Twitter

Twitter...hmmmm, where shall I start? I guess I'll begin by admitting that Twitter is very new to me. I've had an account for a couple of years now. To be honest, I never really used it. When I did use it, I just retweeted what others tweeted. I guess you could refer to me as a retweeter!

Back in March 2016, I attended The Student Achievement Conference in Greensboro, NC. Todd Whitaker was a guest speaker, and he encouraged educators to start a Twitter account. He was a firm believe that teachers could learn from other teachers on Twitter. He spoke a lot about Flipped Classrooms. I never heard of that term until Mr. Whitaker mentioned it. Flipped Classrooms are where teachers take on the role of a facilitator and student-taught, self-discovery. Teachers also record themselves and share how they teach their lessons.

Although, Flipped Classrooms sound great, I was never able to find anything from other third grade teachers. I still cannot find any! It actually became very frustrating. So I gave up.

The only positive outcome that came out of trying to find Flipped Classrooms, on Twitter, was accidentally finding other teacher leaders or educational programs. I am now following 135 Twitter accounts. Not only do they include educational accounts, but also fitness and motivational accounts as well.

As I began searching for a new tool on Twitter, I came across Edutopia. What an amazing tool! I wish I found this when I began teaching third grade. I just started following Edutopia, and I'm glad I am. I've only been following them for few days. But since then, I've been amazed at all the resources. There are so many videos, and articles on current topics.

Edutopia provides teachers with so many resources on how to enhance effectiveness as a school leader. Some resources include:

• Building relationships with Teens
• Practical Tips for Building a Community of Self-motivated Learners
• Websites and apps to prevent teacher burnout
• How to build rapport with Teachers
• Educational research that every Teacher should know about and so much more to discover! 

Edutopia is so awesome that I decided to look to see if they had a website. They do! I clicked on videos, and to my amazement I found a Flipped-Learning Toolkit! There are videos showing teachers how to utilize it. This is just one of the videos about flipped classrooms. Below is a video on how to create an environment that supports a flipped classroom.

Edutopia has exceeded my expectations. I am very pleased I found this resource tool. It is very easy to locate resources since they are categorized. You can search by most popular, grade-level, topics, videos, and core-strategies. I'm excited to explore Edutopia to learn about more topics. I enjoy reading the most popular topics because I feel like I'm up-to-date on the latest news.

I am so pleased with Edutopia, that I plan to recommend it to my colleagues. I'm looking forward to improve my instruction.

References
Edutopia, http://www.edutopia.org/

Twitter, https://twitter.com/

ClassDojo

ClassDojo is a program used by teachers to encourage positive behavior. It is a great way to communicate with parents, and it is free to download on any device. Students love the cute little monsters they are assigned. They love to earn points and hear the "ding" every time they get a point. ClassDojo offers many resources for teachers. Some of the resources that teachers can use are:

• One-sheet Summary for Teachers
• 90-second "Getting Started" video
• FAQs for Administrators
• Parent Take Home Letter
• Back-to-School Night Presentation
• Free Decoration Pack for the Classroom
• Student Introduction Video
• Tips from other Teachers
• The Basics of Student Accounts
• Professional Development Pack
• 24/7 Teacher Support
• Privacy Act

ClassDojo was created in 2011, and since then they continue to make great improvements. They encourage teachers to give feedback to make ClassDojo even better! Once teachers set-up an account there will automatically be a Demo Class available. Teachers can practice using the Demo Class before setting up their own class. Teachers will also notice five tabs located on the bottom of the page.

Teachers can keep track of attendance and tardies by using ClassDojo. This can be very convenient when teachers need to know haw many absences and tardies a student has. Usually the teacher would have to contact the Data Manager to obtain that information from PowerSchool. Not any more! That information will be readily available on ClassDojo.

The second tab available is "Award Multiple" students. Usually the teacher would have to individually select the students they want to give points to. By using Award Multiple, teachers can set-up groups or tables, that way they only have to click the group name once, and it will award all the students in that group at once. This is a time-saver feature!

The Random tab allows the teacher to randomly select a student. One click on Random and ClassDojo selects a student. The students love it! It makes a clicking noise as it shuffles through the monsters landing one one student and showing their name and monster on the screen. 

