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Its time to make a change

2/28/2022

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 Our IntegratED Framework

The last semester of the school year has always been my favorite time. My second graders are starting to put together all they have been learning and are becoming more independent. It is also a time to really dig into our IntegratED units!  ​
If you have wanted to try our IntegratED Framework but are not sure where or when to start we recommend the later part of the year.  It seems that fourth quarter’s standards always line up nicely when planning an IntegratED unit, making it a great time of the year to give it a try! And it is the time of the year when something new and different is needed to help kids be engaged and motivated.  A perfect time to start an IntegratED workshop! Integration will take some extra planning in the beginning but is always worth it when you start the IntegratED Workshop in your class. Whether you are a beginner or a master integrator, we hope this article brings you inspiration to ‘give it a go’ before this school year comes to a close. ​
“If you do nothing it feels safe, but everything stays the same. If you do nothing, there is less to experience, less to love, and less to learn.”                                                                                                                           -Yamada
Educators are realizing that something needs to change but we are not sure how. This is where our IntegratED Framework comes into play. Our IntegratED Framework isn’t another curriculum. We have designed a framework that teachers can implement with their favorite resources and district and school expectations, WITHOUT following a written script. We want teachers to have the freedom to be creative in their classrooms. We want teachers to teach not for or to a test, but for growing students’ knowledge and experiences.  We have challenged the education system and started to disrupt the norm in the way we are teaching and planning. ​
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This framework will guide teachers in bringing back the love of learning into their classrooms by giving educators the freedom and creativity of using what they already have and creating learning experiences for their students to remember. Our goal and focus is on changing the norm of our entire instructional day to create a more holistic approach to student learning.
Our classrooms today have less behaviors, more student involvement, and the love of learning because we have implemented our IntegratED Framework in our instruction. When we first began this process in our own classrooms we realized we were integrating at different levels throughout the school year. We began to realize that we would often move through different levels of integration depending on time of the year, our ability to bundle our priority and supporting standards purposefully, district expectations and assessments, and our knowledge of what we knew students needed instructionally and what they could handle socially and emotionally. ​
​Our framework has three different levels: 
  • Confronting the Norm 
  • Challenging the Norm
  • Disrupting the Norm
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Throughout this month we will be featuring each level independently to give you a better idea how each one works in our classroom. We will try to provide you with ideas to take to your classroom and try before the end of the school year. ​
So, now where do you begin? Well my advice is to take a core subject you LOVE to teach and add another core subject that makes sense to put together. A lot of time our integrated units start with a science or social studies concept. Then we start to look for priority reading or writing concepts/skills that need to be taught. These standards might be based on district recommendations or requirements or you may have the freedom to choose. We then add supporting standards that help support those priority standards (spiraling throughout the year). After the work is done with standards and deciding on the end goals (assessments), the fun begins. 

After the work of bundling standards, looking at end goals, and deciding on what assessments to use, we start to plan different but very purposeful classroom experiences that drive our units. This is where teacher creativity plays such a big part in our framework.
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Unfortunately, we are not able to teach you all of the things in one blog post, otherwise this blog would become a book. However, there is a way you can learn more!!!  :)

In August, we will be starting an IntegratED cohort that will take you step-by-step through our IntegratED framework, provide you with free resources, collaboration with a community of teachers, learning from amazing guest speakers, and so much more. Be sure to watch for more information about the cohort! 
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Watch for our next week's blog on Confronting the Norm, level one of our IntegratED Framework. 
Are you ready now and need help getting started for the fourth quarter? Send us an email and we would be glad to help. ​
Email Us!
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Two teachers for teachers, 
​                                     Meg and Kara
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Not just for gaming...

