 Good morning, my friends. Welcome back to the vlog. So today has been a crazy morning. I will just tell you that I'm losing my voice a little bit over the weekend. I did experience some coughing and tightness in the chest But I have been assured that I do not have you know what because I have no other symptoms no fevers nothing else And we have had a lot of weather change dust and other things happening in Arizona So I've been assured by my doctor and nurse friends that I am fine I do not have the you know what and that I just have some really bad allergies So I am in my classroom today, and it is Monday. It is 8 25 I have about 25 minutes until my first Google Meet, but I thought that I would try to do a Week in the life of a teacher online vlog because I have tried to vlog so many times in the last couple of weeks like a day in the life, and I just feel like My days look exactly the same that I'm running out of things to tell you guys that are new so This morning I I got to school a little bit late. I had two meetings I had a red meeting which is a review of existing data So we are going to be able to test a child So we were trying to review the data to make sure that the student was a little bit eligible for testing They are so that's great news And then I had a PD path meeting where I was discussing with my instructional assistant The path that I'm going to be taking for PD And so the path that I'm going to be taking is PBL and scientific topics so basically throughout the next school year I will be attending different professional developments and trainings that are themed around Project-based learning or science and then I just document it Provide evidence that I was there provide evidence that I'm using at my classroom things like that. So that was really fun and exciting Right now. I am working on my near pod for my Google Meet today I got my students started on Studies Weekly if you do not know what Studies Weekly is It is basically either a science or social studies. They used to have both I don't know if they have both anymore, but it is the resource curriculum that my school has adopted for the social studies teachers It's very cool It's got different articles videos to watch questions to answer and it's kind of like a point system So the students can earn coins as they answer questions if they answer them right they get more coins And so it is motivating for kids But that is our social studies curriculum. And so last week during my Google Meets I tried to get all my students logged into Studies Weekly So they all had an had an opportunity to get logged in So I'm hoping fingers crossed that today they all got logged in and so I created just a little Fourslide near pod just to check for understanding to check and see who actually got logged in and to see if anyone has copied My notes yet because my students are expected to watch my videos Do my assignments before or at least start my assignments before they see me during Google Meet because during Google Meet I like to check for understanding using near pod So I just created a quick little near pod. I'll show it to you guys Okay, so I just pulled information straight from Studies Weekly. So this is kind of what it looks like They read the article. There's a little Feature where they can have it read to them and they can make it slower faster So I really just pulled information from this article piece right here To create my near pod. So the first question is geography is a study of what so this is a poll To see what kids Remember so if they read this it will say geography is the study of earth and its people So they should be choosing a so it's just a poll. It doesn't really have like a right or wrong It's just to see like overall So I put rocks layers of earth and landforms which They're all part of the geosphere So that's going to confuse them. Hopefully I really want them to have paid attention. So we'll see This isn't graded by the way It's all for participation, but then this is a fill-in-the-blanks opportunity so the kids would Click and drag the words in this is just a quick check for understanding I'm trying to get some engagement in my near pods and then What are the five themes of geography just enter one that you can remember so as the kids enter them in they pop up I'm just gonna put You and then it pops up on the screen. So as the kids type in their answers They show up and then the last slide is another poll So I wanted to know did you log into studies weekly this morning? This one is supposed to be the very first slide. So I'm gonna have to go in and edit that But oh, yeah, I just click and drag it So now That is my little quick check for understand using your pod I love your pod near pod is a really cool Resource if your school has purchased it for you. I think there is a free version, but I think that my version that I have is the smallest or it might even be the free one Because I can only I only have so much capacity I could I can only store so many presentations in here before I have to delete them So I think that mine is a free version So you should be able to log in there and at least try it out and see if you like it But I'm gonna use that today I've been using it for quick check So I'm not really that concerned about saving them. I would like to have more capacity But it is what it is. I'm using it as I can also if you create your near pod assignments in Google slides You can save them as a Google slide and then when you're ready to use them in your pod just Add the activities in your pod and then you have it saved in Google slides. Anyways So I really want to do a classroom tour video But I'm waiting for a couple of things to arrive that I have ordered or that I have in Collaboration with a couple of companies one is called flexi spot I'm waiting for something very specific from them before I want to do my room tour because my room tour is going to be very like Virtual teaching heavy because that's just the environment that I'm in right now Nothing's really gonna change other than like where my teaching station is also if you've watched online or on sorry Instagram They did take our smart boards down as well as our projectors and they are installing giant television screens So I'm sort of waiting until that comes because that will change how everything kind of operates Like my desk space doesn't have to be like it is at after that So I might like turn my desk to face the window and then that way I have all of this floor space Available especially