We had a blast on our annual Science of Tubing field trip. Every year, we go to Sunburst Winter Sports Park and the students engage in a day of science and fun! They are given a packet to complete and 2 hours to calculate data about the hill, mass, friction, average speed, acceleration, work, and power for snow tubing on the hill. They work in small groups, and they are given a spring scale, angle finder, and stop watch. We also used the iPads and downloaded apps like Speed Box, which has a speedometer function. It was the perfect balance of education and fun!
Field trips are wonderful opportunities to teach the ‘Hidden Curriculum.’ We learn how to behave on a bus, behave in public, be responsible for tools and equipment, clean up after ourselves, thank staff for their assistance, and how to have fun in a safe and respectful way. I love having a chance to bond with my students outside of the classroom. Believe it or not, they ask the teachers to join their group, ‘link up,’ and do a tube run with them – just for fun.
The teachers have a lot of fun, too! In fact, I don’t know who has more fun – the students or the teachers! We race kids. We joke and have a great time. We lend students our extra hats and scarves to let them know we care about them. We sing songs on the bus. These are the lasting memories that make school fun and learning possible. These are the memories that make it so hard to say goodbye to them in June!
Fellow teachers, I am participating in a HUGE Teachers Pay Teachers Resource Giveaway hosted by Teaching High School Math. The giveaway is divided into two parts, and you have the opportunity to win either a Middle School Giveaway Bundle or a High School Giveaway Bundle. These bundles are filled with the highest-quality resources from all subject areas, donated by TOP Teachers Pay Teachers sellers.
Summarizing is such a difficult skill for students.
This is a 2-week mini-unit on summarizing and finding the main idea (called finding the GIST) with expository text. I have used this in my classroom for the past 5 years, and students find this worksheet exceedingly helpful in scaffolding their acquisition of this difficult skill. The best part about this unit plan is that you get to choose your own texts, individualized for your own students’ interests and reading levels. I suggest using news articles (especially student news publications), but you can also use content-area texts, websites, textbooks, nonfiction books, etc. The sky is the limit!
This unit includes *TWO* sample articles and summaries to review and discuss with students. One article shows a shorter, 20 word summary, and the other shows a more detailed 30 word summary. Choose which is best for your students!
This meets the Common Core Standards for grades 6-12, and it is a cross-curricular activity.
Includes:
* Common Core Standards Addressed
* Learning Targets
* Lesson Plans
* Worksheets
* 2 Sample Articles
* 2 Sample Summaries
* Student Handout: A Shorter Way To Say…
* Feedback Oreo Poster (How to give constructive criticism)
Yeah! I am the Featured Teacher this week over on Lindsay Perro’s Blog! I feel so lucky and blessed! Please go check out her blog – she is a Top Seller on Teachers Pay Teachers, and she has so many fun and exciting math resources to help your class go ‘Beyond the Worksheet!’
Happy 2014 to all! May your year be blessed with health and happiness.
I don’t make New Years Resolutions, but I do make year-long goals (is that the same thing?). I made 14 goals for 2014, and they are:
1. Finish my dissertation
2. Potty-train Ruffy (our dog)
3. Clean out / Organize the basement
4. Remodel the upstairs and get a new tenant
5. Save up and purchase an elliptical
6. Stick with the Paleo diet 90/10
7. Make a big dent in my student loans
8. Plant and eat my own vegetables / herbs
9. Create a family recipe book
10. Finish my handmade Christmas gifts by November
11. Use our wedding china
12. Go on at least one vacation
13. Go parasailing (I mean… why not?)
14. Cook an entire dinner for my family
Do you have any exciting plans or goals for 2014? I’d love to hear about them!
