Save Lucy-Battle for Bats Math and Engineering

It's fascinating to see what scientists are doing to help bats that are affected by White Nose Syndrome. Bats are a critical component in a healthy forest ecosystem, plus they provide significant agricultural pest control and pollination. Their survival is essential for a sustainable natural environment.  Bat houses are necessary to provide safe roosts during the summer.  With habitat loss many bats are without a safe place to raise their pups prior to winter hibernation.  We researched the importance of bat houses to our environment, how to build a bat house, and where to locate a bat house.  A Bat house was also donated by The Ohio Division of Wildlife to place on our school grounds.  This will be done in the Spring. You can locate amazing information on their Blog!  They are willing to help in any way they can to protect these endangered mammals. 

Resources to help us build our bat houses

Why Some Bat Houses Fail

It is important to learn from our mistakes.  Reading about why some bat houses fail can spark discussion and problem solving when designing your own bat house.

Building Bat Houses for Kids

Wild Kratts can be accessed to read information to help us design our houses. 

Caves in Ohio that are affected with White Nose Syndrome- This cave was closed do to a case of White Nose Syndrome.  It is important people realize that they can transport this fungus on clothing, so it's important to stay out of caves that have been closed. 

Cuyahoga Valley National Park


Ice Box Cave-Closed in Cuyahoga National Park.   

Authentic Writing in Science

"Many teachers attested to the power of authentic literacy activities. They reported that students came alive when they realized they were writing to real people for real reasons or reading real-life texts for their own purposes. Authentic literacy activities are related to greater growth in the ability to read and write new genres." The Reading Teacher Vol. 60, No. 4 December 2006/January 2007

Below our samples of our persuasive paragraphs.  Children read different articles based on their Independent Reading Level.   After reading we discussed the articles and decided what factual information we could  to persuade others to help bats with White Nose Syndrome. Our goal was to educate our community using factual evidence, in a persuasive manner.  

In my last post you saw the videos we created using their paragraphs.  Being able to effectively communicate information is an important life skill.  Often children have difficulty taking what they have read, organizing it, and then communicating it to others. With the use of graphic organizers in small group instruction students worked with me to learn how to write a persuasive paragraph.  One of our ELA standards.  My entire class did this at different instructional levels.  I couldn't be more proud of the final product, their passion, and all their hard work! 

Save Lucy Project Based Learning activities

This page highlights many of the activities in my class that connected science to other content areas. I hope viewing this Blog paints a picture of the exciting learning taking place in third grade!

Live Skype:  This video highlights key information from our Skype with Leslie Sturgis on White Nose Syndrome in Bats.  She was a wealth of knowledge!

Navigating Nonfiction Students linked to kid friendly websites and utilized nonfiction informational brochures (Battle of the Bats) to locate information on White Nose Syndrome, loss of habitat, the importance of bats to the environment, and how we can help them.  ELA indicators were interwoven into small group instruction to meet nonfiction reading and writing standards. Students are working on Persuasion paragraphs in these pictures.  We are locating reasons and examples to convince our community to help save Little Brown Bats.

Students also used technology during independent work time to link to kid friendly websites that are at their independent reading level.  This student locates information for his brochure on bats.

Bat Posters-Mythbusters-Children use factual evidence to bust the myths that surround bats.

Nearpod: Students participated in a Nearpod lesson to learn the Engineering and Design process.

This lesson was a springboard for students to design and build their own prototype of a bat  house. Problem solving and critical thinking skills are employed as they build and then find a location for their house.  Students in the video discuss their design.

Students building bat house prototypes

Cause/Effect- If students build a house and place it in a prime location, the effect will be safe roosting areas for bats to care for their pups over the summer.  Increased population will hopefully help with the loss of bats due to White Nose Syndrome. Habitat loss from housing and business' has a direct impact on our environment.  We will put up a bat house in the Spring that was donated by The Ohio Division of Wildlife.


