Learning with Ms. Medrano

Day 2- MHT

I could not for the life of me remember what we did last year on Day 2. Luckily, Past Mariflor thought ahead and documented it in a planner and daily slides. However, some of those notes didn’t make sense. So once again, I’m glad I’m doing this blog now. Luckily, I’m teaching two blocks of this class now so I can make some necessary adjustments. Here are two agenda items I came up with. I was able to tweak it for Block 3.

Tinkering Block 1

Tinkering Block 3

Prayer Sign-Up
Class Survey
Isometric & Lined Paper

*setup prayer slides sooner; show how to use iso dot

Prayer Setup
Safety Contract
Course Syllabus
Intro to Iso/Ortho
- Iso Drawing #1
- Iso/Ortho Format

I like how I did the prayer sign-up this year. Instead of using Google docs, the students made their own slide. It saves me time AND they get to really design it. I really liked how it set a calming atmosphere at the beginning of class too. I will need a better way of presenting the Safety Contract and Course Syllabus. I really hate doing it, but it’s necessary. Next year, I’ll find a way to make it more entertaining.

Introducing the isometric graph papers and its nuances was much better than passing out the paper and asking students to draw on it. We drew shapes on the lined paper first. At this point, I wanted students to just draw lines that result in a 3D looking object. Some took longer than others. We moved onto the Isometric/ Orthographic Drawing Format. I did that by having them look at three orthographic views. They have to build it with the blocks, and then draw it in the iso/ortho format. We didn’t finish this exercise. I need to think about a better way of introducing the concept of drawing 2D and 3D. Should I draw 3D first and THEN 2D or the other way around? I found a pretty good resource for orthographic projections: Intro to Orthographic Projection.

Day 1- 12th and 9th graders

The Quiet.

The room before everyone came in. There are still plenty of things to fix/ take care of. It takes a while to really call a place your own when you inherit a classroom. My first classroom took me 8 years to really make mine! It was also a really great moment to just collect myself, some thoughts, and say a little prayer. The beginning of the school year is always exciting, and glad I was able to take some time to give thanks.

Making, Hacking, & Tinkering

This year, the seniors tore through the planned activities. I started the class off with a video on teamwork I found from TEDtalk. Here’s a link to the video: Tom Wujec’s TED Talk on “Build a tower, build a team”. I found it interesting because of the level of success did not immediately correlate with the level of education. Rather, success of the marshmallow challenge seemed to more correlate with attitude. I will have to emphasize process and a growth mindset. Last year, it took a bit longer to complete the build challenge. I got the build challenge from my colleague who first taught the course, so not sure where she got it from. I need to find out where she got it from so that students can continue to build once they’re done. One group interpreted the build a bit differently. Most groups took their photo like this:

One group sent in their photo a little differently:

Screen Shot 2018-08-15 at 3.13.29 PM — How one group sent in their photo.

All the groups submitted their group photo and their build to a common Google document. I really like how this group interpreted the build clues. This group worked together and made sure everyone’s voice was heard. None of the clues stated which cube had to be on “top.” Then at the end of the class, students filled out an index card to say what they liked and didn’t like about their time here. All the students wrote community as one of their top favorite things about the school. What they didn’t like ranged from dress code to waking up early, standard high school stuff.

Physics

I’m so grateful for the rockstar teacher, Mrs. F. She mentored (and continues to mentor) me in my first year. She came in and helped set up for the stations. With it being my third year, I felt pretty comfortable with what we had to do. However, I really should have practiced the stations again. I forgot how to do some of them…including the pulling the tablecloth one. I did it three times today, and my antiperspirant was really put to the test. I think some of the students caught me on video completing the task, but I do have one of a very eager student!

The goal of the Physics Learning Team is to have the freshmen walk away excited about learning Physics. We didn’t spend very much time doing explanations. Rather, we had them play and explore the Laws of Physics through eager eyes. It gets so intimidating toward the end of the year, maybe I can show them this video as a memory of their first day of high school….remember when you thought Physics was fun?

Here are a couple of photos of students completing the station rounds. Bonus: A photo of Mr. Murphy demonstrating gravitational potential energy.

Anyway, I’m excited for the year!

Day 1 of the 2018-19 School Year

Summer of Travel and Naps is official over! As much as I’m going to miss my daily nap schedule and all the wonderful trips I’ve taken, I’m super excited to be back! I’m not sure if it’s because I took a lot of time over the summer for myself or if it’s the awesome Professional Development completed at KCI, but I am ready.

In my third year of teaching here at SHC, I’ve inherited a classroom that I can call home. Days of the traveling teacherhood is over (for now I’m assuming). I’ve got to finish cleaning it up before they start have orientation meetings on Monday. Eek! The walls were repainted and everything looks so bright and shiny! I guess I’m just really excited about starting the year.

