QR We?

With school back in session, many teachers scour the internet to find icebreakers that will allow the students get to know each other.  Because my students will eventually all end up working with one another, I was trying to think of a way to do something that could go across class periods.  That's when I thought of using QR codes.

On the first day of class, I had the students come up with 5 good interview questions that would get the interviewee really thinking.  We discussed how to turn a typical question that would yield a one word response into an open-ended question that would really let us know more about the person.  After they had prepared their questions, they tried them out on me to see if I was forced to answer in sentences, instead of one word.

The following day, the students were randomly paired up with each other and recorded the interviews with our iPads.  They uploaded the videos to their Google Drives and shared them with me.  I turned each interview into a QR code, which I printed out with the student's name underneath.  We placed all of them on the board in my room so the students are able to scan the codes and hear the interviews of all my students.  They really like seeing the interviews of the students who aren't in their classes.  It turned out to be a great way to get to know each other.  Parents will also be able to view these videos at Open House, so they can see the students in action without the students having to be there.


QR codes are something that I hope to use more in my classroom.  In fact, the students have already started giving me more ideas on how they think they should be used.

Do you use QR codes or have any suggestions on different ways they can be used in the classroom?  Let me know!

Here's to STEM!
Mrs. Giran

Helpful Teacher Websites

If you are like me, I am sure your email inbox explodes with numerous websites claiming to be a teacher's best friend.  Many times, you glance at the information and bookmark the link to take a look at later.  Unfortunately, later often never comes. 

I want to share two sites that did grab my attention amidst their claims to helping organize my classroom.  I have since put both into practice and am very happy with the way things are going.

Appointy:
Appointy is an online appointment scheduler.  While set up for businesses, I started using this site to streamline how my GIEP meeting scheduling process.  The site allows a user to create open appointments and then provides you with a link to send out.  I was able to block off half hour time slots over the course of a week to schedule my GIEP meetings.  Parents signed in with Facebook, Google, or an Appointy account.  They were able to see what times were available and schedule a meeting at their leisure.  I was sent confirmation emails when an appointment was made.  I am able to log on and see who is scheduled when and what slots are still open.  Appointy even sends out reminder emails 48 hours before the scheduled meeting.  You can customize the information that you would like parents to complete when scheduling.  It has saved me a lot of time because we normally scheduled these through email.  I am using the free account and everything I need is available.  I have not looked into the paid accounts, because I haven't come across needing something that isn't available.

VolunteerSpot:
This is a teacher's dream website.  Long gone are the times where I have to manually keep track of volunteers or items that are to be donated.  VolunteerSpot does this all for me.  My students run a school store and I always have one parent there monitoring the sales.  This website allowed me to post the details and times that I needed volunteers and it keeps track of who has committed.  Parents are able to switch times with each other, without me getting involved.  It even keeps a database of volunteers' names and email addresses in case I need to quickly contact someone.  You can also use this site to post items that are needed for the classroom.  Parents can go on to your site and sign up to send something in.  Duplicate items are a thing of the past!  The free account allows you to have up to 30 events going on at a time.  A paid account gives you more events and the option to collect money for things such as field trips.  I definitely plan on using this when I am seeking out volunteers for the Science Olympiad that I organize.  With over 140 volunteers, this site is sure to relieve some of my anxiety.  :)

As I use these sites in new ways, I will be sure to post.

Here's to STEM!
Mrs. Giran

Shark Tank

This past year I was trying to think of a way to turn our school store into more of a learning experience.  I wanted to come up with a way that would teach my students lifelong lessons, while being interactive with the entire school.  This led to creating our school's own version of Shark Tank.

The creativity of our students always amazes me.  Shark Tank allows the students to invent their own product with the hope of selling it in our store.  The student inventors receive a loan that is paid out in real money.  At the end of the selling period, all money made is added up, the loan deducted and then the profits are split 50/50 with the school store and the seller.

The process is as follows:

1. Students complete an application that provides information such as the product's name, the sales price, and how much of a loan is required.  The students also have to obtain a parent signature on the application page.  Applications were due the 1st of every month to be considered.

2. My Shark Tank student committee meet and go through the applications narrowing them down to the top five ideas.  Letters are sent out to those students stating that the Shark Tank is interested in hearing more about the product and assigns the students a day when they are to present to the committee, which is made up of eight students, two parents, and one employee from our local credit union.

3. On the day of the presentations, the selected students are given five minutes to pitch their ideas.  Many students bring in samples for the committee.  We even had some students create jingles, wear matching shirts, and act out skits.  At this presentation, the Shark Tank committee is able to ask questions and see firsthand what the product is like.  The committee members fill out a rubric/information sheet while the presentations are occurring.  They then take the score sheets home and figure out the potential profit for each product.  Finally, the students vote whether or not they believe we should offer this in our store.  Each chosen item is sold for six days.

4.  Once the products are selected, the students are given their loan and assigned days to work in the store.  After the sales are over, the school store manager pays out the profits to the student sellers.

Some examples of items selected and sold are: mystery boxes (take out containers that hold a mystery prize), homemade tie-dyed socks, Glow Goo that never dries out, cake pops, duct tape and Rainbow Loom accessories.  The average price was $1, with the most expensive item being sold for $5.

The part of this that I enjoyed the most was seeing my students grow throughout the year.  At the beginning, the committee was not very open-minded about the products.  If they personally didn't care for the items, they would vote no.  As the year progressed, the students were always trying to figure out what product would pull in the most profit for the store and not worrying about it they liked it themselves.  Also, I had a guest speaker come in from the credit union to talk about how banks determines who can get a loan.  They discussed credit scores, high and low risk loans, as well as basic banking principles.

The school really enjoyed this process.  Student inventors were able to showcase their items and possibly earn real money.  The presentations also improved as the year went on because the competitive nature became greater.  This is one "project" I will continue during the upcoming year.

Here's to STEM!
Mrs. Giran