Have you heard of Kahoot? I just learned about it, and I was so excited to try it in my classroom. You can use this tool with any personal tech device with internet access. My students all have iPads, but you could also use cell phones or laptops if students have these.
I’ve got to say, my students REALLY enjoyed it. I haven’t seen them this excited in a long time. And I didn’t even offer prizes! They wanted to know when we could play again. As soon as I can make a new game!
Kahoot is like Trivia. The teacher creates a game, and the students play with their personal technology devices. I created a review game for some tricky grammatical concepts we have been studying. This would be an excellent review tool for vocabulary or content area classes as well.
I put the game up on my SMARTBoard, which displays a 5-digit game code. The students go to https://kahoot.it and enter the game code, and suddenly they are logged in to the game (no account or set-up required).
For each question, choices appear on their device. They log their answer on their iPad, and they are awarded points based on speed and accuracy.
After each question is complete, the SMARTBoard screen shows the correct answer, and their iPad tells them how many points they were awarded as well as which place they are in. On my SMARTBoard, the game then displays the top 5 participants (struggling students are not identified to the class).
I pause after each question for discussion. I usually create several questions in a row on the same concept, and this gives students a chance to learn and improve.
The possibilities for this game are endless! I did a 17-question game (each question has a 30-second timer), and this took about 25 minutes once you include the discussion and all of their enthusiasm. What a fun day in Language Arts class!
We had our final vote on Friday, and we elected our own school-wide book champion: Divergent!
Our March Madness Book Bracket has been a very fun adventure. I have decided on my favorite outcome of this book bracket. I love that we could celebrate our reading culture at our middle school. Some ‘closet readers’ finally felt like they have a voice and that it is okay (and even fun!) to talk about books. Suddenly, the well-read students are the heroes in the classroom because they have the knowledge and opinions to contribute. I’ve just loved the past few weeks! I hope you can use this bracket to help compile your summer reading list!
You can scroll down to see how each of the votes turned out:
For a full list of the 16 most popular books at our school, click here to read the original post.
Week 31 is over? Where did it go?! Time to celebrate the highlights!
1. Championship – Today is the final day in our March Madness Book Bracket! It all comes down to the final two: Divergent vs. Catching Fire. I’ll be back to let you know which post-apocalyptic dystopian novel won!
Speaking of Brackets, I gotta brag. I had Wisconsin in the Final Four, and my students said I had lost my mind. Well who’s laughing now, eh guys? ON WISCONSIN!
2. Show Me – My students recently completed our unit on Show Me or Descriptive Language. I’ve been teaching this unit for 7 years, and it is definitely one of my favorites. We have such creative, inspired authors that can really capture a moment. I am sharing a sampling of their beautiful work above.
3. April Fool’s Day Prank – So I was lucky this year (knock on wood) and did not fall prey to an April Fool’s Day Prank. I usually have at least one student try to pull a fast one – but no! Harumpf. Well, I did my best to fool them. I have several students who are always begging for food. I used to have loads of snacks and granola bars in my cabinets, but I can’t seem to keep up with their appetite. Now I save my food for students who forgot breakfast or lunch, not students who just need a snack. Anyway, on April Fool’s I offered my Hungry Hippos a “Brownie” I made especially for them. They were not very happy with me! Some students even ate the paper. Yeah – this is what you are missing out on if you don’t teach middle school. Goof balls!
4. Chapter 6! This week I seriously busted my BUTT and finished Chapter 6 of my dissertation. I reached 393 pages – wow! But ‘finished’ is a funny word, you see, because it isn’t really finished. Not until my committee all get a crack at it and probably give me another month or two worth of revisions. But STILL, I am super pumped and proud of myself. I feel like I have rounded the corner and I see the finish line. It’s a mirage, because I can’t really tell how near (or far) the finish line is, but the point remains – I see it exists. Can’t wait for the next steps!
Many of the sellers on TpT are having a Spring Cleaning sale to help you clean out your wish list this weekend! I am also participating, and everything in my store will be 20% off. What a great way to end the month!