I’m getting a clearer idea of how Tinkering will be run this year, and I’m less nervous about using the Modeling Instruction method of teaching Physics. I’m trying to figure out how I can apply that same methodology in Tinkering.

This year’s theme is Accompany. It’s humbling to think about all the students that I will ask to accompany me on this year’s journey to learning science. Well, here we go! Stay tuned for Day 1 of Physics and “AP Legos.”

Day 9 #MERIT18

iMovie Trailers

I really do have a love-hate relationship with iMovie. I had to use it to create videos to apply for my California Teaching Credential (CTC), but the software changes very often. When things change this often, I spend a lot of time watching YouTube videos and crying…then learning…and more crying. Eventually, I have to put a product I’m halfway happy with. Because of this, I’m not that big of a fan. The people in my group were delightful with working together. Everyone who had an idea was heard. Sharing the cameraperson duties was encouraged. Editing was pretty seamless. I personally think our final product was very cute.

Presentations: IPEVO

All the presenters have been fabulous so far and IPEVO continues the excellent presenters tradition. They are to be remembered for their awesome products and the yummy cupcakes! I loved hearing about Wishpool. Even though their product was super affordable, they made it even MORE affordable by offering it to teachers who wish for them!

Spreadsheet Thoughts

I have a mug that says I [heart] Spreadsheets. I used them all the time when teaching middle school. The critique I received from it was that it was too difficult for students to comprehend. There is no skill mastery needed in completing Spreadsheets. After having to put together a fundraising tracker for my dance company, (and close to breaking down) I realized that it was important for the next generation to visualize numbers and their meaning. I’ll probably write a whole separate blog post about this topic.

Projects:

On Day 1, I knew that I was walking into a room full of talented educators. Today, I found out just how talented they are. Every single person that went up to present made me want to take their class. If the lesson presented today was a peek into a whole year with these teachers, I would be blessed to be a student in their class. Each educator asks students to address privilege and how global views affect their present lives. I know I was totally having mild panic attacks about today, but it didn’t seem so bad after all. The program does an excellent job of selecting educators who are empathetic, talented, and genuinely care about students. One of my first tweets about #MERIT18 was about disorganized I was with all my tasks. Lisa replied with: “Be the teacher you needed.”

Today, I was able to more clearly see the teacher I needed..the teacher the students need now. If there was a school who only employed MERIT alumni, those students would be some of the luckiest students in the world.

Day 8 #MERIT18

Who Are You?

Well, @fel_ski and I ended up in one of the most awful traffic jams that I can remember in my commuting life. PLUS to this is that we thought of starting a Voxer chat with @LisaTeachesTech to communicate about us being late. We learned how to use the app while we were stuck in the jam. Another fun little thing we saw was a white car who had TAPED binder paper to their license plates and wore a mask. I guess people will really do anything to hide from technology?

Beth thoughtfully guided us through the Who Are You? icebreaker. I thought she did a great job of it. I found myself continuing to dislike the question. I don’t want to make “I am a teacher.” my identity, but yet that was my initial introduction to my new #MERIT18 friend. I think I need to get better at telling my story rather than just stating surface-level identities.

Are we really almost done?

I cannot believe that it’s already Day 8. The feelings of fright and panic from Day 1 has not completely gone away. Rather, it kind of evolved to a different kind of fright and panic. Instead of the unknown causing my anxiety, the looming deadlines replaced the unknown. We started off our time together using GSuite apps, and we end our time by using those said apps.

I ended up spending a lot of time #sketchnoting my thoughts because my brain is old school. I think better when I’m writing out what I’m thinking and how it connects together. I found out during my time at #MERIT18 is that I can totally use my old school thinking methods and still produce a modern-day presentation product. I am so grateful to wevideo and KCI for gifting us with the Premium capabilities for wevideo. It’s so much easier to use than iMovie.

Not a box brainstorm.png — This is my #sketchnote of my brainstorm of my #MERIT18 summer project.

@MissMLMedrano out!

Day 7 #MERIT18

Getting things done…

When I saw today’s directives, I was sure that we were making ONE video, and it was going to happen TODAY. Turns out, we made a ton of things. I made an infographic, video, and I think I made other things.

My head is spinning, and I find myself REALLY scratching my head.

TPACK- Well, now what I know what TPACK is. Technology is not the center of the lesson, but it’s just the tool. Much like the brick my Kumu Hula used as his technology. (Referencing: Hula Class + Education)

And yes, I really am freaking out a whole lot. I enjoyed the day because I was able to play with some different ways of screencasting and other things. So much information today and the only way I could cope was drawing it out. So, I present to you, my #sketchnote.

[Will insert when I can find the file…It’s been such a whirlwind, I don’t know where my images are being saved..]