ClassDojo added a timer for teachers. Since ClassDojo is displayed at all times, using the timer through ClassDojo makes it easier for the teacher. The timer will be displayed for students without having to close down ClassDojo.

Lastly, "Big Ideas". This is the newest addition. This was introduced in January of 2016. These videos are amazing! Not only do the students love to watch them, an important lesson is learned. It doesn't stop there. ClassDojo provides a discussion guide for each episode. The discussion guide also includes "take-home" questions for parents. This encourages them to watch the video at home and reinforce the concept at home. Teachers can also have the option to add the new skill to the classroom positive feedback board.

After the teacher adds his or her class roster they can name their classroom. Teachers will notice that the positive skills will already be created. Teachers can change the skills they want to focus on by deleting or renaming the recommended skills created by ClassDojo. They can also edit the weighted point. For example, each positive skill is worth one point. That can easily be changed based on the teachers discretion. Even though ClassDojo conveniently sets everything up for teachers, it can easily be modified by the teacher. 

ClassDojo also offers a communication board between parents and teachers. This is separate from "Messages". The communication board is called Class Story. This feature allows teachers to send parents pictures of what's happening in the classroom. The pictures sent cannot be saved or downloaded. Parents can only view it on their device. After 12 months it will automatically be deleted for privacy.

The best way to communicate to parents before, during, or after-school hours is through messaging. This is a great tool for parents to communicate with the teacher without the teacher having to give his or her cell phone number. Since the app is downloaded on their phones an alert will notify the teacher and parent if a message is in the inbox. This makes it easier for teachers to help parents with any questions, especially homework.

My personal experience using ClassDojo has positively changed the communication between me and my students parents. I can easily contact the parent with any questions or concerns. Also, parents can see what their child is doing throughout the day. Every time I award a point to a student the parent can view the report. It is real time, therefore as soon as I give the point it shows up on the student report. 

ClassDojo has changed the behavior of my students. Although there is a "Needs Work" tab, where I can take away points, I prefer to just add points. If a student doesn't do what they are asked to do, then they would not receive a point. Otherwise they would get a point. 

Students love receiving points because at the end of the week they can choose from the treasure box. If they have 20 point per week they get a prize of their choice. Students work hard to earn points. Classroom management has become so easy. 

I have been using ClassDojo since 2013. I am able to invite teachers at my school to join. I have now earned my ClassDojo Mentor badge. This allows me to help other teachers with any concerns they may have. 

If teachers are looking for an easy to use classroom management tool, I highly recommend ClassDojo. It keeps parents informed and students on task. It's too good to be true. 

Third Grade EC Students

Third Graders working with Mrs. Corpening

On March 17th, I observed the EC teacher working with my two third grade students. Parkview Village Elementary is so privileged to have Mrs. Corpening (Mrs C) as one of our EC teachers. She works with first, third and fifth grade students. The students in the picture above are both in my class. The little boy just transferred from Triangle Lake Elementary two weeks ago.
Mrs. C was working on finding the answers in the text. The students have been reading the same text all week. They've orally discussed the meaning of each paragraph.

 The text they were working on was given by the EC teacher. They two students would read the question together and then they would locate it in the text and highlight it. If it was correct they would then write it down on the answer sheet. I really like this small setting for the students. They don't get distracted easily and can get more one-on-one attention from the teacher.

I noticed that the EC teacher gave a lot of praise and encouragement. They loved getting the praise. I noticed that the little boy would work more to find the right answer before the little girl. He actually finished his work first and got to go to the gym, to play, as a reward. The little girl didn't want to do much. This is how she acts in my classroom as well. The EC teacher told her that she cannot leave until the work is completed. I noticed that she started to work a little harder. The EC teacher guided her a little more to encourage her to finish.

I really enjoyed watching this lesson because I know how much they both need the extra help. After watching this lesson, I will ask the EC teacher if she could use the passage we are using in class so that they get extra help with the skills we are focusing on. Since we are working on identifying the text structure between two paragraphs this week, it would be beneficial to have that extra help in this small setting.

The EC teacher expressed how difficult it can sometimes get because she has a first grade student that loves to run out of the room. At times she has to stop what she's doing to go and get him. She also  works hard and documents behavior to update the IEPs in order to meet the needs of her students.

