Hello Everyone!
I have included my thoughts about Modern Classroom Project. Those of you who participated in MCP, I would love to hear from you, because I need to improve. I have yet to figure out how it best works without me feeling like I am leaving children behind or catering to the ones who will not put forth effort.

As my year is nearing a close and I look back at my goal with my grant, I am beyond pleased with the outcome! My grant for personal art supplies has provided exactly what my students needed- safe access to materials without the worry of COVID or other viruses. I paired my grant with another from the Youth Service Center and provided ALL students…Read More

Students are engaged and excited in their engineering studio while completing challenges with amazing materials!

We got our aquaponics system! We are now growing broccoli in the classroom using water and waste from our five goldfish. We also started some broccoli in our outside garden area. So far both gardens are growing at the same rate, but the temperatures are fluctuating outside so this may impact the broccoli plants. The students have been…Read More

My students have received their personal art supplies and are so excited! I am waiting on the arrival of their personal art journals from another grant. I can’t wait to get those to them and have them begin using them!

Resources are on the way for my engineering studio! I am eager to see the increase in student engagement as the new materials are utilized to work through each engineering challenge!

Very excited to have received two grants this year. I will be utilizing Oculus QUEST VR headsets for Science and Social Studies with my first grade class. As well my second grant was written for an awesome piece of technology called an E-Learning Glass. Can’t wait to use and show both of those resources soon!

I am excited about my items coming in even if it has been a trying time getting them. I am currently working one on one with students each day for 30-45 minutes. They are enjoying having their own task boxes and supplies to use at home and school. The students love the File Folder Games. I like that they are laminated so cleaning them is a…Read More

Many items for the grant have come in. A few items have been back ordered and cancelled. On to completing the grant research and excited to post progress this spring.

I am excited about being awarded three grants this year. I am beyond blessed to be able to give my students “school based learning tools” they can use at home. The Traveling Student Totes will allow my students have the tools we use at school. They are very tacticle learners and need some type of concrete learning tool to foster their…Read More

Hello from Knott County! As we all know this is proving to be an incredibly difficult and challenging year for everyone. From virtual teaching to in-person to online instruction and everywhere in between, students, teachers, and administrators have been “dreaming” of ways to make all of this a positive experience. So, as I was thinking about…Read More

I am super excited to launch my grant study this year. I am looking forward to determining if guided reading instruction can be as effective virtually as it is in person. I look forward to leveling the playing field for students who lack the resources to be successful with virtual learning

I am so excited to receive the ARI Learning Innovation Grant. My project is called Hands-On At Home. During this time of virtual learning, I wanted my students to continue exploring Science with hands on materials even at home. This grant will allow my students to receive “Science in a Box” packages which will provide them with all the mat…Read More

Kentucky School Readiness Definition

https://4.files.edl.io/eb7e/08/07/20/184050-dfd40a3a-ba6e-421d-9dcb-9f600f47abab.pdf

Kentucky’s Transition to Kindergarten Plan 2020

https://kyecac.ky.gov/families/Documents/KY%20TTK%20Plan%20Final.pdf

July/August Newsletter see pages 45-60 for Early Childhood News from Floyd County
https://tinyurl.com/y3a62865

https://kyecac.ky.gov/families/Documents/KY%20TTK%20Plan%20Final.pdf

Meet new 20-21 EC team members, KY Coverings for Kids, Head Start family success story, pre-k Chromebooks, #MaskUp @SchoolsFloyd, Yellow Glasses Proj, Recognitions, K Transition, virtual learning kits distribution tinyurl.com/y3a62865

Check out Floyd County Community Early Childhood Council provides to families two Saturday’s a month for ages B-5! m.facebook.com/pg/fcceccky/vi… Thank you, Russ Barker, CEO at McDowell/ARH for sponsoring for our families! youtu.be/R5WE5MkEgtY

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #10 (23 mins)
Develop a literacy identity that promotes lifelong learning.
• Provide opportunities for students to view themselves as lifelong learners who take an active role in their literacy development, understanding they impact and are impacted by their interactions with text
• Carole Mullins, NBCT and Reb…Read More

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #9 (31 mins)
Apply high level cognitive processes to think deeply and critically about text.
• Help students must move beyond basic comprehension and interact more deeply with the text
• By applying synthesis, analysis, reflection and other higher order thinking skills, students are equipped to examine text cri…Read More

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #6-7 (37 mins)
#6: Collaborate with others to create meaning. #7: Utilize digital resources to learn and share with others.
• Help students learn to interact with others in order to confirm, challenge or shape their views and ideas
• Know how to effectively produce and critically consume digital information
•…Read More

INTRODUCTION TO THE 10 INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICES (18 mins)
• Understanding the purpose and function of the practices
• Carole Mullins, NBCT

Presented on my grant and shared my results. KVEC made working through this COVID crisis to present so easy and efficient. Thank you!

My students love making, recording, and watching their social skills videos. I can see them applying the skills in daily life.