for when we come back to school if I do have to distance my students and their desks that is going to be very effective and then also my Virtual teaching station what I'd like to do is face the TV Have my Google meet station right here facing the TV So the kids would have this view behind me But I want to use the TV as a monitor so that I can see all of my kids at once So I would project my Google meet onto the television and then use that as my monitor instead of the computer screen Which I think is really cool also This is so cool. So we got our new district devices on Thursday last week They are the latest and greatest Lenovo education series think pads Which these are cool. I put my little frizzle sticker on it This is from Etsy But what I love about these is that the reason they're putting the television screens in here is because these can project to them No problemo But they've also given us these really stellar document cameras To use with our Lenovo. So I'm pretty stoked about this. I'm gonna have to go set it up in front and then show you guys Looks like this But I think I'm gonna go like I said, I think I'm gonna go set it up up front and then show you guys how it works. Okay Okay, so this is what the document camera looks like when it is all set up it does fold out and It can be adjusted. So it looks like this at first glance It's like what the heck is that supposed to be or what's it supposed to do? But let me show you the magic Okay, so the computer itself has a camera down underneath You just set it on the document camera and it Projects everything underneath now. The only thing I don't like about this setup is the fact that this is under here But you can adjust it But I don't like how like this thing is kind of in the way Because everything that I put on there will have to either rest on top of that thing or I'll have to like Project from down below if you guys catch my drift Um But I still think it's really cool I mean this is like definitely the latest and greatest and then like I said this will project Directly to my television screen. So potentially I can take this anywhere I want to like I can put it on a student's desk and a student can project their work I don't have to be like at a teaching station I could potentially teach from like any desk in the room any table in the room any surface in the room and Then we also have the stylus pen So we also have the stylus pen which you can use to Write with which I'm gonna have to learn where all of the tools are Oh Here we go Let's just say I want to use the red one. I can like draw right on The screen Obviously, this is messy because I need to configure with the pen and figure out all the settings and all that You can screenshot and then save it Basically the coolest stuff ever I need to always remember to put that back where it goes So, yeah, that is my new technology. So I'm actually getting ready to begin my Google Meet I've got 10 minutes. So I'm gonna go ahead and log into my Google Meet session I like to be the first one in there because then I have control Over-muting and kicking people out which I've never had to kick a student out, but unfortunately That does have to happen it will happen But I will be the one in charge of that. So I'm actually starting my Google Meet right now So I'm gonna put you guys down and I'm going to go ahead and get started with that See 10 minutes early the kids are already here trying to get in which is fine I'm gonna get started with that and then I'll check in with you guys in a minute Okay, so my first Google Meet is done Super exciting I wanted to stop real quick and show you guys my outfit of the day because I know that you guys love seeing these and you like Knowing where everything is from so I'm gonna just flip you guys around. So I am wearing this like dress from Target It's like a long I love dresses that cover my knees because I have really thick knees It's one of the pet peeves I have about my body But I like anything that will cover my knees. So this dress is from Target. It's an extra small Which I don't usually wear extra small usually wear mediums But I wanted it to fit nice and tight on the top because I wanted to wear this underneath t-shirts So I could just tie them up. I thought it would be cute They did have a few different colors, so I might go back and grab a couple more colors But I just paired it with this belt. This is super old I think it came with a pair of shorts from like coals or something and then my shoes are also from Target I wasn't going to get them, but because they're so chunky. They're actually very comfortable And I don't usually wear heels to work, but they are very comfortable And since I'm not really standing for most of the day, I thought that they would be fine And then I also got myself this Kendra Scott Necklace for my birthday. I got it from that boutique that I love in Prescott called fancy that but it is just the plain white glitter one And then my earrings are also from fancy that there are some really vintage buffalo coins and They are earrings so I got that from that boutique as well My glasses are from Glasses USA and they are linked down in my little like website shopping Link down below They're all organized by photo So if you find the picture of the glasses that you like you can click on them And they will take you directly to the link and where to buy them okay, I'm out of breath because I've been running around so what I think I want to do right now I have like two and a half hours before my next Google Meet Before I start planning for next week, which is what I like to do on Mondays is start planning What I'm gonna do in the next week. I think I'm gonna flip my desk around So that my face is facing the window because now that I don't have to worry about keeping my desk area like Adaptable for any teacher since we have all the new technology I can flip the desk and now it will not be facing this way since I don't really sit at it during the day when I have students And since it's just me in here, I'm gonna flip it to face the windows that I have more Walking space in this vicinity of the room so I think I'm gonna do that right now and then I will get hard to work at planning for next week Let's see if I can do this without knocking anything off of it. Okay, so I really like how this turned out I have to clean off the desk and do some You know organizing and then I think I might even turn my fridge to face this way And just move my little coffee bar sign. Hopefully it will