A chat that offers middle school teachers a chance to have a collaborative discussion about a different topic each week. Our topics change from week to week, ranging from Common Core State Standards to Character Education. During the chat, participants exchanges ideas and resources. The chat group ranges in size each week from 10 to 50+ participants. Discussion can be general talking about instructional style or process to specific. Recently members of the chat group help each other create lessons.
A1: I'll give you the one I handled. For various reasons I've had staff changes this year. I used them in their areas of talent & imparted as much as possible. #mschat
A1: Preparing students for THEIR futures over MY past. Was so glad to go to conferences to expose me to the amazing ways to use PBAs over just having students make a powerpoint! #mschat@ERobbPrincipal@KGT_Educator@ToddRisser@misskoplin
A1 Biggest challenge is right now. Still have over a month of school and Ss are already checked out. Planned the last unit with tons of choice and activities, but still frustrated. #mschat
A1: New School = New learning all year. Finally felt caught up and centered a couple of weeks ago. Tried hard to learn from every T, A, P, and S along the way. #mschat
A1: Adjusting to the many minutiae of an elementary setting for 6th grade. There’s so much all the time! Collecting money & forms, duties, behavior/management, fundraisers, etc. #mschat
A1: Not enough hours in the day! One solution that's been effective is capitalizing on colleague's strengths and areas of interest. Divide and conquer! #mschat
A1: transitioning from a T to an admin has been a fascinating experience so far. The POV I now have has allowed me to see the big picture more clearly #mschat
A2: My history department constantly challenges each other to be the best possible versions of ourselves. As our school moves more towards 1:1 I'd like to think I have helped my fellow Ts find some cool tech ideas for their classes! #mschat@ERobbPrincipal@HistoryislifeDC
A2: I’ve been part of an amazing team transitioning 6th from our elementaries to the jr high building. We got to design our programming, schedule, model from the ground up. It will be fantastic. Bringing the best of both world together. #mschat
A2: We were given an opportunity to do Google Expeditions VR on a weeks notice, a day after testing, 1 week before our biggest fund raiser. Had to go for. Grateful we did it. That was Monday. #mschat
Hi all! Melissa from Atchison, KS. I teach 6-8 Soc Studies. Just dropped off my son at baseball practice, so I'm a few mins late. But always glad to see what you all can share! #masterychat#mschat
A2: I asked many questions about the reasoning behind why the content was taught/assesses the way it was. Heard “we’ve always done it that way.” But, we agreed to meet this summer and rewrite our curriculum guide and pre/post assessment. #mschat
Q3: Between parents, students, colleagues, and other members of your building, you have hundreds of conversations. What was the most challenging one? #mschat
A3: These convos are few and far between luckily, but whenever I've had to talk with my voice cracking and on the verge of tears when it feels like a parent has given up on their kiddo #mschat
A3: Major vs minor behaviors. I’m not always as worked up over some things as others may be. It may come across as if I’m not supporting them or not expecting my students to be really respectful. But it’s not that cut and dry. I look at the why behind it. Not easy convos. #mschat
A3: Parents of gifted and talented Ss who struggled with only having assessment feedback presented vs. going on the e-grades and not seeing every assignment “graded”. Received 51 emails the first week because at mid marks, their Ss weren’t A students. Trust was necessary. #mschat
Q4: As we wind down the school year, it is often tough to keep students and lessons focused. How do you meet the challenge of making the last few days/weeks meaningful? #mschat
a4: routines, protocols, strucutres - they are still all in place. binders in ready position, chairs pushed in, lining up correctly. all of that impacts Ss perception of the day #mschat
A3 We've been hit this yr w/ some unexpected teacher departures, long and short term, due to health or personal issues. In just 1 yr at my school I've grown close to my colleagues and I hate to see a single person leave #mschat
A4: Taking time to have Ss meaningfully reflect on their successes and areas of growth from the year. Great way to build S confidence in their abilities and also get S feedback for future teaching plans #mschat
A4: Keep lessons engagingand allow for movement. We have been working on a writing prompt assessment, and I don’t let my Ss sit for more than 15 minutes at a time w/o a movement break. Everyone must stand and walk and talk. No sitting during breaks. It really helps. #mschat
Q4: As we wind down the school year, it is often tough to keep students and lessons focused. How do you meet the challenge of making the last few days/weeks meaningful? #mschat
A4: Also important to keep mindfulness in play. Focus on strategies to reduce stress and keep behaviors within the expectations that were developed on Day 1. #mschat
A4: Towards the end I push 1 more epic eventful period. As we get real close to the end I talk about what they mean to me in terms of my 17 years of building a school. Every class is different - state it in the positive and tell them. #mschat
A4: Keep routines intact. Our last day is Wednesday, but instructionally, I haven’t stopped. If it still feels like learning time, it still IS learning time. The kids are still working hard, so it’s definitely working! #mschat
Eeeek! 😆📚💥 Why don’t ya melt my heart to puddles?! #BookSnaps#MathSnaps...man, what more could a girl want to hear on a school night?!