I am enjoying the iPad pro in my speech room. Other than using it for social skills, I am still hoping to find a way to use it for paperless data collection and progress monitoring.

As for the 3-D printing with the special education grant, unfortunately the 3-D printer messed up right before Christmas and I was unable to fix it until Christmas break. This means we did not get to sell Christmas ornaments like we originally wanted. On the bright side, the special ed class did come up and help design ornaments with my…Read More

The demos have been doing great in my lab so far! I have not looked at the raw data for the demos themselves but I can just say, they seem to be working really well and making me able to create a story line around certain lessons.

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #1 (32 mins)
Recognize that text is anything that communicates a message.
• Expand traditional knowledge about text to include visual, auditory & digital sources
• Use sources across disciplines to provide increasingly rigorous opportunities for students to interpret messages communicated through different med…Read More

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #2 (29 mins)
Employ, develop, and refine schema to understand create text.
• Through the use of multiple texts and interdisciplinary content, activate students’ schema. Provide opportunities for developing new connections, applying specialized vocabulary and reflecting on new understandings
• Appropriate for K…Read More

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #3 (30 mins)
View literacy experiences as transactional, interdisciplinary, and transformational.
• When students’ literacy experiences cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, their knowledge is expanded and relevant
• Students’ interactions with text become transformational when they are motivated to purs…Read More

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #4 (30 mins)
Utilize receptive and expressive language arts to better understand self, others and the world. View literacy experiences as transactional, interdisciplinary, and transformational.
• Experiencing both receptive (i.e., listening, reading and viewing) and expressive (i.e., speaking, writing and v…Read More

INTERDISCIPLINARY LITERACY PRACTICE #5 (38 mins)
Apply strategic practices, with scaffolding and then independently, to approach new literacy tasks.
• Help students to strategically approach literacy tasks in order to make intentional decisions about when, where and how to apply thinking and learning processes
• Independence and tra…Read More

I received an iPad pro and Apple pencil. We are working to use the ipad to create social skill videos. I hope that students will be able to learn to create actual “movie” about social goals and skills they are working towards!

https://www.edutopia.org/article/developing-love-reading-students

https://www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2020-02-04-play-is-disappearing-from-kindergarten-it-s-hurting-kids?utm_campaign=site&utm_content=share-25&__twitter_impression=true

https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/how-storybook-reading-helps-children-cope-after-a-disaster?hs_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true

https://info.childcareaware.org/blog/research-round-up-screen-time?hs_amp=true&__twitter_impression=true

https://heckmanequation.org/resource/abc-care-elements-of-quality-early-childhood-programs-that-produce-quality-outcomes/

https://www.ffyf.org/what-do-we-really-mean-when-we-talk-about-brain-science-in-early-childhood-development/

https://www.edsurge.com/amp/news/2020-02-14-why-aren-t-we-paying-early-childhood-educators-what-they-re-worth?__twitter_impression=true

The students really enjoy using the Ipads, Kindle Fires and Chromebooks to help with their learning. The Ipads and Kindles have increased my students’ fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. It has allowed them to listen to the stories numerous times in order to help them with comprehension and fluency. My 5th grade student enjoys t…Read More

For my grant I got an iPad and apple pen. I have been working with my students to improve social skills. They are recording themselves and each other and watching videos– we talk about what is appropriate and what can be done differently. Some of my students can create trailers and edit the movies. The children are very motivated by this. They…Read More

Trauma Informed Painting

Our project is growing exceptionally well. I, initially, identified 15 students with at risk indicators to participate in the weekly painting activities. The interest in painting grew quickly among the group of students who were referred to extended day programming due to course failures, truancy, and disciplinary…Read More

Composition Video Resources Link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vIg6dkOjgATOSbQCosjIiKQFMGGIqzs1?usp=sharing

KAS for Reading and Writing Video Series: EPISODES 1-5 RESOURCES LINK:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XaizNuJf-tWqMK0CLJU86EZ08xzOabfI

Opportunities with Ozobots: Coding with Colors
I initially had plans to only use the Ozobots with students in grades 3-6th, however my younger students were very interested in them so we gave it a try! Ozobots are great for all ages from Kindergarten all the way up to 6th grade. I have designed my STEAM lab into stations which allows me to work…Read More

My students have finally begun working on our Raspberry Pi kits. We hit our first major roadblock with them where we do not have a way to represent 8 kits at the same time due to output issues, but we are making due with what we have in the classroom. We are currently doing one system at a time, learning the basics and will continue to grow with…Read More

Our district is looking at other options for Assessment. We currently use Work Sampling for Progress Reporting. Can anyone tell me about Read/Write Gold, Core or Carolina Online? I have heard of some of these.

Thinkers of the Future
As I stand in front of my classroom each day looking at my students I can’t even conceive the future for them. I wonder what unthinkable gadgets will unfold. I question if schools are progressing quickly enough to make significant contributions in the preparation of our students for what is yet to be. Will they have t…Read More