High Point University Diversity Q & A

Dr. Nido Qubein 

On Tuesday, March 29th, 2016, the faculty Diversity Committee address an open public discussion with  Dr. Nido Qubein. Dr. Moses is the founder and head of the committee. The committee asked a series of questions to  Dr. Qubein about diversity issues happening at HPU.

1. Why don't we have an office of diversity (Multicultural Office)?

Dr. Qubein answered this question beautifully. He is all for it. He takes pride in being a global University. He considers himself to be a minority, even in his own country, Jordan, he felt like a minority. Jordan is made up of 95% muslims, and he was a Christian. When he moved to the US he was considered Arabic. He mentioned that it takes time and money to implement new offices. When the Multicultural Office takes place he wants it to be streamline. It's going to be a process. It is difficult to just quickly start something. 

2. The next questions had to do with Freedom of Expression. Can students have protests on campus?

Dr. Tuttle, Vice President For Student Life, answered this question. She mentioned that there is a poster policy and that the comments are managed because the University doesn't want it to be used for hate and anger towards other students. She also said that protests were allowed on school grounds. They have to be orderly and adhere to policies.

3. African American Students feel security is unfair to them. Is there a reason why there is more security at African American parties?

Dr. Qubein answered this fairly upset. He wanted to know specifics, when, who and where. He wanted to get to the bottom of this. Every student has the same rights and should be treated equally. He will take responsibility for anyone that doesn't get the answer they need. He does not like silos. If one office doesn't know the answer they should call somebody to find out the answer instead of just sending them to another office. If they cannot find an answer ask Dr. Qubein, he'll be happy to answer.

4. Diversity in curriculum. How or where is this being offered?

Dr. Carroll answered this question. He said currently there is diversity in the curriculum offered, especially in education and communications majors. He also mentioned that there is talk about starting a minor in diversity. They will do a better job at making students aware of what classes offer diversity. 

There was also a follow up question about hiring minorities as professors at HPU. Dr. Carroll said they hope that the biology position that was offered to a black male is accepted. They offered it to him and now they are waiting for his response. 

Dr. Qubein added that HPU has about the same number of African American students as Elon. HPU has about 6% and Elon has 8%. He mentioned he's unsure why it is like this and how to change it. He also said that students needed to be here when he first got there. They had nothing. The current students are spoiled because they weren't here when it was old buildings and much smaller. Now they have everything they could want. 

5. What concrete steps is HPU taking to increase diversity with faculty?
Dr. Qubein responds by saying nothing would please him more to have a more diverse faculty and staff. HPU will begin to advertise positions nationally, just as they did for the biology position.
6. What scholarships are offered?
Dr. Qubein believes in scholarships. He gave away 800 from his foundation. HPU can't be compared to Duke who has $8 billion, and HPU only has $30 million. He mentioned that they enhanced scholarships 6 times since the beginning. He also said that the MLK scholarships happen because of HPU who pays for them. He paid for first generation college students. He even said that just looking out in the audience there are two students he'd given scholarships. He says the day will come when they can offer more scholarships. He does what he can to increase that, but there's never enough money to fund everything.
7. What year do you see us to grow?
Dr. Qubein said that millions of dollars have been raised to build attractive, pleasing buildings, that way they can attract more students. HPU still needs a science undergraduate building, library, and another residence hall. He hopes that in 4 or 5 years the infrastructure will be taken care of and then they can focus on endorsements. He also mentioned that a lot of people don't want to give in a fund somewhere. Dr. Qubein mentioned how he borrowed $100 million and everyone thought he was crazy. But he persevered and believed it would happen. Dr. Qubein envisioned something great and made it happen. He wants students to have a good experience. He never wants to hear that students hate this school and that they're just here because they are on scholarship. He strongly believes that HPU is one community and family. He even mentioned his goal, which is to be excellent, not perfect.
One can easily tell how much Dr. Qubein loves HPU. He is open to add a multicultural office and he encourages someone to step-up and make it happen. Don't just come to him with an idea. Make it happen. He will always support. This was a great discussion and I don't think anyone left feeling upset or disheartened. Dr. Qubein has students from all over the world attending HPU. This is a multicultural school. He is very supportive of the idea. 

