Busy is the word that comes to mind with the end of the year approaching.  STAAR testing consumes  so much of our time at this time of the year. Preparing students for next year comes up second with consuming time.  We want to make the end of the year fun for students yet timing of these fun events are so difficult.  We can find simple things to make it fun that are not so time consuming.  Search for fun games for students on the Internet where they can learn but have fun. Compete with other classes for high scores.  Make it fun for you and your students.  Make time for you.  The end of year will be here before you know it.

Ten Tech Skills Every Educator Must Have in 2015

According to THE Journal, there are 10 skills educators must have to run a successful classroom.

1. Acing Productivity Applications such as Office 365, Google Apps for Education - go beyond the basics.
2. Mastering Search, Research, and Internet Literacy looking for "good stuff" for the students
3. Connecting Through Social Media to help capture the attention of the students who live by their social media.
4. Troubleshooting Your Own Tech even if you have a great IT department like Castleberry ISD - it helps you to save your valuable time
5. Finding and Sharing Files
6. Embracing Curiosity so you can be a role-model for your students with technology.
7. Capturing Attention with Video - Flipping the classroom
8. Juggling Multiple Display Devices - make sure you know how to use all the technology in your classroom
9. Perfecting Presentations
10. Managing Learning and Students

Read more in the January/February 2015 addition of THE Journal.
#imms_lions #castleberryisd

Hands-On Learning

   Building a house that would withstand a tornado. Hands-on activity at the museum.

Recently, my husband and I visited the Science Museum during the "Myth Busters" exhibit.  So many of the activities are hands-on. It was exciting to see the children experimenting with all the activities set up in the exhibit.  Those experiences will be implanted into those children's minds much more than the written plaques that were posted.  Think back through your youth, what activities in school do you remember?  Do you remember the teacher lectures or do you remember the activities?  Hands-on activities can make the classroom seem chaotic but just like anything different in the classroom, it is classroom management.  Setting expectations from the very first activity and reminding the students of the expectations.

Check out some of the sites for research facts on Hands-On Activities.
HAND to MIND
HANDS-ON is MIND-ON