Pinnacle Year 2: Reflection...

Comparing 21st Century Characteristics to Pinnacle Leader Expectations...

"Connected Educator"
A 'connected educator' uses social media resources to network with educators around the globe. Pinnacle leaders are expected to maintain their PLNs through blogging, Twitter, etc.

"Master of Technology"
A 'master of technology' knows when and how to incorporate technology into his/her students' learning. Pinnacle leaders are expected to use technology daily as 'invisible components' in their lessons.

"Reflective Practitioner"
A 'reflective practitioner' constantly evaluates and modifies his/her instruction to best meet the needs of his/her students. Pinnacle leaders are expected to regularly submit and reflect on classroom data. These reflections guide resource allocation, lesson plans, etc.

"Advocate"
An advocate works with all stakeholders (students, parents, educators, and community leaders) to create meaningful resolutions to educational issues. Pinnacle leaders are expected to be leaders in their school communities.

Source:
http://smartblogs.com/education/2012/06/22/what-21st-century-teacher/

PLNs

"Twitter Infographic"

Are you interested in creating your own infographic? Try http://www.easel.ly/ (FREE website).

Pinnacle Year 2

ELA Common Core

If you are interested in finding ELA Common Core resources to use / adapt for your grade level, then try exploring the following website!

http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/cbl/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=11&Itemid=39

Flubaroo

If you administer assessments through Google Forms, then "Flubaroo" is for you! This easy-to-use tool allows teachers to immediately grade Google Form responses, share them with students, and generate reports.

http://www.flubaroo.com/

2nd Semester Pinnacle Project Evaluation Form...

CLICK HERE to access the 2nd Semester Pinnacle Project Evaluation form. My presentation and reflection, as well as my students' artifacts, can be found in the post entitled "2nd Semester Pinnacle Project." A BIG "Thank you!" to the six other pinnacle leaders who will be giving me feedback.

Balanced Literacy Resource: Reading a-z.com

Are you looking for printable, high-quality resources that align with Reading Recovery, Fountas & Pinnell, or DRA levels? Try Reading a-z.com. This wonderful website contains everything from fluency passages to reader's theater scripts. It is a fabulous site if you would like to obtain additional resources for your students to help them grow their reading skills. You have to pay for a subscription...but Reading a-z.com does offer a free trial. =) Click on the link below if you are interested in starting a FREE trial membership. 


https://accounts.learninga-z.com/accountsweb/marketing/trial.do?campaign=razrazlp2012Trial 

2nd Semester Pinnacle Project

CLICK HERE to access a Google Presentation that explains my 2nd semester Pinnacle Project. Student artifacts are included.

CLICK HERE for printable Google Doc. directions, rubrics, etc.

Khan Academy

This website contains thousands of step-by-step video tutorials on a variety of subjects. These videos can be used to provide direct instruction at a station, or students and families can access them at home for extra support / review. This is a great website to use if you are looking for a free site from which to pull short videos for Smart Board Lessons / Stations. 

http://www.khanacademy.org/#browse

Professor Garfield.org

Are you looking for an engaging way for your students to practice inferring? Try Professor Garfield’s Reading Ring! Students infer the correct order for Garfield comic strip panels, and then they answer questions about the comic strip. This is a wonderful activity for all students, and struggling readers won’t be intimidated, because they are working with short amounts of text. 

http://www.professorgarfield.org/ReadingRing/Strips/strips.html

Fraction Wanted Posters

“Wanted Posters” are often used in literature units, because they give students the opportunity to complete a focused analysis on an important character. Students evaluate and record how a character talks, feels, thinks, and acts to create a “Wanted Poster.”

 I also use “Wanted Posters” during Math Workshop;  they help my students analyze numbers. For example, my students create posters about the different forms of numbers (expanded, standard, etc.), decimals, and fractions. Click below for a printable fraction “Wanted Poster.” Completing this poster requires students to compare and order fractions, as well as identify equivalent fractions. Students always enjoy wrinkling the posters and artistically cutting the edges to make them appear as if they really came from the wild west! J

Fraction Wanted Poster

Dropbox

Are you looking for a way to share and back up files that is free, safe, and convenient? Then try Dropbox!!! Backing up your files really will become as simple as dragging the files into your Dropbox. Also, if you choose, you can pay for more space…

Click below to download Dropbox to your computer:

http://www.dropbox.com/

First Semester Pinnacle Project Presentation and Evaluation Form

CLICK HERE to access a Google Presentation that explains my first 3 Pinnacle Projects. Student artifacts are included. See below for a post entitled “Pinnacle Project Printables.” This post contains Google Doc. directions, rubrics, etc. for each project. 