not fall off if I mount it to the cinder block wall Oh, I'm out of breath And then I think I'll probably keep this right where it is. I actually might just leave that The way it is because I don't really need it to be anything special a ton of floor space So that if I do need to distance my desks, I will be able to do so and have a little bit more room Okay, so I'm at my new desk space and this is my background which I love I love having this behind me And I also love being able to look at the window or out the window I do have my little fan here Because it does get hot But that's okay I'm loving it. I love being able to look outside when I'm working Inside Okay, so now that I've moved all of my stuff around I am going to work on Beginning to plan and prep for next week. So I think I'm going to stick with social studies for two weeks I just did two weeks of science So I think I'm going to move into two weeks of social studies this week. We started studying The five themes of geography and in the next weeks on studies weekly They have us digging deeper into each one And I think that this is like the perfect topic to be studying in social studies right now because we're online Because it is sort of more of a dry topic Rather than like actual historical Information things like that. I think that this is like the perfect thing to be working on with the kids Because it is very introductory like they need to be able to You know be able to find absolute location They need to be able to describe the human and physical characteristics of a place before they can do all of the other Skills in social studies that they need to be able to do So this is kind of perfect. We have four weeks left of digital learning Hopefully If we get to fall break and we still can't come back Which I doubt because two of the other districts in our area have opened and they're in school Um, I highly doubt we will be we will remain online But as soon as the kids come back in we will start Learning more like application stuff. So more historical events um more civics more You know economics all the good stuff So I'm gonna try to do Like I'm gonna try to get the next four weeks like prepared for So next week we'll do geography again And then we will continue with erosion and weathering And I'm gonna stick with erosion and weathering for the next couple weeks And then I'm gonna give my kids an earth science assessment I'm supposed to be done with earth science before the quarter's up But you guys there's so many things that I want to do with earth science that are more like in person That I just don't want to Do them online and then they flop. So I'm going to push Erosion as far as I can take it because I would really like to start doing demonstrations and stuff like that in my weekly videos And that's going to require a little bit more planning Than what I've been doing. So and I want to have the kids able like be able to do some projects at home some project-based stuff So I'm going to start planning for next week And then I once I have a plan in place I will stop and start grading for last week and then tomorrow and the rest of the week I will begin taping video lessons planning assignments Things like that that need to be done But studies weekly makes it really easy because it's already done. I just have to kind of Fill myself reading the article go through the questions and then have the kids answer them on their own. So that's Kind of simple. I like to put my own little twist on stuff as well So I'm going to do that for a while and then I'll catch up with you guys later Okay, guys. So it is 11 24 and I just got finished grading one of my periods quizzes from last week and I am happy to report that more than 90 percent of them scored like proficient or above so I think that would be They only missed three would be um And 80 percent and I only have like two Who got any lower than that? I have a few that have not taken it yet because They're in the list of students who are not doing anything Which is unfortunate for them. Um But I am getting ready to do my next google meet. So I'm going to start shifting all of my stuff around I um had a visit from my kindergarten teacher friend patrick Um, I want to get him on my channel at some point He is dating a friend of mine who works at my old school. So it's kind of like a built-in buddy Um, and so he popped in to say hello There are six kids down in the internet room So I don't think I mentioned this on the vlog yet, but we have an internet opportunity zone here at our school So kids can sign up to come here and use our internet. Um, and it's sort of like a child care situation So if their parents are not home with them, they have nowhere else to go They can come here for free and just sit in the internet opportunity area, which is Not the place I would want to send my child because it is very um boring looks like a testing room But anyway, there are six kids down there. We are going to take them some candy So I have some jolly ranchers and dum-dums in my candy jar So patrick's gonna pop by at like 12 15 Before I go live on instagram for lunch and we're just gonna take the kids some We're just gonna take the kids some candy just to kind of brighten up their day say hello and then I will come on Live instagram for lunch if you guys didn't know I do a live instagram teachers virtual teachers lounge A couple days a week. It's not every single day. I think it's usually mondays wednesdays and I think fridays I have No, so wednesday Monday tuesday wednesday, I think is when I'm able to do them I do have a few meetings during my lunch hour Which I might try to see if I can change those because I feel like at lunch time I should be able to stop working and eat and take a break but That's the plan for the day. Um, I feel good on grading. I have The two Grades in for the week and I think I might add a third one just for funsies and then um, I will be done grading for This week if I can finish grading today From last week that would be perfect because that means tomorrow and the rest of the week. I can just plan For the next coming weeks, which will be great If I could always grade on mondays Then I would have tuesday wednesday thursday friday to prep plan film do all that stuff So I think I might try to do that every monday It's just nice to be able to come in and like kind of hang slowly jump into school And have everything graded which is really nice because then I have all week To do makeups late work things like that So I wanted to