susankotch.bsky.social
Middle School ELA teacher, Author, Community Volunteer, #sunchat mod (Sunday Mornings at 9am eastern) Lavallette NJ USA
291 posts
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We covered wildfires as a natural disaster before I left, too! I'm hoping the kids remembered some of what we talked about as they watched the coverage. #sunchat
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Love it, Carla! And kitty looks like she loves it too! Have a great break!
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I'm feeling good, there are still lots of things I can't do yet, but getting stronger each day. #sunchat
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This is where self-paced learning journeys are incredibly helpfull. Ss who are able to work independently work on their own or in groups, freeing the teacher up to work with Ss who need extra help. In this blog post Ss talk about why they love it.
#sunchat
teachingexperiment.com/2022/04/how-...
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When I see kids struggling to write full, complete sentences in a gen-ed class in 6th grade, and kids who are paragraphing, writing dialogue, full stories and full character development in the same gen-ed class, I have to wonder if the former should have been given more time to develop. #sunchat
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Since our focus is writing this year, we differentiate in many ways. Students who need more assistance are given tools to help them, such as organizers, articles for citing (insteading of finding them on their own), and maybe even less paragraphs. Focus is on structure, not quantity. #sunchat
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... but we dropped the ball on that. For instance, those kids we kept pushing forward due to social promotion instead of allowing them to re-do a grade because they didn't gain the foundation - bad move. This would remove the stigma of "staying back". Take the class you need to succeed. #sunchat
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We are pushing 30+ kids in an ICR class, mix of special ed and gen ed, and it can get bogged down with all of the differentiating, grouping, etc. Teaching today is not easy, mostly due to the parameters put on the teachers due to funding. Not sure where this is going. #sunchat
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You know my thoughts on this from twitter chats - we need to abolish "grade levels" and let the kids group naturally by ability, regardless of age. If they are in a lower grade, but are excelling, they should be moved forward. Removing the "grade" would allow this to happen. No barrier. #sunchat
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I find that any more than 2 working together, and one of them is just sitting back and along for the ride. They don't quite know (or care to try) how to all contribute, and not all kids have the same work ethic or buy-in to the activity. Especially when for a grade. #sunchat
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Thank you, Jerry!
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@mrspazltms.bsky.social So you know what I mean, and the noise of that walker on the tile floor wakes the whole house up! LOL. #sunchat
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Me too, Carla! I'm used to being mobile. And daytime TV sucks! I've been crocheting and reading and taking laps in the kitchen and living room. #sunchat
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Yes, I was up and sitting in a chair in a few hours. Using a walker now and getting around okay, but I'm not a back sleeper so my nights aren't restful. Hoping each day I'll get more mobile and find my sweet spot for sleeping once again. No pain, just tired. #sunchat
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Hi Alison! Yes, this PA and NJ weather is depressing! Here at the shore, it's misty and foggy. The foghorns were going all last night from the Army Corps of Engineers beach replenish boats that are working in Ortley Beach, Seaside and Lavallette this week. We want sun! #sunchat
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This will be next week's topic, Melissa! #sunchat
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But better they learn now how to handle tools like glue guns before they get to the big stuff! That's how they learn. If we don't expose them, they don't learn. #sunchat