasing number are required to apply learning scales to them. The most frequent question I was asked was, "How do you use a Scale?"

The first thing teachers saw at my table were the colorful Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales. The second thing they saw were the student binders with work samples and the Student Portfolio pages. Most teachers liked the idea of having a pre-test and post-test that shows growth. They also really liked the idea of having kids easily track growth by coloring in boxes. The student portfolio binders contain the Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales so kids, parents, and teachers can see concretely how the students determine each scale they are on. They still wanted to know more.

A few teachers had mentioned that their schools were requiring them to use scales with learning goals, but they were confused about how they go together, or what the scales are based on. The Poster examples show the exact scales used in the Assessments. These scales were inspired by the compilation of research by Robert Marzano in "The Art and Science of Teaching," and several resources went into informing the progression of skills that align with each standard. Marzano states that "The starting place for all effective instruction is designing and communicating clear learning goals.", but he doesn't specify how large or small those learning goals should be. I recognized the look of confusion and struggle in the faces of other teachers because that's how I felt when I was introduced to this somewhat ambiguous concept - what do you make learning goals about???? The answer is that any skill or concept knowledge can become a learning goal. I started out by writing sentences on the board relating to each day's lesson. That's how I started using learning goals. I'm sure it did help students focus on what they had to learn that day, but it didn't help them see their overall growth, or help me to track it. I chose to focus my learning goal Assessments on the Common Core standards because that is what everybody must master - regardless of how many tiny pieces I chop it into - that is our ultimate GOAL! Keeping track of anything else, especially with multiple grade levels, was just too much to stay on top of.

Using a general scale to apply to all learning goals is a good start, and writing your own could be even better, but the time and research it takes to write scales that really align to the standards sequentially can be hard to accomplish when there are so many other things to do! General scales can still create some confusion for students because there aren't concrete examples for each level, so they are still left to guess, or approximate their own level of proficiency. 

The second most frequent question I was asked was, 

"Do you have anything for Grades [K-2 or 9-12]?"

I'm thinking I may ask for input on Facebook this week because people will occasionally request grade levels  through the TpT store site, but it's hard to tell what the demand is. There is a huge difference between the structure and content of K-2 materials, and 9-12 materials, obviously. Although I have a background and a Bachelors in early childhood, I'm hesitant to create something for several reasons. First, the Common Core standards may or may not be totally appropriate for this age level, and the responsibility of creating an age appropriate assessment that matches the variety of ways that young ones are taught could get really tricky. Secondly, there are so many great resources out there for early elementary, I'm not sure the need is great enough for me to invest the time. That's where you can help me! I need to know who and how many people would actually be interested in a scaled assessment for K-2. I'd love to hear from you through my blog, or Facebook page Mrs. L's Leveled Learning. If I don;t get much feedback I will move onto Algebra I and Geometry standards for high school. I haven't worked with this content since I taught an 8th grade math class 8 years ago! I am excited to dive into it again!

Sincerely, 

Sunday Scoop Linky - What's on your plate?

Today I am linking up with Teaching Trio for the 3-2-1 Sunday Scoop! The beginning of the school year is always a bit overwhelming for teachers. Being at home this year, I have the advantage of choosing when to be busy, and when to take a break. Of course my two little ones don't allow for too many breaks between 6am and 8pm, weekends are awesome for catching up because my super-supportive hubbie lets me run away to Starbucks for some quiet work time while he gets the kids up.

Working from home, I set my own schedule, which is great if I can manage to be consistent, and a challenge when I have to re-negotiate work time around the family's needs. This week my to-do list looks like this...

First work item is the 8th Grade Math Madness Interactive Power Point Game! These take a few hours to complete and review takes and concepts front the 8th Grade Common Core Math Standards. I like using it as a beginning and end-of-the-year game. It works like Jeopardy, and is a no-prep teacher activity that kids love. The game board links to questions, and the links turn color after a question has been chosen so it keeps track of available questions for you. The questions link to "Correct!" or "Oops!" pages so there's also no checking for the teacher. Kids get immediate feedback and can even go through the game independently in small groups or pairs. I like to have all of the related grade-level projects done in the same week so it's easier for teachers to find everything. I'm a week behind on this game, but the FREE Student Portfolio pages, Assessment, and Posters are done! There's also FREE Excel Tracking Sheets for every grade level to help you track student progress and sort kids for differentiation.

COMING SOON!!

The next thing on my list is to prepare for the Arizona Association of the Teachers of Mathematics Conference! 350 math teachers from around Arizona will meet at ASU to learn how to better instruct students for success!

I will be exhibiting the Math Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales for the first time, so I am really excited! We only have one family car, so we have been making trips to the dollar store and local Walmart on foot.  I am also sporting my super-woman shirt which I think every teacher and mother need to have. 

I have been working on display materials for the last two months, including my FREE Assessment Samples with three CC Standards each. I will also be hosting a Raffle for every grade level 4th-8th, so teachers can win a FREE copy of the Assessments.

Number three on my to-do list is for my little baby! She's going to be 1-year old! It went zoo fast! We are planning a first birthday party for her. My husband and I like to make our own cakes and we have a princess dress mold we bought at JoAnn's. We used it a few years ago to make our son a rocket ship cake for his second birthday party. So, hopefully the princess dress turns out just as cute!

Two things I hope to do, is get further along on finishing the 3rd Grade Common Core Math Assessment with Learning Goals and Scales. A few people have already asked for it and I don't like to keep teachers waiting long - especially since the school year has started! Once you get too far in, it's difficult to go back and pre-assess standards so you can show progress!

For my son, I committed myself to making a First Year scrapbook. My mom, who is a very talented graphic artist, created beautiful pages for me, so all I had to do was add pictures and captions. AWESOME!!!! I knew it would still take a lot of time, so I only committed to the first year; after that all family photos go into a family book with pockets and captions - fast and simple, or I know it will not get done, and I really don't want to lose these wonderful memories in the fog of mental activity years later!

Finally, I am so grateful to have my two kids at home with me for a few more years. Instead of enrolling in preschool this year, our son is staying home and doing activities with me. I recently signed him up for ABCmouse.com, an online preschool activity center so he can 'work' while mommy works, and his sister naps. Working from home means I can't do everything myself. I enjoy our night-night story times, and having the chance to talk with him and see what he's interested in. It is such an exciting time of childhood! They are learning so much, developing so many interests, and it seems that their potential for the future is unlimited - at least I hope to encourage that perspective in  my children. Just yesterday my husband and I watched this really interesting video from TEDx about positive thinking research and it's effect on success; The Happy Secret to Better Work.

Basically he says that as a culture we have set ourselves up for unhappiness by pushing it off until we have 'met our goals.' As long as we believe we can't be happy or content until we have met some goal, then we continue to wait and feel stressed working towards it. Once we have achieved it, we still can't be happy because there's always a next goal, a revised goal, etc. Research suggests that it's the people who can be happy first, content with the process and progress, that actually achieve more success long-term! Can someone please send this to every administrator and school district they know!!! How amazing would it be for kids to feel proud and motivated to learn while they learn, and not having to feel stressed and anxious until the next round of testing results comes back! Really gave me something to think about too. As an adult who has been trained to always move onto the next goal, I have to stop and catch myself having this same attitude. Take a breath! Take a break! And make sure your kids know that they can too!  Happy thoughts... :) 

Have a great week!