JD _Cool Tools 2017-2018

I love solving puzzles! I had a chance to participate in 2 different demos of Breakout Edu last year but other than seeing the problems in a large group setting on the first one and totally enjoying the second experience, I didn't have a chance to go much further than talking about how I would love to do one on my own. This year the school district offered a kit to borrow so I became more serious, but I decided that rather than waiting to borrow one, I could probably put together one on my own. I did this piecemeal and now I have a complete kit and more (several boxes - several locks  etc.) I then went on to the website and picked a few games to check out. I downloaded the info and read through the directions but again due to lack of time and some questions about the actual pieces involved I didn't get much further. Thanks to your inclusion of this topic in the Cool Tools listing, I decided that now was the time I would fully investigate the process and create a game! ...

Thing 35 - Supporting English Language Learners We have always had a relatively small population of English Language Learners at our school and most of them speak Spanish as their other language. I have a collection of picture books in either just Spanish or both Spanish and English. I also have a couple of Spanish/English dictionaries. Recently there have been a small additional group of students that have come here due to the hurricanes and flooding in Puerto Rico, so I was interested to find out additional ways to support this group. One thing I learned from a student right away is that in my attempt to make her feel more at ease, I was showing her books and maps about Puerto Rico, while the class was working on learning about different parts of the world. She didn't seem to be very interested but then when we started to point out states and New York, she was very proud to point to New York and say the word. I realized that she wanted to learn about her new home...