talk a little bit about late work and redo assignments Let me just cross this thing up Okay, so my teammates and I met last week to talk about late work and reduce So we were accepting late work and reduce from pretty much anyone at any time But we realized that it wasn't very fair to the students who were getting things turned in on time And doing them correctly the first time So we decided to create a policy that is similar to what we would do in normal school So we are giving students a seven day grace period To turn in assignments or redo assignments So for example, if this week is week six I will only be accepting late work or resubmissions from last week. So week five Anything prior to week five is officially You cannot turn anything in late and you cannot redo anything from weeks four Three two and one you will have to just accept the zero But starting this week students can turn in assignments from week five as long as they're turned in by week six Friday So they can only be seven days old to be able to be graded so Technically the kids have like two weeks to do and submit and redo the assignments Which is nice because Some kids. Yeah, they had an internet issue or maybe they didn't have help on something They do have technically like 14 days from the release date Until that has to be turned in or resubmitted So it is giving kids a little bit more time But it is holding them accountable to where if they don't have it turned in by that 14th day There's nothing we can do for them. It's just going to have to be a zero And we do not do extra credit in this district. We are not allowed to give extra credit Um, now if a student's on IEP that's kind of different, but we still feel like 14 days is a lot of time to be um Giving them to do these assignments and turn them in I still do have quite a few students who are At a complete zero in the grade book for both science and social studies due to the fact that they're just not doing anything um, and they I have call parents I have emailed parents and Nothing is really changing. So that's kind of How this is working. I think I have like maybe two or three in each period So about less than 10 students out of about 80 that aren't doing anything. So I think that's pretty good They all come to my google meets, but they're not submitting assignments. So i'm not really sure why that is um But like I said, I've done as much communication as I possibly can and at this point it's kind of the balls in their court. So That's kind of what we've done as far as like Late work and reduce because we do want to let the kids have a chance to redo an assignment or a quiz um Because we would do that in class So we're going to just keep this policy rolling and then when we get back to school. We will also have that policy in place um seven day old assignments 14 days to submit them um And hopefully that will keep everybody accountable. So anyway, I'm going to transfer all my stuff up to the front Where I will be doing my google meets And uh, we'll see you guys after that All right, my friends. So it is now 156 I am done with my google meets for the day So at this point, I do have an hour between um now and my office hours I did order groceries to be picked up around two o'clock. So I am just going to pack up my stuff Run and grab my groceries real fast. I ordered the click list. So on my way home I will just run and pick up groceries Super convenient because the grocery store is within a few minutes of my house and so is the school. So Um, technically it's not like on the way home, but it is within like a five minute little stretch So I am going to go home and grab or sorry go grab my groceries and then go home and be there for office hours So every day, sorry monday tuesday and thursday I have office hours between three and three thirty And those are for any students or parents who are struggling with anything who have questions about an assignment Who have questions about online learning Pretty much anything that they need Um, I have office hour time for So I do have to be in a live google meet. I just go in the same google meet code That I have been using for all day. So my same google meet code works for all meets of the day Um, and so I just go in And I sit there and some days I have nobody And some days I have kids that just want to come in and chat with me Which I don't mind. Um, if they do that, but I do like to get some work done during these Um, office hours, so I'm trying to turn this light off. It's not turning off. I do like to get work done during these Um, office hours, so I've been telling the kids if they don't need help with anything or have questions That um, I will see them in the google meet the next day Because I don't want kids just coming in and like hanging out And chatting with each other, which is what they like to do So anyway, I'm going to end this vlog here. Um It's been a long day lots of Helping kids get into studies weekly, which we practiced last week. So I think they just forgot But mostly everybody got logged in today, which is great news I'm exhausted and this went from being a weekly vlog to I'm just gonna end it today because this is already like 20 minutes long So I will keep you guys posted on the classroom decor changes or not decor changes electronic changes I'm hoping they said sometime this week is when our monitors will be coming in So I'm hoping that they'll do the teachers who are teaching from school first That way we can use them because there are not very many teachers teaching on campus. A lot of them are at home And I just think it would be awesome if we could get first dibs on the new technology since we're here and we can actually use it So I'm gonna get going. I hope you guys enjoyed this vlog If you're not already don't forget to hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell so that you can be alerted anytime that I post Um, make sure that you're following me on instagram at apples and tiaras to see more daily updates and to join me for my Virtual teacher's lounge lunchtime with me today. I had Darren my very very dear friend Darren join me and that was a super blast um Every day I want you guys to think about something that made your day sparkle whether it was small Big even the smallest glisten can turn into a sparkle. So anything that was positive in your day I want you guys to be thinking about those Oh time to pick up groceries And um, all right you guys, thank you so so much for watching and I will see you in the next video Bye guys