2/20/2022

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As some of you might know, Megan and I have been in one -to- one classrooms for the last 6 years.  What that means is that we have iPads in our classroom for every student.  Now, since the pandemic this has become a much more common practice.  One big concept that we stress to our students is that technology is just not for games, because for many of our younger students that is all they know technology/tablets to be used for.  We teach them that technology is a tool that allows us to learn so much about our world and allows us to create what was once not possible.  Technology is a powerful learning tool when used the correct way.  ​
Throughout our years of experience with being one-to-one classrooms, we have come across many different apps and resources; some great, some not so great.  In light of so many of us using technology to teach our students now, we thought we’d share with you some of our favorite learning apps for our students!  We have so many apps/resources that we love. We like to categorize them in different ways.  We have our “creative/creation” apps, learning apps, and teacher resources/planning apps.  We have recently posted a blog about our favorite creation apps for students, linked below.  Now it is time to share with you a few of our favorite student learning apps!  ​
Get creative with Technology Blog
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Google Arts and Culture: This app is great for students to explore virtually different museums, arts, history, and so much more. This would be a great app to use to integrate the arts into your instruction or to show artifacts of a history lesson. (Grades 2-12)
Google Earth: This app literally gives you the world at your fingertips. Are your students learning about an ecosystem? Habitat? Maybe you are incorporating map skills. (Grades K-12) ​
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NASA: Yep..NASA has an app. Do we need to say more? ​
Youtube Kids: You can find just about any learning hook, video, or lesson introduction you need on youtube. This is a great way to keep it safe for your kids! ​
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Epic!: This is such a great resource and it's FREE. Epic gives you access to hundreds and hundreds of books and videos. You can search for your favorite topics, read to me books, watch learning videos, and so much more. ​
RAZ Kids (paid): Reading A-Z is another great place to get students into books digitally. Raz-kids is a leveled library for each of your students. Students can listen to the book as they follow along, read the book, and then take a comprehension quiz to earn stars to purchase incentives. You can also purchase other pieces of this program like science and writing. ​
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Kahoot/Blooket/Gimkit: These are all great digital ways to create or use the pre-made quizzes to practice skills and content in a fun competitive way. ​
Nearpod: This app has free pre-made lessons that can be teacher driven or student lead. These lessons are also interactive! ​
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Classkick: This is great for all ages but we love it for primary. This app allows you to see students working in real time. You can create problems or questions, use voice recording to read the problem to them, give stickers to student work, and so much more. ​
Flipgrid​: This app is great for students to video their response, listening to others and comment, or respond to an assignment you have created. ​
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Teach My Monster (Grades K-3): This app is a great way for students to practice phonological awareness and phonics. If you use the teacher dashboard you can set your students on a differentiated path. ​
EdPuzzle:  Here is another great app that gives students and teachers a little more  freedom in going through a lesson. Teachers do not need to take students through lessons, they can simply assign them.  There are free premade lessons, paid lessons, or you can create your own lessons as well.  IIn going through assigned lessons, students can be asked questions to check understanding before completing the lesson.  It is also compatible with Google Classroom. ​
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Two teachers for teachers, 
                                    Meg and Kara
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Spread the Love: Teacher and Students

2/11/2022

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This week we asked our IntegratED family to take time to shout out other teachers who have brought and spread love to them, students, and others. We have received some amazing stories about other teachers this week and we would love to share some of them with you. 
Matt Carl: He is dedicated to helping all of our skills students. He also is a great boss with a huge heart. - Sam Fulton 
Stacey Dickson: She conquers anything and everything that is put in front of her! She has always believed in me and has never, ever given up on me! She is an inspiration to many and deserves so much! -Heidi Nannemann
Missy Zipperian: Miss is a giving, caring and selfless teacher who makes her students a priority! Missy meets her students where they are “at” academically and is so encouraging and empowering. Missy makes lasting relationships with students and families. She has taught students of all ages and abilities. 3-5 graders, GATE and now currently at the tech facilitator at TBHS - Amanda Bailey ​
Hallie Kaufmann: She is so patient and caring to her students even when she is giving them a consequence. She truly has their best interests at heart. - Tami Bondurant ​

What is love… a 2nd grader's perspective

This week our students wrote and published a book called Love is. We used a version of the template from A Cupcake for the Teacher
Love is Template
Love is Graphic Organizer
To start this lesson we used the read aloud book Love is…a children’s picture book about love. ​
Read Aloud
Here is what some of them had to say...
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Love is when you push your sister on the swing at the park!
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Love is when you dad helps me on legos. 
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Love is letting your friend go in front of you in line. 
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Love is eating together at the dinner table. 
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Love is when my dad and mom take me to a soccer tournament. 
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Two teachers for teachers, 

​​Meg and Kara
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    Two teachers writing to teachers for teachers. 

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