Community Outreach

Feeding the Homeless

Saturday, March 26th, 2016 I had the opportunity to feed the homeless. My church, Hope City, provides food, prayer, and groceries every Tuesday and Saturday at 5:30pm. We served approximately 500 BBQ sandwiches and 100 hot dogs with baked beans. They also provided drinks. They had a choice of water, gatorade or milk. On the other side of the fence the church setup stations for the children to participate in games and activities.
It was a humbling experience to provide food to those that are in great need. The families that lived in the neighborhood also joined us. The church purchased this property to be apart of the community. The building seemed to be an empty store. They painted the outside blue and black (which are the colors of the church). Inside the building is where they store groceries for the people. There wasn't much else in the building except shelves and many boxes. It is located at 1005 East Green Dr in High Point. This is a pretty rough part of High Point. Right across the street is Green Street Grocer. It looks very run down and has bars outside the windows. I wouldn't want to be driving down the street, by myself, and have my car break down. I would be scared. To be honest, I was kind of scared of some of the homeless people I was serving. I kept praying in my head, do not be afraid. God is bigger. There was a couple that seemed to be addicted to drugs based off of their behavior and mannerism. It was my first time serving them, so I didn't know them. The church members that come every Saturday and Tuesday have built relationships with them. They know what they've been through or what they are going through. They know each other by name and they are welcomed with a high five or hug.
I recall this one homeless lady who was very dirty, her hair was messy, she didn't have any shoes on and her skin was so damaged. She was standing in line by herself having a conversation with herself. She would ask herself something and then she would answer it. I handed her a plate and just smiled. I couldn't begin to imagine what she's been through in life. I had so many questions I wanted to ask her. What happened to cause you to be homeless? Do you have family? Where do you sleep? I didn't say anything. I just let her pass by and she got some food. I can vividly picture her in my mind and I think about her often. Her fingernails had so much dirt inside, and her clothes were so worn out. I wonder when the last time she ever felt loved.
I knew some of the children that were there. They attend the school I teach at. They recognized me and gave me a big hug. It breaks my heart to see children being raised in these conditions. They don't know anything else. I always think about the lives of my students. I hope that I instill the love of learning and they'll continue to go to school and graduate from college. I would love to see them achieve their goals and dreams.
Since it was the day before Easter, the church provided boxes of candy for the children. There were about 4 boxes full of candy. The children left with hands full of candy and chocolate. There was so much candy that even the adults started making their way over to get some. People left with bags of candy. I couldn't imagine taking home that much candy, and I mean that with a saddened heart. I guess when you are hungry you will eat what is available. They took what they could. Some even came back around through the food line to get another BBQ pork sandwich. Some wanted two to-go sandwiches to take home for their families.
I recall one day, asking my husband if we can go to Haiti and help feed the hungry children. He didn't oppose but he informed me of the hungry children right here in High Point. My eyes were finally opened. After experiencing this, I saw a great need. I am aware that most of the students at my school come from extreme poverty. The community provides so much for our students. Every student receives breakfast, lunch and a snack. But what happens in the evening? Or the weekend? I can't imagine what they've seen or experienced. Something needs to change. But what?
It's easy to get caught up in our everyday lives, everyone is busy. I think people should make time for others. It can be a humbling experience. At times, we may take for granted what we have. Experiences like this can make us appreciate what we have instead of wanting more. It can be difficult to appreciate what we have because in today's society people want bigger, better, faster. Technology is forever changing, so when a new phone or tv comes out, we want it. Why can't we be satisfied with what we have? Not everyone is like this, but there are many. There are many programs out there that help those in need. I hope that everyone could experience and make a difference in somebody else's life.

A Priest and a Rabbi Walk into a bar...

Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn and Father Steve Rice

Thursday, January 21st, 2016

Every third Thursday, Father Steve Rice and Rabbi Mark Strauss-Cohn get together to discuss various topics at Finnegan's Wake, in Winston Salem, NC. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first heard of this event, but to my surprise, I had a great time! They were quite humorous. Even under the disheartening circumstances, Rabbi Mark's Father passed away 14 days before this event, they still had fun on stage and interacted with the audience. His strength was very admirable. 

Before they began I scanned the room to see the demographics of the audience. There were Caucasian men and woman ages 30+. I would guess that they attended the church or synagogue. There were no children or other races, except Shabaza Vaird (African American) and myself (half Hispanic origin).

