Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

  The 2020-2021 school year is ready to begin. We teachers report back next week, our students the week after. I have been very, very quiet this summer because of all that is happening in our world. If I'm honest, I'm usually the one to make small talk or fill in the space when there is a lull in conversations (that's for better or worse--my intentions are good, though). This summer has changed all of that. I've spent these months listening and starting to process the multitude of events that have changed our country and our world--stepping back has helped me to somewhat prepare for this school year. Educators are called to be flexible, more flexible than ever before. With everything happening and changing fast I must pull back, quiet myself, and think. I must make time for this solitude this year. Thankfully this week has helped me feel more ready to start the year than I thought I would be.  I went in to organize my classroom. It felt good to refresh the space. It was...

Yesterday's 8th Grade Clap-Out not only ended the school year, it was the end of an era for my family. I have had my son or my daughter in the same building with me for the past five years. (I did not teach either of them but guided them while completing their National History Day projects in 8th Grade.) Their Middle School years were full of wonderful experiences, both inside and outside of the classroom. From my son's 6th Grade 50s-Themed Band Concert, track, clubs like Quiz Bowl and Stock Market Club, APT to Succeed interview, Civil War Day, and the Troybery Celebration, to my daughter's clubs like STAND and Stock Market Club, basketball, cross-country, track, cheer, pep assemblies, and both of their 8th Grade Washington DC trips they've had three exceptional years, ones that both have already looked back on fondly. My son, a rising High School Junior, was definitely prepared for High School because of his Middle School years, I have no doubt my d...

National History Day is still going strong for a small team of students in my school and district! I'm so proud to say that four students in my school, two students in one of our sister middle schools, and one former student of mine that's now a High School Junior have qualified for the National History Day (virtual) finals competition! These students are showing great perseverance working on edits and additional research, all while navigating online learning and, in the case of my High School student, studying for Advance Placement exams! We have been meeting regularly to continue to provide guidance as these historians hone their work before submitting their documentary, website, and performance script. The students are studying fascinating topics (the Japanese Internment Camps during WWII, Rosie the Riveter, and the heroic Ida Lewis) and the open-ended nature of NHD work allows these young ladies to really stretch their thinking and move their research forward. ...

I am team teaching about volcanoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes this quarter with my Language Support team. I am planning for next week's study of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and needed an activity. I have never taught this topic before but as I was researching I remembered there was a US Mint in San Francisco (I visited it when I was 9 years old)!  The US Mint is an incredible resource for educators and I have utilized their materials earlier this year when my LS students needed lessons on learning American money and how to make change. What a cool "full circle" moment to go back to the US Mint for this lesson! I located a video about the Mint's role in helping to rebuild the San Francisco economy, but needed a student activity to go with the video. My students will create a Thank You note for the San Francisco Mint of 1906! Writing Thank You notes is an activity I thought of years ago for my US History students while studying the American Re...

Teaching Language Support-History has been so rewarding this year. This class has brought me back to being a first year teacher--the highs, lows, uncertainty, and the rewards of working with students learning English, Social Studies content, and American school at the same time. It's also been, as I've previously stated, a perfect mix of my two content area strengths: History and foreign language instruction, even though the foreign language is English, not German. (I do have a German student, though! It's been nice to practice my German when I have clarified concepts with her.) I've had one more professional bucket list want that I can finally check off of my list--I am part of a teaching team this year. Our Language Support students are together for English, Science, and Social Studies classes every day. The three of us teachers, along with our amazing Parapro, have gained so much momentum this year creating cross-curricular units for our students. The online l...

We received word from the Governor of Michigan last Thursday that, due to the coronavirus, all Michigan school buildings would be closed for the rest of the school year. We will completely shift to online learning after Spring Break. So many feelings. I feel for my students and for my children, a High School Sophomore and an 8th Grader. We are still adjusting to this change, and probably will be for the foreseeable future. I am also adjusting to the idea of teaching school online for the next quarter. I know how to teach my students when we are in the classroom together. I know what they need--opportunities to work together, to learn from one another, to experience deep learning, to work with routines. I know I will figure it out but wrapping my head around this new situation now is daunting.  A silver lining in this situation has been the educational community. The sheer amount of resources made available to educators during this uncertain time is extraordinary. I am...

Surreal, to say the least. One week ago today school communities in Michigan found out that they would be closing for the foreseeable future due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This highly contagious disease would cause schools to shift to online learning for the next three weeks (that would coincide with our Spring Break so we will be out of school for four weeks). Families in the state are highly encouraged to stay at home, self-isolate, and stay 6 or more feet away from anyone not in our immediate households (known as social distancing). Our staff gathered last Friday to start the transition to online learning. The district technology teams and administration greatly helped us make this shift. We are adjusting to a new normal. This past week has been unprecedented. Thank goodness we've been a 1:1 iPad school for years now. The technology piece isn't completely new for us. Finding the balance between a typical lesson and online lessons from home is taking some getting us...