Congratulations, Week 29 Survivors! Enjoy these highlights from the week!
1. Elite Eight – The Book Bracket is evolving, and we have selected our Elite Eight! The current contenders are:
* The Lightning Thief
* Crank
* Legend
* Divergent
* Diary of a Wimpy Kid
* The Eleventh Plague
* Catching Fire
* Holes
We will vote again today (Friday) and Monday. I’ll be back on Facebook and the blog to keep you updated!
2. DVD Project Display – I finished another display of my students’ DVD Case Projects. We have such a beautiful case to display their amazing work!
3. And Isn’t it Ironic? – I taught my students about Irony this week. We even listened to the Alanis Morisette song “Ironic” and discussed how none of the examples in the song is actually irony (with the exception of Mr. Play-it-Safe saying, “Well isn’t this nice?”), and how the real irony of the song is the inappropriate name. It should be named, “Unfortunate Circumstances,” which would be a much more fitting title. Anyway, it was fun to watch their heads spin and churn and wrap themselves around this new concept. Like little light bulbs popping on one at a time. We had a good time and a good laugh! If you want to download the handout I used, I’ll put it up on TpT this weekend!
4. Neck…less? We’re reading the story “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. I had to draw this on the board this week because, well, isn’t it obvious? They were so oblivious of their own spelling errors that they didn’t even ‘see’ it at first. Yes, ‘necklace’ and ‘neckless’ ARE 2 different words!
5. Healthy Eats – If you’ve been following this blog, then you know I loves my food, and I am trying my best to eat healthfully. My favorite quote about food is, “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison” – Ann Wigmore. I truly believe that. You are what you eat, and I want to be very mindful of what I put in my body. My husband bought us a juicer for my birthday, and we have been having so much fun juicing for breakfast! I tell him we’re ‘drinking the rainbow,’ haha! And the foods pictured above are from my weekly Sunday Cook-a-thon. This week I made Grain-free Cookie Bars, Veggie Stir Fry, Fire-Roasted Slow-Cooker Meatloaf, Teriyaki and Veggie Stir Fry, and Zoodles, as well as our weekly Veggie-Egg Muffins for breakfast (all dairy-free, grain-free – Paleo). Add the daily juicing, and we are in good shape! By the way – I’m totally new to the juicing scene. If you have a favorite ‘recipe,’ I’m dying to learn more! Please leave a comment below!
Congratulations on surviving Week 28! SO. MANY. HIGHLIGHTS this week! It was hard to pick just 5!
1. March Madness Book Bracket – I had a really fun time this week putting together a March Madness Book Bracket. Click here to read more about it. With the help of our Instructional Technology Coordinator, we made online presentations and easy-peasy school-wide voting via Google Forms. I plan to update the blog every week as we narrow it down to the champion!
2. DVD Projects – The DVD Projects have been submitted and graded. My students did an awesome job, as they do every year. I think this project really brings out some talents and lets students shine!
3. The World’s Best Custodian – I firmly believe that Joe, our beloved custodian, is first class. Can you believe I get to come to a room so sparklingly clean every day? After he sweeps the floors, he then puts down all of the chairs so he can disinfect the tables. Then he stacked my books so neatly. I am SO grateful for him! #joestrong
4. Birthday – Last Friday was my birthday (oh yeah!). It was a great one! So much love from family, friends, and students. I had several students sing to me and make me cards. My loving husband gave me a juicer (I’m already obsessed!) and I also got two new Vera Bradley purses. I’m so spoiled!
5. Spirit Week – You know me – I LOVE dressing up! This spirit week included St. Paddy’s / Green Day, Neon Day, PJ Day, and 80’s Day.
BONUS
6. Spring – As I’m sure you know, yesterday was the first day of Spring. I feel like Nathan the Dog, dancing like no one’s watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_wgb1q1opQ <— if you watch this video and laugh as hard as I do, then you and I are destined to be best friends!