CLICK HERE to access the Pinnacle Google Evaluation Form. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Research to Build and Present Knowledge…

Fact Monster is a student-friendly reference site. It is a useful resource for students to use as they begin learning how to conduct research for content-specific writing assignments. See below for printable station directions to use/modify and laminate.

K-12 College & Career Readiness

Anchor Standards

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y0sFQDrVDN74bjo35QF7DSr2Kuq7Y0D2SjRFeAe8Bc8/edit

Web-Based Sticky Note Tools…

If you are tired of buying sticky notes—or watching them fall off your students’ presentation boards J—then you may want to try Primary Wall (http://primarywall.com/). Primary Wall is a Web-Based sticky note tool that allows students to create walls, post sticky notes, collaborate with other students, and automatically generate Wordles from the sticky notes…WITHOUT creating individual student accounts!

Similar sites include “Wall Wisher” (http://www.wallwisher.com/) and “Stixy”                                                        (http://www.stixy.com/). However, my students have found Primary Wall easier to use than these other sites. Click below for printable station directions to use/modify and laminate. 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwiN9M4-7hviY2Y1ZmI3NjktOGU3Ni00ZTlkLWFjOTAtYzdhNTQ5ZjY3NDgx

Incorporating Technology Into Reading Workshop Stations...

This literacy station requires students to identify over-used words in their writing, and then find substitutes. The focus is on (1) building vocabulary, and (2) promoting direct transfer into the students’ writing. This station incorporates WORDLE. WORDLE is a free “word cloud” building website. http://www.wordle.net/ See the attached Google Document for printable directions.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwiN9M4-7hviZWU1M2I1N2ItYjZkYi00NTdiLTllMjktNTk4N2E2YWQ4MzFm

This literacy station allows students to take advantage of the collaborative and easy-to-use features of Google Forms to create, share, and respond to written response questions. See the attached Google Document for printable directions.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwiN9M4-7hviOTJmZTFmMzUtZGNkNS00MGVhLTg5YmQtNTlmZmFmOWVjN2Ix

Pinnacle Project Printables (Google Doc. Format)…

If you are interested in promoting oral and written discussion about important character traits, then try the Glogster Project Printables.

CLICK HERE!

If you are interested in facilitating student-to-student book recommendations, then try the VoiceThread Project Printables.

CLICK HERE!

If you are interested in growing your students’ fluency through repeated readings and self-evaluation, then try the Audacity Project Printables.

CLICK HERE!

Note:  ***Unless you click “download original,” you may have some formatting issues with the images inside the documents.***

Kidblog...

Some of my students/parents have been getting this blog confused with my classroom blog. If you are looking for (1) your child’s blog or (2) Rm 15’s current class blog, then please click on the link below:

http://kidblog.org/MsPlecniksClass/

Book Clubs...

I have started a Book Club with one of my Guided Reading Groups.  The Book Club is similar to an adult Book Club, where the process of discussion is emphasized over the creation of a product.  Students select a novel to read (I selected their first novel to model the selection process), and then they read the novel independently during self-selected reading time or at home.  The group meets two times a week to discuss the novel.  At the meeting, each member of the group has a role.  Since this type of talk about books will add to the students’ love for reading and help them grow their higher-order thinking skills, I hope to have all students participating in Book Clubs by January.

 VoiceThread has been a useful tool with increasing accountability, feedback, engagement, and communication during the students’ Book Club meetings. Indeed, a significant benefit that students receive from Book Clubs is the opportunity to learn/practice communication techniques and active listening skills. 21^st learners must be effective oral and written communicators, and VoiceThread allows students to easily record and comment on effective communication techniques.

The extra equipment that I have received through Pinnacle has been invaluable because students are using the Pinnacle laptop, microphone, and headphones during their Book Club. Next week my students will begin using “Audacity” in our Fluency Station.  See below for links to download and set up free accounts with Audacity and VoiceThread:

Audacity:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

VoiceThread:

https://voicethread.com/register/?ReturnUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dvoicethread%26src%3DIE-Address

Class Projects...

On Friday we began our first Glogster, and we are going to finish our digital posters this week. The students enjoyed the wide variety of customizable features that Glogster makes available with its free student accounts. If you have not yet created a FREE Glogster educator account, then consider clicking on this link and signing up: http://edu.glogster.com/product-information/.

This week we are going to begin using Voice Thread as a medium to create, listen to, and comment on “Book Talks.” Having an “expert” student blogger was such a success that I plan to use the same management system for our Book Talk projects.

Our PLC is “going Google” because we decided to switch from Excel to Google Spreadsheets to “house” our common assessment data. This will allow us to more easily update and share our data.