CA – 21st Century Educator

The First Several Weeks

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Mrs. Ruiz

It has been some time since I posted on my site. I have wanted to post, but have been uncertain as to what I wanted to post and what direction I wanted my site to go in now that I am out of the classroom.

Adjusting to leaving 16 years in the elementary classroom was an experience I could really not prepare for. I have gone from a highly structured day to one that is much more free form and full of meetings and collaboration. I also left a classroom environment. My classroom was my home way from home, my rather large office, and something that was mine. I had a great deal of control over my classroom. Presently I am in a space that is nothing like a classroom, and while nice, it doesn’t feel the same. I think in making this transition that was something I worried about the most. The space I live and work in is very important and has a good deal to do with my mental well being.

Another view of my new workspace — Another view of my new work space

I will have to share more images of what my work space looks like now. It is certainly less sterile and more organized looking. It is a communal space shared with two other Linked Learning TOAs. It is a temporary location and I am looking forward to seeing where we really end up and what it will be like when two more TOAs are brought on to complete our team.

Logistics aside, I have done a fair amount of learning. I hope to get some additional posts up soon focused on the trainings I have attended and how the information learned might work into the elementary classroom. My plan for my site as this point is to post my reflections and learnings and hope it might entertain and/or educate those who care to read.

Red Ribbon Week

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Mrs. Ruiz

Hello Families!

Next week is Red Ribbon Week at Dorothy Grant Elementary. The image above is what we have planned for the students to do to celebrate and reinforce the importance of being drug free. It is important to note that on Tuesday for sports attire day that we ask students to avoid wearing anything related to the Raiders or the 49ers as local gangs use those teams to represent themselves.

I will be awarding students tickets and points each day for participating in the Red Ribbon Week activities. The tickets are good for a school wide raffle and the points will be special Red Ribbon Week points I award on Class Dojo that can be used toward earning reward lunch on Friday.

There is also a creative writing contest for grades 3-5. Students are encouraged to write about living a healthy and drug-free life. The writing can take the form of a poem, essay, or realistic fiction. We will be working on these in class and they are due Thursday, October 9th. You are more than welcome to begin discussing this topic with your child and helping them with ideas for what they might like to write about.

As always, feel free to message me on Class Dojo or via email.

~Mrs. Ruiz

Class News

Class News for May 16th

Posted on May 16, 2014May 16, 2014 by Mrs. Ruiz

Hello Families!

As we come up on the last several days of school I have decided there will no longer be any “official” homework. Instead I am sending home easy to do science projects and math art for students and families who still want something to work on. Any work completed will be worth ClassDojo points. We will have Math and Science Show and Tell Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday to give an opportunity to those students who choose to do the optional homework a chance to share their work with the class. I have encouraged them to use technology when doing so. For example, they could make a Power Point presentation, or make a movie or video of themselves working on the task to show to the class. I have encouraged them to be creative! Students can bring any tech work they do in on a flash/thumb/jump/USB drive, it can be burned onto a CD ROM, or if the file is small enough it can be emailed to me. If they bring their device (with your permission) I have the necessary projection adapters for only Apple devices (sorry Android users). If they publish work on a site, they can provide me the URL and we will have a look at it in class. If you have any questions about this, please email me.

Here is the first bit of optional science work I have given the class. The copier jammed so I didn’t have enough for everyone and I wanted to be sure to post it here so those who may not have gotten it and want to try it can read what is required. The images are sideways, and I couldn’t figure out how to correct that in the time I had to make this post (believe me I tried), but if you save them, you can correct them on your machine before printing.

Any of the optional science and math work can be done at the student’s pace and be turned in at any time.

The ClassDojo reports appeared to print out incorrectly today, but I did not have time to investigate. So please do log into ClassDojo and have a look at your child’s points.

We had a great Career Day today and we will be writing thank you letters next week not only to those who came to see us, but to those at DGE who set up such a wonderful day. The visitors inspired discussions about what the kids want to be when they grow up and we did a bit of writing about it and made a very cute little movie that I think would make a great keepsake of their third grade year. I cannot publish it here due to privacy issues, but I will be attempting to email a copy of it to the parents for you to see and enjoy very soon.

Beginning next week we will be having PE each morning. Please make sure to send your child to school dressed appropriately. Sandals are not allowed at school and unsafe for PE.

I believe that addresses everything I discussed with the class today. As always, if you have any questions please send me an email and I will reply as soon as possible.

~Mrs. Ruiz