5 Finger Rule

This past week a parent, with whom I have a great rapport, approached me to talk about how her student was doing. She was worried because while reading at home, her student becomes very frustrated and throws tantrums. She said, "I catch her cheating and looking at the pictures! Then we get into an argument and I punish her."

_____________SCREEEEEECH!___________________________________________________

I immediately felt bad for my student. Reading should never be an argument, and I know my student is fully capable of reading. She is a "bubble kid"...you know, a kid on the cusp of being at grade level. She can do it, but just needs a little more practice.

Like a doctor or a car mechanic, I began asking questions to further understand the situation:

• What does she read at home?
• Who reads with her?
• Do you read to her?
• What does she like to read?
• How often is she reading?
• Do you have a homework routine?

Turns out, the books she has been reading are books that she enjoys. However, they may be too hard for her. I was not familiar with the titles, but gave mom a suggestion for finding out if a book is too difficult or too easy for her student. It's called, "The 5 Finger Rule."

Have the student pick a book they like, and read a page (preferably the first page, but really, any page will do). On your fingers, where the student can't see, keep track of their mistakes. If the student makes 5 mistakes within that page (or paragraph, depending on the length of the book), the book is too hard. If the student makes zero mistakes, the book is too easy. If the student makes 2-3 mistakes, the book is "just right". 

I also let mom know that we do "picture walks" before we read a story. Looking at a picture is not "cheating". It is a sign that the student wants to comprehend the story. It is there for clues to words she may not know. 

I also showed mom how to do "window fingers" before reading the page. Mom can then point out any vocabulary or sight words that her student is unfamiliar with and have the student use her window fingers to find the words.

I took Mom through an actual reading lesson using a book her daughter will be starting on Monday so she can see it in action. We talked about high frequency (sight) words and the importance of memorizing them. I reminded her that reading to her will help. I gave her my website with many different resources to use.

Reading should not be a stressful topic at home. I asked mom if she felt better now that she has some tools to pull out at home. She said she felt bad that she wasn't doing things right and stressing out her daughter, but she will try them and see how it goes.

I wish her the best! Hopefully this will put her daughter over the top to be successful!

 

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Edmodo: The Teacher's Facebook (Part 2 )

Yesterday I posted about how great Edmodo is. Today I'm going to tell you how I use it in my classroom.

Last year I taught fifth grade for the first time. We began using Edmodo at our site at the end of the school year. I immediately took to it. It looks so much like Facebook, that it wasn't hard to use. I could also use the app on my phone! I had the students using it to communicate for projects they were working on as well as taking quizzes. I would also give them a questionnaire to answer about how they felt the project went.

Since I'm back in first grade this year, I don't plan on using it with my students. However, the parents can log in under their own username and sign up for my classroom group. At my previous school, many of the parents did not have internet access, so using it was mainly in the classroom with the students.

So this year, I am using it for better parent communication.

In my welcome newsletter, I included a short summary of what Edmodo is and why I wanted the parents to sign up for it. I also included my group access code. Then, I made sure to post the newsletter on my website (a link to that was also in my newsletter. I had also posted the QR Code on the wall in my classroom that led parents to my website). The night the newsletter went home, I had two people sign up. I then posted information about Back To School Night on Edmodo. At Back To School Night, I made a plug for it in front of 20+ parents.

Two days later, a parent approached me apologizing for missing Back To School Night. He said his son had kept the flyer for it in the bottom of his backpack. I then used that opportunity to tell him about Edmodo and how I keep parents informed of events on it. It is SO much easier than an e-mail. I can let all the parents know at the same time!

Did I mention that there is an app for that?

Edmodo: The Teacher's Facebook (Part 1)

My district is encouraging us to use a new website that I absolutely love! It's called Edmodo and it is so user-friendly! It looks almost exactly like Facebook, but without all the annoying ads and games. The best part about Edmodo, is that it's designed for schools. So in order to be "friends" (or as they call it, "connect") with others, you have to be enrolled in the same groups. Here's a screenshot of my Edmodo home screen:

*I have obviously blocked out sensitive information.