Maybe you can enjoy this video I made with @bribriggs in the meantime:

Hula Class + Education

I write this piece early in the morning reflecting on my sore muscles and bruised spirit. Movement of the body is something that has seemed to come easily for me. After a few tries, I can pretty much get the gist of it. Then I spend years perfecting the movement so that my feet, head, hands, and every other fiber of my body is able to do it without thinking about it. In education, we’d call that mastery. But hula…hula makes me feel body stupid. My feet and hips don’t cooperate. My body does not look anything like the the kukuis (helpers) in the front of the room. It’s so frustrating. I sometimes give up. But last night, I was inspired by my Kumu Hula’s dedication to teach us.

You see, there’s a move called the ‘uehe. It is going to be the death of me. One of the more advanced dancers kindly reminded me that it cannot be the death of me because harder movements are coming soon. The movement happens in 3 counts. 1) Step 2) Out 3) In. Somehow, my hips are pushing out to the right or left depending on what foot I step on. So if I step on the right foot, my hip should be on the left. Last night, my foot and hip were never on the side it was supposed to be…ever.

This is something we’ve been working on for quite some time. Kumu Hula thought that it would be helpful that we do this moving forward with one foot on stacked bricks. I cried (inside…because I am an adult woman). I became frustrated. I tried to figure it out by looking at others who I know have had a much longer experience with ‘uehes. Just when I thought I was going to give up, one of the kukuis told me how to make it better. Then I kept working on that.

At the end of the night when we started to practice our hula, what do you know…my hips, feet, hands, and all other fibers of my body were doing what it was supposed to be doing. Our Kumu Hula used a tool (low technology, but still technology) to educate us. Granted, it was our first time with this tool and I looked like a toddler still learning to walk, it helped me find success in the lesson’s objective.

Day 6 #MERIT18

MORNING:

Started our day with the importance of giving credit to where credit is due. I kind of imagined that everything on the Internet is “google-able.” But @LisaTeachesTech is right. We have to give credit to all our images, even the ones we contribute to the Interwebz.

Talked about how to use Google Forms with students. I really like the idea of using it as part of an Emergency Contact or for a quick formative check-in. I used it last year as a way to get to know students and for them to practice using Forms…but I didn’t use Forms after that, so that was kind of a waste.

My favorite part of the morning was Slides Karaoke. I love the idea of the using this activity with students to practice presentation skills. It doesn’t have anything to do with content…so that would definitely be fun for the students to make AND show.

AFTERNOON:

Today’s Extra Stuff session was EXCELLENT. @BethGillis totally killed it. I really liked what she had to say about POC teachers not having to be the one to be the representative for all POC. Everyone has a part in decolonizing education somehow.

The writing isn’t great today, but I’m sure somehow my final project will benefit from my lack of writing today.

day-61 — Day 6 Sketchnote by me- Google Photos

Final Thought: I better get on top of that final project. I need to do it and stop panicking.

Day 5 #MERIT18

This post is coming in a few days late, but here it is anyway!

Ramsey Musallam Presentation:

#MERIT18 started the day with a presentation from the very famous Ramsey Musallam. I’m really excited about this because I have heard so much about this man. During my time at USF, my fellow math & science teachers RAVED about the C&I course Ramsey taught. Then, during my interview at SHCP, Ramsey was mentioned enough times for me to make a mental note about looking him up. When I actually got the job at SHCP, I continued to hear about him. A parent actually pulled me aside and told me that I could benefit the students by learning from him. Two years since accepting the job at SHCP, here we are. Thanks to my excellent carpool buddy Felicia Suminski for snapping this photo. I was totally nervous about the curriculum I was writing and thinking about. He made my ideas so much better. Then I got really dizzy from all the ideas and everything I wanted to do for the next school year.

Jon Corripo Presentation: More about eduprotocols. It was excellent! I now know what an appositive sentence is…again!

Frayer Model I made with Jon Corippo:

Frayer What__

Day 4 #MERIT18

Juli’s beautiful #sketchnoting totally inspired me to try doing one with icons provided by The Noun Project.

We got a talking to…tomorrow, we have to find new friends to sit with. Our table of introverts will have to divide and find new friends. Honestly, I’m just trying to keep it together so that I can be useful, but I know that Lisa has a point. I need to branch out. I’m sure someone else in the room can show me a better app to use for my Sketchnoting…and other EdTools.

One thing that stuck with me was what Matt said about blogging. I’ve started many blogs since I was in HS, and he was right. If I felt inspired, then I would blog. But really, more importantly, everyone’s views matter. Although ideas have been blogged and reblogged plenty of times (especially by wonderfully intimidating people), it’s really important to recognize that I also have something to contribute in the world of education.

HELP! I’m addicted to icons…I had to make another doodle on Whiteboard about Spark Learning by Ramsey Musallam, EdD.