You rock!!!
#mschat
A4 I'm trying to finish up some wrap-up projects. I was very stressed about getting in every bit of information, but over the past few days my main focus is enjoying my last few days w/ my Ss. Laughing w/ them, telling them how amazing I think they are, etc. #mschat
Q5: We need to challenge ourselves outside of our school as well. What non-school challenges have you set for yourself this year? What have you achieved? Brag on yourself! #mschat
a4: we also ACTIVELY address the 'elephant in the room' - yes, summer break is coming, yes, we're ALL Thinking of it, but that is NOT the target right now. don't trip at the finish line #mschat
I HATE countdowns. We have counted up all year to denote which day of our Best Year Ever it is. We don’t ever know how many days are in a school year. #mschat
We had awards tonight, big field trip tomorrow, field day Monday. Turned Chromebooks in today. Tuesday will be breakouts much of the day (perfect balance of fun and challenging), and they will help me pack my room—have to be out by Thursday 7am! #mschat
A5: I'm doing it right now! I feel as though I'm an awkward networker, so am really trying to utilize Twitter and other online communities to build my professional learning network #mschat
A4: I saw this idea on Edutopia: have students map their learning for the year. https://t.co/z7Mu6Vmvt3 I think you could even have them make connections among the diff disciplines, too. #mschat
I like the idea of a count up & agree about countdowns. I have never understood why anybody would countdown days - as morbid as it sounds, each day gone is one day closer to our grave. #mschat
I HATE countdowns. We have counted up all year to denote which day of our Best Year Ever it is. We don’t ever know how many days are in a school year. #mschat
A5: I’ve presented at several conferences this year just so I could network with other teachers during pick up more tools for my toolbox. Also, decided for next year to put my hat in ring to be on the board of a middle level association. #mschat
I miss watchign you present! I've had the book goal for 2 years now. I have a rough outline. just can't find the mojo and confidence that people need anything I have #mschat
A5: I have had some degree of success with some fitness goals this year. Also, been better about being present at home and childrens' activities. #mschat
Q5: We need to challenge ourselves outside of our school as well. What non-school challenges have you set for yourself this year? What have you achieved? Brag on yourself! #mschat
A6: New teaching team in a new grade level model...EXCITING challenge, but still a challenge. And want to grow/improve my professional presentation repertoire and the teachbeyondthedesk website. And write that book... #mschat
A6: I want to continue to grow my Twitter PLN, expand #waledchat, and want to try to get some more speaking opportunities. Glad to be presenting at conferences with @PHausTech several times this year! #mschat
A4 I continue to hold the students to high standards and stay firm with my decisions, grading, and class management just like it was the beginning of the school year. They need continuous repition and routine even till the end #mschat
A6: Revamping curriculum, assessment, and instructional practice more student centered. Developing a hybrid standards based grading scale to better reflect student learning. #mschat
Q7: Summer is often a time when we dive deeper into PD and growth, but we also need to find balance. How will you meet the challenge of recharging over break? #mschat
A6: In 2018-2019 I will be moving from 2nd grade to 5th grade. I am nervous but looking forward to learning new curriculum, working with a new grade level and a new team! #mschat#growthmindset
I still work Monday through Thursday during the summer, so really soaking up my Fridays by turning off the email notifications on my phone, hitting the Netflix hard and sleeping in #mschat
Recharging will take me to the great state of Florida to visit friends. Will also be taking in some PD opportunities and writing assessment questions for the state. #mschat
Ha, actually yes! My mom lives in cinci and my grandma in Columbus. My oldest son is a 4th grader and gets a free natl park pass, so we plan to do Wright Pat and maybe Chillicothe. #mschat
A7: hey guys’! Just got back from my volunteer meeting and can join! I will have horse time and reading time. Looking forward to breaking down what i did last year and planning for greater success next! #mschat
A7 Right now I want to tweak my lessons now that all of these ideas are fresh in my head. I want to get the 1st few months of planning out of the way so that I can stop thinking about them and focus on my family (esp w/ my youngest starting school) when school starts #mschat
I went from a standards based school to A traditional grading school. Attempted to build the hybrid this year, but ran into some issues. Need some tweaking over the summer. #mschat
a8: my goal is to become the go-to person for all topics math. need a good way to do graphing in 3rd grade? a fun way to integrate 5th grade math with SS? #mschat
My goal is so big it makes me gulp! I want to help create assessments that truly reflect standards and focus on conferencing as I assess - and give kids so much more ownership over their learning! #mschat
I LOVED my data binder this year. I knew where every kid was on every skill at all times. It empowered the kids too—THEY knew how they were doing. Never going back on that one! #mschat