TOUCHCAST VIDEOS

Touchcast presentations:  Students worked on speaking and listening skills using the Touchcast App. The read their persuasive paragraphs to SPREAD the word about White Nose Syndrome and how we can help using Social Media to our community.  Students are educating others about the importance of bats and the implications of White Nose Syndrome on this species.  Here are some of our videos.

Save Lucy Presentation Ohio Department of Education

I presented this project yesterday at the Ohio Department of Education for the Science Network Regional Leaders. The group will now take the work I have started and develop it for Ohio Schools to use in Middle School and High School.  Here is the presentation I shared yesterday.

Save Lucy Presentation for Ohio Department of Education

Save Lucy the BAT Live Skype

Yesterday we had the amazing opportunity to Skype live with Leslie Sturgis, Author of Lucy's Story.  We learned all about her organization Save Lucy the Bat and what she does to help orphaned bats recover.  One of the messages she gave us was to help inform others of the importance of these little creatures in our ecosystem.  We also learned about White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that grows around the bats nose, irritates the bat which awakens it out of hibernation, causing the bat to use the energy it's stored for the winter too early. The bat is unable to survive the winter and dies. Our class will be learning about bats and completing conservation projects to spread the knowledge about these amazing creatures. Check out Lucy's Story

Answering Student Questions

Brown Evening Bat 

Red Bat that has been Orphaned

Stay tuned for the activities and learning that unfold over the next few weeks.

Save Lucy the Bat

SAVE LUCY THE BAT

I have always had a fascination for bats.  In the past my students have researched them, read about them, and spread the word to their friends and family that bats are more helpful than they are harmful. With the age of technology, I decided to try to Skype with an organization devoted to these furry little mammals. My intent was to educate my students on this fascinating creature.  That is how I stumbled on the Save Lucy the Bat Project.

The Save Lucy website is designed to allow children to explore bats and conservation by reading Lucy’s Story, then joining Lucy’s Club, where young users earn points by completing various conservation projects.  We will skype tomorrow with Leslie Sturgis president of this organization to learn about Lucy and other North American Brown Bats that are dying due to a fungus called White Nose Syndrome

Did you know that:

Forty percent of bat species in the United States are endangered or at risk and more than 5.7 million bats have recently died from white-nose syndrome. Bats are in grave danger from white-nose syndrome and the National Park Service is helping to protect these important mammals.

This blog will showcase our learning journey and what we are doing to help with wildlife conservation for North American Brown Bats.  Stay Tuned to learn and discover what you can do to help Save Lucy the Bat

Ohio Department of Wildlife White Nose Syndrome Information

Ohio Department of Wildlife Brown Bat-Species of Concern

The Battle for the Bats

White Nose Syndrome Map

The Revolving Door

The Revolving Door

Walking in this muggy heat I began reflecting on the last 6 months, they have literally been in constant motion, with little to no time for reflection.  In March, after hearing they were closing my building after teaching there for 22 years, I went through the grieving process.  Within that process I began a FB page called Rice Remembered because in all the emotions I truly wanted to remember what I loved about this school, the people that work there, the children that I was blessed to have taught and the community relationships that I had built. 

Field of Dreams

We planned a Community Open House, in which over 600 people attended.  I was awestruck, especially after seeing so many memorable faces, a tribute to the staff that taught there and the lives they all touched.  The feeling was amazing, it was more than happiness, it was gratitude, love, fulfillment, honor, all wrapped up with a big red bow.  I tried to explain this feeling on so many occasions and the best I can do is to think of the movie Field of Dreams, that’s what it felt like, cars coming from both directions.  We built that night and were amazed at who came.  The first visitors met in Kindergarten over 50 years ago and are still friends today.  Their happiness was infectious.  Something I’ll never forget as they came an hour and a half early filled with stories. Such a successful night, one that deeply touched me.