Well I am VERY excited to share a new school wide reading project with you. I created a March Madness Book Bracket for our middle school (grades 6-8). I figured – hey, the kids are really excited about their NCAA brackets. Why not capitalize on their excitement and direct some energy toward books and reading? Of course!
I began by asking our school librarian for a printout of the most popular (checked-out) books at our school. This is our list (in random order):
Summer Ball – Mike Lupica
13 Gifts – Wendy Mass
The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan
Crank – Ellen Hopkins
The One and Only Ivan – Katherine Applegate
Legend – Marie Lu
The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
The Eleventh Plague – Jeff Hirsch
Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Jeff Kinney
Divergent – Veronica Roth
The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznik
Okay For Now – Gary D. Schmidt
Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
Brian’s Hunt – Gary Paulsen
Framed – Gordon Korman
Holes – Louis Sachar
I then created a presentation to share with all of the Language Arts teachers that includes a picture and a brief synopsis of each book.
The plan is that we will vote on all of the same dates of the NCAA March Madness sweeps:
Sweet Sixteen – 3/24
Elite Eight – 3/27
Final Four – 3/31
Championships – 4/4
Students will vote in Language Arts class, and we will use an electronic survey (Google forms). They are asked to vote for either a) their favorite books or b) the most compelling books they would want to read. We will continue until we have one winner for our whole school.
I think this activity is going to generate a lot of interest in these books. I’ve asked the librarian to please use up any remaining budget to purchase a few more copies of this. I can’t wait to report back on the wonderful developments!
I hope you’re all having a wonderful St. Paddy’s Day! I’m showing off my green, the color of the day!
Our middle school did something really cool today – the Student Council put a lucky ‘gold’ coin in each student’s locker. At 3 o’clock, they announced the lucky winning numbers. Winners received prizes including candy and gift cards. How cool is that?
I also wanted to take a moment to point out the awesome Google homepage today. Neat!
My students really got into the spirit of the day. I saw green clothes, hats, socks, shoes, scarves, bandanas, stickers, makeup, jewelry – you name it! How was your St. Paddy’s Day?
I was just nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award by Katie from Teaching Voracious Learners! On top of it being my Birthday Weekend, which is always filled with fun, I get this wonderful news as well? Pinch me! I feel so undeserving, but equally as grateful! Thanks so much, Katie! This completely made my day!!! 🙂
The Sunshine Blogger Award celebrates blogs that – of course – bring a ray of sunshine to the blog community. There are 4 parts to the Sunshine Blogger Award:
1. Post 11 random facts about yourself
2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you
3. Nominate 11 bloggers who you think bring sunshine to the world
4. Make up 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
Well…. here I go!
11 Random Facts About Me
1. I hide chocolate all over the house. From my husband, and from myself. You’ll find it just about anywhere, especially hidden behind books. Please come visit.
2. I feel like I have worked just about every job there is. In no particular order: cashier, waitress, telephone operator, property manager, retail (twice!), clown’s assistant at parties, babysitter, nanny, camp counselor, actress, secretary at a law firm, reading tutor, trade show representative, worked at the lemonade stand at state fair, test center proctor, summer school teacher, adjunct professor, and of course, teacher!
3. I have 3rd degree scars that used to completely cover my left palm (since age 1 when I touched a self-cleaning oven and my hand stuck. ::shudder::). As I grew, and my hand grew, it started to spread out like Pangea.
4. I love to travel. I’ve been to most of the 50 states, plus Canada, Mexico, Scotland, England, Spain, Italy, Greece, and France.
5. I can also speak several languages. I speak Spanish, German, and a little French. I can mimic almost any accent (okay Scottish and Australian are hard, but I can do Russian, Spanish, German, Minnesotan, Italian, Southern – you name it).
6. I have a 5-year plan that I wrote 5 years ago. I’ve almost finished every goal on the list. I have no idea what to do after that!