If one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to pamper yourself, I think Birchbox is a great way to do this. I have been a member of Birchbox for over 2 years now, and I’m obviously a big fan 🙂
I explain it to people like a magazine subscription, except instead of a magazine you look forward to receiving each month, you get a box of beauty goodies instead! When you sign up for Birchbox, you tell them about your hair, skin, and beauty preferences. They send you 5 or 6 high-end beauty samples each month to try out. I love this idea, because I get to try some great products that I would have otherwise missed. In the past 2 years, I have discovered some of my favorite beauty items, such as Orofluido Elixir, Shu Uemura, Number 4 Super Comb Prep, Benefit POREfessional, Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss, and Benefit It’s Potent! Eye Cream.
I’ve received goodies that range from hair and skin products to makeup, nail polish, gadgets, and gourmet foods. Samples that don’t seem to be my style me get passed along to a friend. Once I have tried a sample, I go on to the Birchbox website and give them my feedback about the item. In return, I get points that add up to dollars I can spend in the Birchbox store on full-sized items. I saved up enough points to buy a Amika Travel Hair Straightener and Hairdryer, which excites me to no end!
Lastly, I must say that I love having Birchbox as my go-to gift for others. I have probably gifted a Birchbox subscription at least 6 times. I can buy someone a 3-month subscription for only $30, and print out the gift certificate without even leaving my home! What I will do then is grab an old Birchbox box and fill it with some goodies and the gift certificate to let my friend know to check the mail. They can then log-in to Birchbox, create a profile, and receive samples tailored just for them.
Now doesn’t Birchbox sound fun? Go ahead, give it a try! If you sign up using my special referral code (I get store points), I would really appreciate it! Click here to sign up. Enjoy trying something new and exciting in the New Year!
I love this military jacket I purchased from The Limited. It’s a great fall look, very comfortable and versatile! Best purchase this year!
I went with my niece and nephew to see “Frozen,” and it certainly did not disappoint! This movie had so many unexpected treasures – Olaf the Snowman had me in stitches, and the love between Elsa and Anna reminded me of my own sister, whom I love so dearly. My husband and I really enjoyed how Disney departed from the traditional motif of true love / romance saving the day, and a man coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress. This movie was definitely about sisterly love and girl power!
I love “House”! I feel like I could sit and binge-watch for hours (yes, yes, okay! I have done this several times!). I enjoy the intelligent, witty dialogue that keeps me on my toes. I also like that I learn a lot from watching medical dramas, such as challenging vocabulary. My doctors and dentists get a kick out of me when I listen and pay attention as they take notes or talk to one another, and I actually follow along. I’m so sad this show is over!
My favorite restaurant in Milwaukee, WI is Rustico in the Third Ward. My husband and I had our rehearsal dinner here, and we always go back for our anniversary dinner together. The food is mouth-watering. The wait staff tells me that they send their chefs to Italy at least once a year to train in new recipes and cooking methods. They have locally made Gelato, and many of their ingredients (including the Lemoncello!) are imported directly from Italy. Plus, it’s located on the Milwaukee Riverfront, so Ryan and I can sit on the dock on a lovely summer day, enjoy a drink in a copper mug, and watch the boats. It’s lovely!
I gave the Paleo diet a try, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. The Paleo diet is grain-free, dairy-free, and chemical-free. But instead of focusing on what I “can’t” eat, I focus on what I “can” eat – whole foods, meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and delicious meals I prepare myself! I can’t even tell you how much better I feel. I sleep better, my stomach is flat, I have no IBS symptoms, I have a TON more energy, and things just taste better. If you would like to read any of my posts about becoming Paleo, you can click here, here, here, here, here, or here!
Though you wouldn’t call Ruffy a gift in the traditional sense of the word, he has certainly been a gift to our family. On the left is Rocket, our 3-year-old Teddy Bear, and Ruffy, a 7-year-old Yorkie, is on the right. My grandfather passed away last November, and my grandmother passed away this November. Ruffy needed a home, and Team Dembro became his new pack. Yes, it has been a challenge taking on a spoiled lap dog with a ridiculous amount of medical needs who is also not crate or potty trained. However, the joy we get from having him in our home definitely outweighs those factors. Rocket and Ruffy have found their stride, and they are now playing together after almost 2 months of staring each other down from a distance. Ruffy loves to snuggle. And frankly, having him here is like having a piece of Grandpa and Grandma here, too. I love him 🙂
I absolutely love this poster, and I think it is so critical that we have this conversation with our students (especially now that my students all have iPads in our one-to-one school). We have this blown up and printed as a poster in our school, and I have literally walked a student over to the poster and gone through the flow-chart with them to help them decide if a picture was appropriate or not to keep and/or post online. I think this needs to be in every school (and, um, place of employment, too!).
