Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

My full circle moment. Almost one year later. Monica Burns from  Class Tech Tips wrote an intriguing article about using GarageBand in the reading classroom  in 2016 and posted it on Twitter. I  blogged last July about how I'd like to use this with my Student Historians . That opportunity finally came and the result was profound, especially for one group of students. My History classes have studied the Civil War the past two years by completing an iMovie. I created a twist, though, each group studied one year of the war and ranked three events of that year they feel most strongly impacted the end of the war . Students needed to use investigative and discovery skills to learn about the entire war, then the impact of their focus year. Groups were required to find three primary sources related to those events, one Mathew Brady photograph from that year, and a piece of Civil War-era music (not necessarily from their focus year). The GarageBand article gave t...

Students completed their #MyBoulanLEGACY reflections today. The final letter of the LEGACY reflection was a tough one for me to create (Y is pretty limited!) but the topic I finally thought of is the perfect final reflection because it is positive, optimistic, and carries the students through until the final bell rings next Friday. The final reflection topic is related to the Power of YET . Each students' legacy isn't complete and won't be until the last day of school. I asked students to reflect on how they will carry through their LEGACY. It's a true reminder to stay strong, make good decisions, and keep focusing on being the same kid they were in September all the way through until the final moments of the school year. I hope the Power of YET guides each and every one of us next week and throughout our lives.

Students are continuing to think about their Middle School LEGACY by writing about Attitude and Challenges. Our attitudes impact how we are remembered by others. Do we stay positive or complain when the going gets tough? I am hopeful that this reflection helped all of us remember to pause and use patience when we speak or act, especially when we are tired at the end of the school year. How we act and react to others says a lot about our character, and our legacy. How we handle difficult situations says a lot about who we are. Students were asked to reflect this week about a time they overcame a challenge. It's been really nice to read their responses while I was stapling these to our bulletin board in the hallway outside of our classroom. (At the start of this project all students knew that their responses would be displayed and they could keep each of their reflections anonymous.) Students wrote about challenges with friendships, classes they've struggled with, and...