When One Door Closes

So many people say when one door closes another opens, this is true.  I had always said I was ready for change, but change can be scary, and even when we think we want it the journey is filled with unknowns.  That is how my summer started off. I knew where I would be going, and who I would be teaching with at my new building.  The staff and principal really welcomed me, and I began to know all would be good, the stress and worry receding.  I had an opportunity for another job present itself, I didn’t go looking for it, a door truly opened. This job was something in my heart I thought I wanted to do and I knew I could do successfully.  This job soon became a possibility then an opportunity.  I reflected heavily, what change did I truly want? Either way my life would change, a new school, new staff, new principal or a completely new job doing professional development, new opportunities, new challenges, and new expectations.  I won’t go into tons of details but I will say this I turned it down, it didn’t have enough of the good to replace the great I already had.  I’m glad I chose to stay in Mentor, doing what I love, with those that I respect and are honored to call friends and colleagues.   

Mindset

So many opportunities have presented themselves because I work in Mentor and had a principal that supported my dreams and ideas. I read about growth mindset the latest educational trend, and think we have always done that, but that happens when you are supported.  Change happens when you work together for a common goal. 

I have always embraced challenges in and out of the classroom. This mindset has been exceedingly rewarding.  Opportunities for growth personally and professionally are a direct result from this.

The Revolving Door

So, why I call this blog the Revolving Door?  Well that’s how I’ve felt these last six months, going in circles of uncertainty, not sure when to get out.  Fear will do that.  It takes a good hard look at what you value, what’s important, and what your dreams are before you can be on your way again.  I think I am finally on my way again as I prepare for a new school year, with new hopes, new expectations, and new challenges. 

Taking Flight OETC15

Taking Flight

Sometimes a unit takes flight and it's crazy the places  you can go with it. This was the case with my Amelia Earhart unit. It wasn't initially designed as a science unit, but soon became the Presentation at OETC15 this year to show others how to integrate Technology into the 5 E Learning Model. The 5 E learning model is based on the  constructivist theory.  The constructivist teacher sets up problems and monitors student exploration, guides student inquiry, and promotes new patterns of thinking. Working mostly with raw data, primary sources, and interactive material, constructivist teaching asks students to work with their own data and learn to direct their own explorations. Ultimately, students begin to think of learning as accumulated, evolving knowledge.

 The key goal focus of this unit is that students could locate evidence and artifacts to support one of the popular theories about Amelia's disappearance and death. It started with a google presentation that can be found here: http://goo.gl/s8dXZy

Students each chose a theory they wanted to find evidence for. Within the presentation texts were differentiated so students had access to multiple levels of text.  The Chrome Extension Read and Write for Google was installed so the documents could be read to the children. Within this extension, students could highlight key details, look up meanings of words, and listen to the text being read. It multiplied the teacher until I could meet with each group.

As part of this unit we also had different leveled nonfiction.  Factual information was also located in small groups to help support the theories each group chose.  I helped them locate details to support their theory, which aligns to our common core standards for third grade. They then used this information, artifacts found in their research and information learned from one of the lead researchers, Ric Gilespie, pictured below. 

We were fortunate enough to Skype with Mr. Gilespie the executive director of TIGHAR. The day we planned on skyping I used Google Earth to virtually take my class to the location Amelia's plane was last heard transmitting from. Here is a You Tube link to see how this looks:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruupKdqYCV0  This was an amazing experience with my class as he shared how they researched the island.  A quick view of this can be found in this Animoto video created by Rebecca Levine our instructional coach at Rice https://animoto.com/play/0mOTKFzt6QNhruON5Ka9og 

One of the highlights of this unit was using Nearpod to teach kids thinking, reasoning, and analyzing skills using the freckle cream jar that was found on Gardner island and believed to be Amelia Earharts. Students were given the following image.

