Pear Deck Perks: Getting Started

Hello there!  It's a miracle:  I am blogging again!  I am really excited to share a Google add-on with you:

I began dabbling in Pear Deck last spring when we went fully remote.  I love how Pear Deck makes lessons and activities interactive and engaging.  It took me time to realize that students can easily log on if I add the link to the lesson in the chat (My students would love to spend the whole meeting in the chat if they could!).  

In order to use Pear Deck, you need to add it to your Google Classroom.  You also need to log into the Chrome Browser.  Once you have added Pear Deck, you can take any slide deck and make it interactive.

This is a new slide deck I am working on in Google slides.  First, I create a slide deck; then I add the Pear Deck add-on to make it interactive.  I recently discovered how to add Pear Deck to the tool bar, but before that, I needed to click on Add-ons to access it:

 

Got Pear Deck, now what?

Open any slide deck.  Then open the Pear Deck Add-on.

Look to the right of your screen, and you will see the Template Library.

I have some free Pear Deck math activities and a "Would you rather...?" activity for you to check out.

In my next blog post, I will detail how to start an actual lesson and get your students logged on.  In the meantime, please try out Pear Deck and let me know if you have any questions.  I would love to help use this amazing resource.

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Wednesday Online Schedule: The Whole Class Gets Together for our One Weekly Session!

Hello there!  I'm so happy you decided to pop into the blog today!  I want to share some new ideas I have been trying online as well as wish you a happy and healthy New Year!  Let's get started!

Remote Wednesday Schedule When All Students Are Present

We are doing a hybrid schedule.  I see Cohort A on Monday and Tuesday in person while I see Cohort B on Thursday and Friday.  We are all together on Wednesday online so it is a special day.  Here is our Wednesday schedule:

8:20 - 8:30 Check In

8:30 - 8:45 Sharing (2 or 3 students share; I tell them the week before so they are prepared to share something from home that cannot normally be brought to school).

8:45 - 9:15 Making Words.  Last year, Ms. Ross, a Content Specialist, would visit my class once a week and do a making words activity.  My students loved it so I started doing it again this year.  

Click on picture of book to read more at Amazon!

In this making word activity, I share my screen on Kami and give the kids the vowels and consonants.  Then we get to work.  I usually start with one and two letter words, and we work our way up.  

Here are the letters we used yesterday (12/23):

a    a    e        c    l    m    s    s    t

As the kids say the words, I write them down.  Yesterday, I gave each student a chance to say a word.  If they don't have a word, I give a hint:  "What word is the antonym (opposite) of first?"  We end up with quite a long list of words that we sound out, and we talk about phonics, too.  We spend any where from 20 to 30 minutes on this activity.  

9:15 - 9:45 Spelling Test (if there is one that week)/Review that day's independent work/Review new material.

9:45 - 10:15 Inclusion:  Math.  

Pear Deck + Break-Out Rooms = Just Right Math

A para. comes to my class from 9:45 - 10:15.  Plus, there is a full-time nurse due to a student with a medical issue.  Consequently, I divide the class between me and these people; then the students are "relocated" to the correct break-out room.  

During this time, we have been doing Pear Deck that center on word problems, fact families and other math-related topics.  You can click here to check out one for free on TPT!

Snack 10:15 - 10:25

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After Math, it is bathroom break and snack.  While the kids eat snack, I read an ebook from my local library or the Internet Archive Library.   Last week I read Poppleton in Winter.  

I LOVE Poppleton books!  The kids LOVE the Poppleton books because they are funny, but they are also easy to use to teach theme and summary!

10:30 - 11:45  Directed Drawing/Cursive (if time)

We LOVE directed drawings!  I always try to connect the drawing to what we are learning in class.  When we were learning about the Wampanoags, I wanted to make a longhouse with the kids.  I could not find an easy how to draw on TPT so I made my own!  Click here to check it out!

10:45 Wrapping Up!

I am often online until at least 11:00 with students who want to chat and show me their finished drawings.  I enjoy this time.

 

11:00:  Independent Work Posted

For independent work, I post my Morning Message as the first piece of work.  My Morning Messages center on academics.  For the kids who are in class, we read the message together as part of our Morning Meeting.  I did not want the at-home kids to miss out on the messages.

 

Example of Morning Message at school:

vs.  Google Form Version

I always have 5 questions on these Google Forms, and they are self-correcting so that I can see what I need to review.  I do know that I absolutely need to review summarizing when we go back to school!

As always, if you have any questions or would like to know more, please let me know.  

Happy Holidays and Vacation!

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Happy Delightful December!

Happy December Everyone!  Thank you for visiting the blog today as I link up with Anne in Residence for her monthly link-up:

Baking

Baking is not me.  If I do bake, it is something that is of the "bake and break" variety.  I once ordered these chocolate chip cookies as part of my Hello Fresh meals, and they were delicious! 

By the way, I LOVE getting Hello Fresh once a month.  Click here if you'd like to get $40 off you first order!

Decorating

I have been decorating my classroom with my annual Turkey Project.  I love and do this project every year in which each student writes what they are thankful for on a turkey feather.  Check it out (this is a picture from a prior year as I cannot seem to email pictures from my phone to my computer):

 

Gifting

This year I will do most of my shopping at TJ Maxx/Marshall's.  I have gotten a few gifts so far, but I will probably tend to give gift cards.

Hoping

I am hoping that we can stay in school for as long as possible!

Sending

I sent this message on my Instagram, and I'm sending it to readers of my blog, too!

As always, I appreciate your visit!  If you know how to fix the emailing of pictures from your iphone to your computer, please let me know so I can update this post!

Have a wonderful weekend!

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