There is a separate sign up for teachers, parents, and students. In order for parents and students to sign up, they have to know your specific code (see part 2 for more information). Parents are unable to interact with students, but they are able to see what their own student is doing.

Another plus is that this site allows for teachers, students, and parents to belong to different groups. When you post, you must specifically state which of your groups you are posting to. Since I currently belong to two groups (my school's group and my own room's group), I make sure that I am only posting to my room's group when stating information about Back To School Night or parent volunteer information. You are also able to create subgroups which comes in handy when you have group projects.

With Edmodo, as a teacher, you are able to create polls, tests, and add documents. Tests are a wonderful way to easily see who is understanding the material because it even grades it for you. Parents can log in and see how their student did (no more missing out on progress reports because they "lost it" on the way home from school).

As a teacher, you are also able to delete any post that a student or parent has posted that may be inappropriate. I had to do this with my fifth graders last year when the band LMFAO suddenly became a topic of conversation.

Since students are so used to Facebook, they easily can navigate the site. However, it's safe because only people you invite are allowed into your groups.

One of my favorite features is one that is just an added plus. You can create badges to give to students that shows up on their profile. This is a perfect reward system that gives students bragging rights. I created a "first to join" badge for parents.

When the school year is over, you are able to either hide the groups, delete them, or even just delete the current members. At any time, you can change the specific code to your group so past members can't rejoin.

Tomorrow I will post part 2 to my excitement about Edmodo and tell you how I use it in my first grade classroom.

QR Codes in the Classroom (A How To)

Ever see a symbol like this around your town or in an ad?

Are you wondering what they are and how to use them? They are everywhere these days! And they can help you in your classroom. I'll walk you through it.

First off, they are called QR codes. And the one above, will link you to my TeachersNotebook store. Let's begin with how to use them. 

If you have a smart phone (i.e. a Blackberry, an iPhone, a Droid), you can go to your app store and download a QR reader app. This app acts as a scanner. When you take a picture of the code, it will link you to whatever the creator would like to see. It could be a website (as the one above), it could be a Twitter or Facebook link, an e-mail, information to an event, or even contact information. I personally have one for when my son and I are at the park and I want to exchange information with a mommy for a future play date. The mom scans my code on my phone and suddenly has my phone number and e-mail loaded into hers! This is so much simpler than carrying around business cards or typing in phone numbers.

These codes can be generated for free and then downloaded onto your computer. You can even create one with a different color and customize picture!

Simple QR Code generator that allows you to plug in even information: Zxing.appspot.com

A slightly more "high tech" QR Code generator that allows you to pick the color: QRStuff.com

If you are looking to track how many people are using your code, for a small fee, you can upgrade from the free membership: beqrious.com

Once you have created your QR Code and saved it to your computer, now the fun begins! 

When I made my "Welcome to Mrs. Magallano's Classroom" newsletter, I made sure to put a QR Code in the front of the newsletter. That code takes the parents to my website. On my website are my procedures, field trip information, donations wish lists, Scholastic order information, about me, and even classroom rules. I also have created a "current events" section where I upload a copy of my newsletter in case parents lose the one I sent home. 

*obviously information has been changed

Since I did this, I have had more parents come up to me with items for donations than when I sent home just a newsletter. I also have more parents contacting me via e-mail as well as asking about things from my "About Me" section. It feels more personal this way.

Not only can I use QR codes for better parent/teacher communication, I can also use them with students inside the classroom. I haven't done this yet, but I plan on it. When I do, I'll be sure to post more about it. My plan is to create QR Codes for the students to scan and explore science websites. They get to use iPads every week. SOoooo....since we are a science and art magnet school, as well as technology, I will print out different QR Codes for different stations for the kids to scan with their iPads. I can't wait! 

Pssst...by the way, the blue QR code will take you to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.