 The glass jar you see was reconstructed from fragments found on Gardner Island.  It was well documented that Amelia used this product because she hated her freckles.  Students used Nearpod to analyze these jars, read information related to this discovery, and discern based on the facts if this jar was Amelia Earharts. The thinking process unfolded as students discussed with partners the informational text related to this jar. As they went through this process they were asked to compare/contrast the properties of the two jars. As we neared the end I asked them to determine if in fact this jar could have belonged to her.  Based on the evidence I had given them thus far, they all were very positive it had. That was until I through in a new twist

Even though the glass fit in the box and appeared to be a replica scientists have yet to find any clear glass freckle cream jars, they have only found milk glass jars.  The students took this new evidence and then were given an opportunity to change their initial conclusion.  

This summer Ric Gilespie and the crew from TIGHAR will return to Gardner Island using Sonar Imagery to attempt to locate her plane. There are so many mysteries stories about this brave pilot, you can't help but fall in love with the mystery behind her disappearance.

I hope this paints a picture of the 5 E learning model in my classroom. It's science, a lot of science, observing, researching, discovery, and analyzing data within the common core reading standards.  Many teachers forget that ELA can be a powerful tool to use nonfiction text, which is often of high interest to many kids.  I hope this integrated approach motivates others to look at their curriculum and foster a love of Science and Reading.

A special thank you to Lou Sangdahl and her husband that stayed for my presentation, I had one of the last time slots at OETC15, and a decent number attended, but it is the support and encouragement of others that I appreciate the most.

SECO 2015 Takeaways to Share

On January 26-27, 2015 I presented as well as attended the Science Educator Conference of Ohio. I think one of the best things was to be amongst so many educators that have the same passion as I do and love to teach Science.  I had some great learning opportunities and takeaways.

Instruction that Works Blending the goals of NGSS, CCSS, and STEM Using the Research from Cognitive Science

 "If it's your job to develop the mind, shouldn't you know how the brain works?"         Kenneth Wesson

One of my favorite Sessions was from Kenneth Wesson (www.sciencemaster.com).  He was fascinating and I thought I would  share one of the biggest takeaways related to technology.  Blended learning is a new initiative that has taken education by storm.  I embrace this method within my classroom, and I have always tried to maintain a balance. One thing he said that has stuck with me is that when kids just type on a computer they are like a court stenographer just "hearing" what is being said, however, when they listen to the speaker, think/process/discuss, then write notes deeper learning occurs because they have processed the information in order to create meaning. There is research to support it and I felt it important to share because we have shifted learning to technology driven so quickly we often don't have time to reflect and analyze why kids aren't performing as we expected them to. This was one of my favorite take aways because my gut new the writing was integral, not just where technology is concerned but with how kids learn and are able to communicate. He was also a master at optical illusions and shared that when you combing stress with multitasking no learning takes place.  Could be why I am so forgetful these days,, queen of multitasking isn't always a good thing.

Wolves and WEBCAMS using the 5 E Learning Cycle

This was presented from a teacher who just graduated from Kent State University and I was highly impressed with the depth of learning and integration within this unit from a teacher who just graduated.  The 5 Es were explored using live webcams that were left on all day. Activities were designed to be aligned to the third grade content standards in Science as well as in ELA and Math. One of the key points she made was how important it is to ask yourself and your learners if they completed the task or activity for each of the 5 E's, before moving to the next part of this learning cycle. It was imperative to look for any confusion and correct it before moving forward, and to check for understanding as the inquiry progressed.  During this inquiry students went on a habitat walk in their own building, writing down observations as part of  their explore section and then  making inferences regarding their findings in relationship to the wolf observations they had observed on the live wolf webcams(for example they always drank from the same stream on the cam, in school drinking fountain centrally located, why is that important? what can we learn about this behavior?).  In the explain section they explained how the wolves  physical traits enabled them to survive in their environment. This inquiry was extensive, differentiated and covered all the E's flawlessly. I hope to share her google presentation so stay tuned!

