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Winding Down

I just finished reading a book called Blended Learning by Catlin Tucker.  It was a great time to read this book because now I am even more fired up about the next school year!  I will be spending some of my summer looking for ways to implement what I learned in this book!  Tucker  discusses ways to use technology in a meaningful way with students.  This week I tried one of the recommendations in the book, using a platform called Schoology.   As a teacher, we all have those shy students in class.  These students seldom raise their hands, but of course, we know they have something valuable to say!  Schoology allows the teacher to post a discussion question online for students to answer.  Students post their responses.  However, they are unable to read the other student's responses until they have posted.  This forces everyone to participate and contribute something to the discussion.  In addition, they can reply to other student's posts.  I really enjoyed using this tool in my classroom and wish I'd discovered it earlier in the year!  The kids were definitely engaged!

 This week we continued with book clubs.  It's always a joy to watch students engage in meaningful, thoughtful discussions about literature.  In most of my classes, nearly 100% of the students complete their assigned job for each meeting.  This makes for a successful book club.  Most of the kids are enjoying their chosen book. I honestly feel like I could leave and go to Starbucks, and the kids would be on task!
Touching Spirit Bear

Throne of Glass


Beta

Something Wicked this Way Comes

Uglies

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