My favorite blog post is about the Art of Writing Conference at the Milwaukee Art Museum. I attended this conference twice this year, and you can read about it here and here. It is a wonderful opportunity for aspiring authors and artists – I love attending each year!
I have to say that I am very proud of myself for publishing my first book, The Paper Chain. It has been a cornerstone of my classroom teaching, and I have seen my students grow by leaps and bounds from using this text. Now that it is for sale as well, I enjoy knowing that it will positively impact so many other classrooms and students as well. It’s a great feeling! It is available as a digital download and in paperback.
As a gift for my mother, my family got together for a family portrait. This picture is my favorite, and captures my family perfectly!
My favorite memory this year is when my husband took me up in his airplane for the first time. He recently became a pilot, and I am so proud of him. I tell my students about the hours and hours of studying, reading, and training it took for him to accomplish his goal. Many people are afraid to go up in his 2-seater propellor planes, but I couldn’t feel more safe than when I am in his ‘hands.’ He is an extremely intelligent and conscientious person, and he is always in control. Though I get air sick, it was a lot of fun and oh so beautiful!
My goal for 2014 is to finish my dissertation. I have 3 chapters written, and 2 to go. I CAN DO IT!!!
I have been actively concentrating on finding Joy in life, and this has been the single best thing I could have ever done for myself. Joy begets joy, and it’s that simple. I avoid expending energy focusing on the negative, and I look for the happiness, humor, and opportunities instead. I’m a very goal-driven person, so it’s easy for me to set my sights on the outcome and forget about the journey along the way – finding joy helps keep me present in the moment. There is so much to love about life!
So, how was your 2013? I hope it was filled with lasting memories, joy, friends, and family. I wish you all the happiness in the world in 2014!
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you all had a most wonderful day yesterday. I had a great time celebrating Christmas 3 times! We began the morning at my husband’s mother’s house, the afternoon with my immediate family at my sister’s house, and the evening with my extended family at my aunt’s house. Festivities from morning ’til night – that’s how I roll!
As cliche as it is, I find that the joy of Christmas comes from giving, not receiving. For weeks or even months, I look forward to watching someone open a gift I carefully selected or handmade. It brings me such joy! Here are some of the gifts I made this year that I couldn’t wait to give:
Paw print ornaments for my mother and sister of our 3 dogs: Tyger, Ruffy, & Rocket. If you want to make your own, these are the wonderful ornament directions I followed (I added nail polish for flair).
My sister and I ordered a canvas print for my mother of a family photo session we had done this fall. She plans to hang it over her fireplace. She was SO excited! We ordered from CanvasonDemand.com
I made coloring books for all of my nieces and nephews for Christmas. They were a hit! (P.S. If you want to purchase a copy for yourself, you can click here).
I really wanted to give back this year, and I thought I had picked the perfect way to do so. I am O negative, which is the universal blood donor. I went in to the Wisconsin Blood Center the day before Christmas and donated a pint of blood. The problem was that when I went to leave, I blacked out. I came to with a team hovering over me, covering me in icepacks, palpating my feet and legs, and holding a fan on my face. What?! Woops.
Of course I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have some wonderful food to cook/bake for the holidays. I made a plate of Paleo Christmas Cookies, Mashed Cauliflower, and Coconut Almond Green Beans. The cookies are Cutouts (my personal favorite), Chocolate Peppermint Macaroons dipped in Godiva Dark Chocolate, Cardamom Thumbprint Cookies, and Energy Bites (my second favorite). I had 2 helpings of the Mashed Cauliflower because I thought it tasted aMAzing! I didn’t tell my family it was cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes, and most of them couldn’t even tell!!!
