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Learning with Miss LaGrow

A blog by a fourth grade teacher full of tips, tricks, and ideas.

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Month: October 2019

Google (in the) Classroom: How to Maximize Efficiency AND Engagement Using Tech

October 6, 2019 ~ learningwithmisslagrow ~ Leave a comment

Learn how to use the Google Suite in innovative ways to maximize learning and engagement in your classroom for free with minimal prep.

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Learning with Miss LaGrow was basically started by accident. I realized how much I wanted to share education thoughts with the world, but didn’t think all of my personal followers would care. 📱 Enter a separate Instagram for friends and family to hear about my teaching adventures. Three years later, here we are together. ✨ This community has gotten me through a lot of rough patches, and you’ve given me confidence to start my own business and share my ideas with the world. REAL TALK: I’ve been terrified to talk about myself in any capacity since high school. 💻 Someone sent me an anonymous message about how self-centered I seemed on social media when I was 16. And that was the end of any pride I had left. Confidence and celebration are different than selfishness and egocentrism. 💪🏼 It’s taken me ten years to soak in that fact. Thank YOU for helping me realize that and supporting me on this journey. 👭 And a big thanks to @simplystainedshop for sending me this adorable physical representation of this space. 🎁 I have never felt more motivated to ignore the high school mean girls and just GO FOR IT. ✨

Today, I put KIND over curriculum: I ditched my lesson plan. I’ve had a rough time lately. My students have had a rough time lately. Yesterday, I received two of the shortest “I miss you” notes sent to me from former students. 💕 I told my students about this story. We discussed how the smallest action literally turned my mood from the past week around. 🙌 I told my students that if they were caught up on their writing projects to write one short note to an adult in the school of their choice. 100 little notes later and an hour later and my class culture I’ve strived so hard for was finally there. 📝 My students begged to deliver the notes themselves instead of me putting them in mailboxes. A five minute activity for ten students turned into an hour project for the entire class. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Students who I should have been drilling to finish their writing picked up note after note. ✨ I don’t regret a thing.

QUICK CHECKS save my sanity. 💻 Quick checks are my version of digital “exit tickets” via Google Forms. 🎟 They are short, just long enough to assess understanding of each skill. They give me quick assessment data AND help me group students for small group! . ✨Pro tip: Export the responses to a spreadsheet. Color code students with similar misconceptions/needs. 🙌 Instant small groups! I have a blog about this as well. Anyone else do quick checks/exit tickets all the time? 🙋🏻‍♀️ ⤵️ (Because really, who wants to sit down and grade senselessly long worksheets?)

If my Instagram seems like a highlight reel, it’s because I completely shut down during the not-so-good times. I saw this in Target and immediately began repeating to self. This week has been HARD in so many ways. 🙃 I’ve begun to question things I never thought I would, and some nights I completely shut myself off and threw my lists aside. So to those of you who also feel this way, you’re definitely not alone. 👭 And to those of you who are here for teaching content, this IS teaching content. 💡 Our job is HARD and exciting and stressful and so so many other things all at once. 🆘 YOU need to take care of you to be the best teacher you can be, of course, but never forget there’s so much more to you than just “teacher.” 💯 There’s a lot of cute quotes floating around about “You are who your students need today” which may be true for some, but YOU are who YOU need today. 🎤 Don’t just be. Do everything you can to be well.

Double tap if you’re here for FUNCTIONAL (and cheap) student gifts. 🙋🏻‍♀️ . I bought some colorful pens from the Target dollar spot this year (these are from last year) to use with these tags for Valentine’s Day. 💕🖊 These tags are a FREEBIE in my TPT store! I love using colored pens in my room for editing writing! 🙌 How do you use colorful pens? ⤵️

“I’ll just wait until it’s quiet...” Still waiting. 🙄👵🏼 #100sday

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Classroom Management
Lessons
Math
SmileLove
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Recent Posts

My Complete Smilelove Journey November 15, 2019
Google (in the) Classroom: How to Maximize Efficiency AND Engagement Using Tech October 6, 2019
Morning Meeting: Creating a Community of Learners January 29, 2019
My Journey to Straight Teeth: Week 1 with SmileLove January 13, 2019
Advice for the First Year Teacher August 7, 2018
Math Stations: My Four Round Approach April 2, 2018

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