7. I am allergic to oranges, grass, dogs (not my guys though!), and horses.
8. The only thing I drink is water. Seriously. No coffee or soda, but I may have some juice on rare occasion.
9. My family calls me Keka (Kee-Kah). This began as all great childhood nicknames, of course, when my younger sister Jenn couldn’t pronounce ‘Kristen.’
10. My biggest fears include: BEES, the basement at night, and getting lost while driving. I’ve had panic attacks, and I DON’T like them!
11. I have a very calming effect on babies and animals. I often wonder if this is due to my extremely low blood pressure, or perhaps the fact that they know I love them unconditionally, without judgment.
And now…
11 Questions from Katie @ Teaching Voracious Learners
1. If it was your birthday and you could do ANYTHING you want, what would it be?
My birthday was just this last Friday! I had to work, but if I could do anything, well – here goes: SLEEP IN, make my husband and myself a delicious breakfast, go to the gym, shopping, get my hair/nails done, probably a massage while I’m there for good measure, sushi dinner, make a frozen yogurt masterpiece, then walk the dogs together before bed. Ahhh, heavenly!
2. What’s your #1 favorite book?
My favorite book is The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. This book absolutely changed my life. Essentially, you learn that we all express and receive love in different ways. This helped me to better understand myself and others, as well as how to show them love in their own language. I think about it constantly!.
3. If you could play any sport, what could it be?
In high school, I played soccer and volleyball. In college, I was on the crew team. I’ve always wanted to try something with swimming – diving, synchronized, anything!
4. Could you not watch TV for 1 month?
Only if you double-dog dared me. Can I watch it on my laptop? 😉
5. Who is your biggest role model in life?
I think it’s a lot of pressure to have only one role model. I model myself after many people. My husband, for one, is extremely generous and kind-hearted. My sister is a tirelessly dedicated hard worker. My mother is very social and knows how to have fun and be a great friend. My brother is hilarious. My coworkers are brilliant and gifted at working with children. I know so many real life role models.
6. What are your nicknames?
In middle school, I was teased constantly for my blonde hair. I was called Whitey, Bleach, Powder, Albino. Once, some kids even dumped pen ink in my hair. But on a positive note, I had good friends who called me Cheerio (I am very positive!), my coworkers call me Pickles, and my family calls me Keka as explained above.
7. What did you want to do with your life when you were 7?
I wanted to have my mother’s job. She was a buyer for a major retail corporation. She got to fly around the world and go shopping! She filled several passports, and she had the best fashion around!
8. If you could have ANY superpower, what would it be?
I would love to be able to cure cancer by touching people.
9. If you had to wear pants or a dress for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
Pants. All the way. Can’t run or workout easily in a dress! Plus I never sit like a lady.
10. Why do you think there are so many women bloggers but not a lot of men?
What a tough question. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that women talk more than men. We say more words in a day, and find more things to discuss. I’m sure we just have more of a desire to share!
11. What or who made you want to teach or work with children?
I’ve been working with kids as soon as I was old enough to pass the Red Cross CPR and Babysitting course. I love the equal parts of fun and challenge!
1. If you weren’t in the field of Education, which other job would you pursue?
2. What is your dream vacation?
3. What is the best book you’ve ever read?
4. What is the most dangerous or bravest thing you’ve ever done?
5. If you had an extra $1,000, how would you spend it?
6. Rank these in order of importance: sleep, food, friends, technology, exercise
7. If you could time travel, which date would you visit?
8. What is the farthest you’ve ever been away from home?
9. Describe yourself using only 3 words.
10. What do you miss most about being a kid?
11. What would be the hardest for you to give up for a month?
Good luck, Sunshine Bloggers! I can’t wait to read your posts!
Guess what – today is my birthday! I am taking a week off of High Five for Friday so I can go celebrate 🙂 I’ll be back again next Friday with some wonderful highlights of the last 2 weeks!
![spring cleaning redux_thumb[1]](http://www.kristendembroski.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/spring-cleaning-redux_thumb1.png)