Today, we are enjoying the leftovers and relaxing. The dogs are pooped!
Our last Friday before Winter Break was so much fun, I just had to snap a few pictures to share!
The Friday before school let out for 2013, we had an all-school Holiday Assembly. Each grade, 6 – 8, creates a volleyball team, and they compete for the honor of playing against the staff team. The Poms team performs, the Choir sings the National Anthem, and the Student Council veejays. What a treat this year – one of our students was surprised by his older brother returning from military service a day early and showing up at the assembly. The soldier was a former student of mine, all grown up and in his military uniform. Oh, how I cried! It was very touching. The students were all very well behaved and they had a great time! 1. A few other highlights of the day – the top left is my FAVORITE gift I received. A donation to the Sandy Hook Fund is such a perfect, meaningful gift for a teacher!
2. One of my classes was about 15 minutes ahead of my others, so we had some time to enjoy a small bit of ‘Home Alone’ – yeahhhh!!! (P.S. I gave them the options of ‘Elf’ and ‘Home Alone’, and they picked ‘Home Alone’ because they’ve been ‘Elf’ed to death. Is that even possible????)
3. The bottom left is a card for our wonderful custodian, Joe. I have learned in my 7 years of teaching that custodians and secretaries are the most valuable and hardworking in our school. Joe ‘The Custodian’ is much loved by staff and students alike, and he was recently diagnosed with cancer. We learned that he would be working all through the Winter Break cleaning and painting our classrooms, so we decided to leave him a few treats throughout the school: cards, notes hanging on the walls, student-made posters, etc.
4. We left with only 5 days before Christmas, and I made sure to remind every student to take some time to thank the people in their lives that matter, and to try and make something nice for their parents for the Holidays (even if it’s just a heartfelt card).
5. And finally, our Student Council gave every staff member a car charger for our iPads, which is very helpful.
I hope you all have a wonderful and safe rest of December, and I hope January doesn’t come too soon!
Hello to all of my dear blog followers – friends, fellow teachers, and just all around awesome people. I just wanted to wish you all a very merry holiday season. Per our family tradition, the Dembroskis have created a holiday card (created at TinyPrints.com), and I’d love to share it with you all. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! Love, Team Dembro xoxo
It’s December – YAY! I am officially ready to hear Christmas music and get in the holiday spirit. Bring on the red Starbuck’s cups, tinsel, and all the other Holly Jolly.
So we have 3 full weeks until Winter Break – a long haul for the students, especially since we are working on our Argument Unit and there is a lot of work yet to do. I used a countdown clipboard last year, and this seemed to help. I would refer to it whenever students seemed to have zoned out – “Guys, we still have X days left.” They understood the visual reminder that we aren’t there yet. It’s not time to check out, people!
It is a very simple project to create this Countdown Clipboard. The backing is just wrapping paper that I cut to fit, then laminated. I did this so I could change out the backing to match any other time of year (ex: Countdown to Summer). The numbers are index cards, also laminated.
I like to put a student in charge of changing the numbers. In 8th grade, this is a fun project for students – they often fight over who gets to make the switch each morning.
As long as we’re talking about getting into the holiday spirit, why not show you a picture of my tree? Yes, we do own a bigger tree, but we felt it was best to put up the little tree this year since we are still house-training our new dog, Ruffy. From a dog’s perspective, I imagine it’s pretty confusing to have a tree indoors that you aren’t allowed to pee on, amiright? Both my husband and I are allergic to pine, so we’ve always had a synthetic tree. One of my favorite holiday stories involves 2 special, identical ornaments on our tree. We both received the same ornament the year we were born, and we’ve been hanging on to them ever since. I put them side-by-side on the tree and love seeing that we were meant for each other from the start. We also have a pickle hiding in our tree – a Scandinavian tradition (you’ll never spot it in this photo!).
Have you begin getting ready for the holiday season?
