#6thchat is used to chat, collaborate, and grow with other sixth grade educators from around the globe. Each session we discuss a topic voted on by #6thchat participants. It's a great way to help grow your PLN and share ideas with others.
Welcome to #6thchat! Please introduce yourself, where you teach and what subjects! I"m Kristin and will moderate tonight. I teach ELA and SS in Lansing, MI!
Tonight's #6thchat is named "tongue in cheek" what you couldn't teach without. While I know you could teach without many things/resources, please respond tonight with what comes first to mind. Feel free to tweet more than one response/resource, too. Should be fun!
A1) So many! I couldn't teach without the annual re-read of @donalynbooks The Book Whisperer. Her book has changed my teaching and impacted/innovated all areas of my classroom for many years. #6thchat
A1: Having just finished @KellyGToGo's "Readicide" or @donalynbooks's "The Book Whisperer". Both featured great ideas about how to teach reading best and get students reading
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So many to pick from. I think the most relevant right now is that we don't have to enjoy our novel we just have to find the value in it. We have no choice in novel picking and most Ss don't enjoy it (neither did I really)
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In reply to
@mrskochheiser, @KellyGToGo, @donalynbooks
Oh, great takeaway for many Ts! Helping Ss find value can actually make the reading experience more interesting to them for sure, and they may even get excited about it! :) #6thchat
In reply to
@SamReisman93, @KellyGToGo, @donalynbooks
A2) I absolutely adore sharing "Nothing Every Happens on 90th Street" w/my class every fall--great introduction in writer's workshop, and so many great writing lessons in it that I return to this book again and again. ##6thchat
A2) this is a hard one! I change our read aloud a lot. I do enjoy teaching Among the Hidden at the beginning of the year, both to intro a series and help teach fiction signposts #6thchat
A1 I start our fiction unit out with the short story Eleven and then move into a novel study with either Tuck Everlasting or The Watsons Go to Birmingham. #6thchat
You know, our Michigan weather has been so bad this year that I have found #6thchat such a welcome "escape" from this groundhog missing, and angry Mother Nature, spring we are having! Thanks for joining y'all!
It does take us a long while to get through, we start in August and probably finish reading it either September or October. Our district has a set curriculum that has us doing Percy as our 1st quarter anchor text
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A3) I couldn't teach w/o having my community meeting time. I thank @KMHundt and @kttasch for inspiring me to do this; I love the interactions, focus and calm entry to our day with it! #6thchat
A3: I couldn't teach without asking my Ss how their day is going, what they did over the weekend. It sets the class mood. That and welcoming them at the door. Makes us all want to come in and work #6thchat
A3 10 minutes of reading time because I make time for what I value and it sets the standard for what I expect throughout the entire year - for them to read. #6thchat
Our schedule changed this year and after having started every day with my co-teacher to not, it was very strange! Weāre getting our old schedule back next year :) #6thchat
I was just thinking about that today - test day - and how they don't have the stamina to make it through the test. Wondered if 10 minutes was NOT enough. #6thchat
I try and end with a song or video. Sometimes during partner work we do guess the song/artist. They balk cause its not "their" music but they all get into it #6thchat
Yes! We close our community meeting with some silent reading time, but also have it later in the morning, too. My morning time is only 20 min. before we switch to first hour. #6thchat
A4) I couldn't teach w/o Google Classroom, and also I really would find it hard to teach w/o @padlet . The opportunity for Ss to connect w/one another, share documents, collaborate, and research with all of these tools is endless! #6thchat
A4: Best investment is my slide clicker/laser pointer. Can't live without it! Makes not only lesson easier, but I can get their attention with my pointer faster than my voice #6thchat
A4: I couldn't teach without access to 1:1 computers. I do so much with the computers that going back to just paper and pencil would be killer for me
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A4) Chromebooks! We went 1:1 this year and I donāt know how I ever taught without them! (In all fairness, I pretty much kept a cart in my room the last two years!) #6thchat