NEAR POD ON THE ISLAND

In this session I had the pleasure of learning about Ohio State University's Stone Lab on Gibraltar Island in Put in Bay. The presenters used Nearpod to gather assessment data on the island. They have different locations on the island to gather data to understand the difference between climate and weather. One of my favorite instruments that they used with the Near pod App are the solar panels and the energy they generate on the island. These are maintained by Dovetail Solar and Wind. Talk about analyzing data here is the link to see the solar energy generated throughout the year at the Stone Lab https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/pv/public_systems/nEqu88321When you visit the link click on the icon on energy being used by different items, what a great way to show kids the difference the seasons make in producing solar energy.

KEY NOTE SAM KEAN

I also got to hear the Key Note Speaker Sam Kean who never in a million years would I have thought I would understand his content.  He ended up being a fascinating story teller. I found a video of one of his stories on You Tube: http://youtu.be/KkaXNvzE4pk.  He has written three books: The Disappearing Spoon, The Violinist's Thumb, and The Dueling Neurosurgeons. My dear friend Amy Roediger would love the Violinist's Thumb because it's a story book format but deep in science, facts and stories that are so fascinating, you can't believe they are scientifically true, it's crazy but super interesting. If you click on the next You Tube video you will get a glimpse as to what his stories are all about! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEqwLYF2Yfw 

In the Violinist's Thumb he even refers to Darth Vader,, I guess the force is with all of us!!

It was a fabulous conference and when I wasn't attending I was presenting and volunteering, as well as, attending my Regional Network Leader Meeting to be updated on all the Science Testing Changes. I met several teachers and was able to share the Science I Love the Best! Great Conference with Great Takeaways. Keep it in mind for next year. 

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The White Elephant- One man's trash is another man's treasure!


Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary says that a white elephant is a property requiring much care and expense, and while it may not be of value to its present owner, the object may have value to others. That exactly describes a gift at a white elephant party.

My White Elephant-

With the ever changing climate in education and the integration of technology, often technology can be the White Elephant in the Room.  For some it is a treasure they can't wait to open. For others, they pass it to the next person not quite ready for the gift that it is. However, just like any white elephant gift, there is a curiosity when it is opened from those sitting nearby.  They begin to wonder and think, what is that for? Why would someone want that? Who thought that was a good gift?
  
You may laugh at this comparison, but I'm sure it got you thinking.  No matter where you are on integrating technology, the gift of knowledge using it effectively can not be measured. The amount of engagement, curiosity, wow factor, aha moments, and captured learning moments are a sign of the transformation taking place in and out of the classroom.

For my students integrating technology has changed my classroom culture. I use a rotation method and link technology to learning.  Often when asked how I plan, it's pretty much the same as I always have. I start with the end in mind.  What do I expect my students to learn, how can I facilitate and nurture that, and what will the end result be?  I often take units that I love and restructure them to include a technology component.  I have favorites I like to use, but they vary from unit to unit depending on the purpose. Not everything I do requires students to be on devices all the time. I am a huge advocate for hands on integrated learning, as are many teachers.  The difference is technology is now one of the ways I integrate and connect learning.

I decided to start to write about my classroom because I have learned so much from others.  The idea of the white elephant  in reference to technology popped into my thinking, especially when you see someone open a gift that you want.  I WANTED this gift and have been fortunate enough to be in a district that has embraced it wholeheartedly! When I first started my head was swimming: how can I use that device? How do I manage it? I only have 5 how will I provide opportunity for all students?  What can I do with that? I wonder how it we can connect content with others? Can we ask experts? Can we explore the world? Rotations saved me and I learned as I went. So many things have changed in the two years I've done this, and I just feel like technology is the gift that keeps on giving!

The power and magnitude behind technology is a treasure still waiting to be found.  If you think of explorers and how they searched to find lost treasures that would open the doors for them, technology is very much the treasure in a child's hands.  It can be a tool rich with learning.  The creativity it unleashes is endless.  It is today's white elephant gift.