The topic was on Death: Traditions and Rituals. Since I am a Christian and believe in Jesus as my Savior, I had similar beliefs of Father Steve. Rabbi Mark had very different traditions and rituals.

Rabbi Mark got the attention of the audience exactly how a teacher would get the attention of her students. “If you could hear me, clap once. If you could hear me, clap twice.” That tickled me pink! When all attention was on Rabbi Mark, he opened up with a joke. It went something like this; a priest and a rabbi got into a very bad car accident. They came out with a few bumps and scratches but both vehicles were totaled. The Rabbi saw the collar of the priest and said, “I think this is a miracle from God that we become friends and live in peace together.” When the Rabbi looked in the back seat he saw that his bottle of wine didn’t smash in the accident. He took the bottle out and told the Priest that the bottle of wine didn’t break in the accident and that it was another sign from God to celebrate the miracle that they were okay. So the Priest drank some of the wine and passed it back to the Rabbi. But the Rabbi just put the cap back on and handed it back to the Priest. The Priest asked him if he was going to have any. The Rabbi replied, “No I think I’ll just wait for the police.” That was a very funny joke! What made it more humorous was that it was very unexpected. The Rabbi started off with a joke because he mentioned that his dad loves to joke and he wanted to honor his father. He also informed the audience that his father died two weeks prior, so they wanted to discuss death between the two religions.

He began by speaking about mourning and the rituals and traditions of the Jewish people. They begin by staying with the body to recite prayers. They try to do it before the person dies, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. If the person dies unexpectedly, the Rabbi says the prayer for them. They say what Jacob said, from the Torah. “Blessed is God’s glory and majesty forever and ever.” Next, the family gathers for confession and asks for forgiveness, as well as, make sure they are in good terms with everyone. 

The burial rituals include burying the body the second or third day after death. In Israel, the body is buried within 24 hours. They then light a candle to remember that soul is immortal. Another ritual is the washing of the body. It signifies spiritual purity. It's a big honor to do this and is usually done by immediate family members. They also dress they body in shrouds. Simple linen garments with no pockets. They begin to cut the fringes they are no longer bound to the commandments. A guardian is to stay with the body at all times. They are responsible for the body to make sure nothing happens to it. The body is then placed in a simple wooden casket, also known as a kosher casket, which contains no metal, just wood. This signifies that we came from dust and dies in dust, as natural as possible. It’s very common to be buried underground. They do have the option to be born in a Mausoleum. The person should state how they would like to be buried, and the family will honor that. Jewish traditions do not allow cremation. The body has to remain as whole as possible. Rabbi Mark mentioned that if a bomb exploded and body parts flew everywhere, the family would try to find as many limbs as possible to keep as much of the body together. But they do allow them to be organ donors because it keeps life going. After the funeral they tear a garment to show that the soul has been torn from them. When people see the torn garment they know they are in mourning. After burial you eat a meal, which includes an egg. This is to remind them of life and that things are renewed. 

Rabbi Mark gave four numbers they follow when someone in the family dies, 7, 30, 11, 1. The first seven days are the most intense for mourning. There is no bathing, greeting people or reading the Torah. They just focus on grieving.

After you get out and take a walk. You start to slowly get back into life but still focus on grieving for the next thirty days. After eleven months, they stop saying the prayer that Jacob spoke before he dies. After a year, they say the prayer once more and celebrate special Jewish days. It was unclear as to what they were called because I couldn’t understand him.

Lastly, the Rabbi mentioned that they have to repair or perfect the world so that the Messiah will want to come back to earth. They also believe if some one said the messiah is coming and you're planting a tree, finish planting the tree. The messiah will be pleased with you loving and taking care of the earth. 

Overall, this experience was very interesting. I would like to continue to attend future events just for fun. I didn’t realize there was such a big difference between the two religions. The Jewish rituals and traditions must be followed to honor God and the family. Christians have a few more choices when it comes to burying the body. One can choose to be cremated or buried. It doesn’t affect going to heaven. We believe the Messiah has already came to earth so when we die we will be raised up into heaven. The Jewish are still waiting for the Messiah so they wait in the ground until He comes back to earth.