A4 best tech for me as a teacher is my iPad! I can walk around the room, while giving feedback or publishing writing. I can record conferences. Take data. Email. I feel like I am free from my desk. I can also sit down with my Ss and work alongside. Every T needs one. #6thchat
Hahaha...me too, and so true! I can't imagine making copies all of the time. The hours of my life that I have gained from not standing at a copier are priceless! #6thchat
A4: Going from a class with 1:1 chromebooks to one without - there's so much I miss doing with my Ss! Activities I have to revamp, and things I just can't do unless I book a laptop cart. Miss the last min change or "because we finished early" #6thchat
A5 I teach ELA and could not do it without using Daily 3 structure. (my middle years version of Daily 5) My students do more reading and writing and I have more time for feedback. #6thchat
A5: 6th gr Surface Area in geometry unit NEEDS the 3D shapes with the plastic insides. Holding these shapes and unfolding their nets helps them with the concept of Surface Area #6thchat
A5: ELA-Chromebooks for PDFs of books. It has made making sure Ss all have class novel so much easier, they can annotate if they want, and can't lose/destroy it
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A5 ELA. Books. I could not do my job if I didnāt read as much as I did. Or blog about it like I do. I think it gives kids motivation and they can use me as a resource. I could just talk books all day. #6thchat
A5 ELA. Books. I could not do my job if I didnāt read as much as I did. Or blog about it like I do. I think it gives kids motivation and they can use me as a resource. I could just talk books all day. #6thchat
A5 ELA. Books. I could not do my job if I didnāt read as much as I did. Or blog about it like I do. I think it gives kids motivation and they can use me as a resource. I could just talk books all day. #6thchat
So do you have multiple classes? If so, how do you keep everything organized and up-to-date with D3? I used it when I taught 4th but too hard with 100+ students #6thchat
There are some pretty awesome instrumental artists. It becomes a guess this song game. I once played heavy metal instrumental and dubstep. It was interesting. š
A6) I enjoy having flexible seating so that Ss can move around and work in different areas. High tables with stools, standing spaces, lower tables. #6thchat
I only have one class of students to worry about and I only teach them ELA and Health. I know, sounds like teacher heaven and it is. The rest of my time is spent being a principal or doing my best. Ha, ha #6thchat
A6 My desks in groups because collaboration is important to me. (Although this year's class is SO talkative, I have had to change that a little!) #6thchat
Yes, I do too, but I got away from naming them as such since often I mixed it up and they weren't daily. Now I call it Studio Time when they are working independently and I have a palette of choice work for them. #6thchat
I'm still pondering Q5! Not sure of the answer for me. A6: I couldn't live without the area rug which allows for modulation of seating, groups, and personal conversations. #6thchat
It has taken me a couple of years to get it to a place where it is working better. I have adapted it so we are all usually working at the same thing at the same time. That helps with the 6th grade environment. #6thchat
I am still working on that, too. I use Flippity to quickly create groups or prioritize who gets to sit where. Still figuring it out so that the spaces do not just become chat or gather spaces but work spaces. #6thchat
A7 Index cards! I keep a stack up front and handy. I grab and go to get quick feedback on a lesson. Plus it's great when admin walks in - looks like I had it planned all along! ;) #6thchat
A8) Hands-on/manipulatives resources: legos for storytelling; post-it notes for organizing information; atlases for Ss to use and research and pracitce latitude and longitude! #6thchat
This has turned out to be a very interesting #6thchat. Lots of great resources to make me ponder adding or revisiting! Last Q is up! Thanks for being here tonight!
This has turned out to be a very interesting #6thchat. Lots of great resources to make me ponder adding or revisiting! Last Q is up! Thanks for being here tonight!
Depends on how much time you have for using them in creating narratives. I only have two sets, but the students love when I include them. Because a set has many pieces, I can divide them up between groups. #6thchat
Sorry to have missed #6thchat tonight. Was taking care of some lesson planning and preparing for Thursday night's #mschat.
If you have time at 8pm ET/7pm CT, stop by and join us for a chat on engagement.
