What's with the 80's music?

Today was Day One of a workshop called Rock Solid Math. It is a workshop that two 4th grade teachers from each school in the district are attending, so that we are all on the same page about our math instruction. I'll sum (that's my math pun) up today in terms of pros and cons.

PROS:
- The monotony was broken with short segments of Name That Tune.
- There was one cute male teacher.
- I already do teach problem solving strategies the way that is highly encouraged.
- We didn't start until 8:30 and I was out by 3:30 (and did not return to the school to get papers or see how the sub's day was).
- I was able to spend my lunch break in IKEA.
- I was able to pass notes with a teammate from my school.
- We went on a cruise after lunch.
- I learned about a Mathematician's Chair (think "Author's Chair").
- We were given a composition notebook...good for coloring in between the black spots.
- I get to share my meeting with John Mayer to a new group of people, because at these workshops, you always have to share something unique about yourself.

CONS:
- All of the Name That Tune songs seemed to be from the 80s. (I don't know 80s music...I was only 5 years old when they were over.)
- It's hard being a student...quite tiring.
- I was stalked by a guy in IKEA.
- There was chocolate sitting on the table after lunch and I have no will power.
- The people I was in groups with had terrible hand writing...and they actually volunteered. If you know me, I should have written.
- The after lunch cruise did not help me escape the workshop...it was actually more work and learning.
- We kept reading the same thing over and over about a Mathematician's Chair and problem solving strategies.
- I found out my sub called in sick and I did not have a sub when school began this morning.
- I worried about what was happening in my classroom.
- I missed my class!

I hope you all noticed how many pros and cons were actually focused on what I was supposed to learn...I would like to reiterate that I did not want to attend this workshop to begin with, but it was not a choice.

BrainPop

As a teacher, there are many resources available. As a new teacher, it sometimes takes a bit of time to discovery everything you might need to use as a resource in one year...it is a never-ending process. Well, one resource I did discover quite quickly was Brain Pop! If you don't know anything about Brain Pop, let me clue you in to this amazing site...


As a 4th grade teacher, a site like this can help me teach EVERYTHING! Let me clarify...it can help me teach clouds to division, blogging to writing about senses, and health to art/music (which I don't teach, but could if I wanted to). The kids LOVE these videos. There is a regular site and Jr. site and my kids know the names of the hosts for both shows. After each video (which are usually 3 minutes or less), there is a quiz that you can take there or print out. The Jr. site even has reading connections for each topic along with a choice of easy or hard quiz.

There is no limit to what this site can teach. I can imagine, just like any other teaching resource, that it is work-in-progress and topics are always being added to the site. The kids love the simplicity of Brain Pop Jr. and I love the depth of Brain Pop. I know that Brain Pop saved my inferencing lesson today during reading time.

Unfortunately, this is a subscription only website, but if your school won't purchase it for you, it is well worth the individual purchase price! Maybe I could send Brain Pop this blog and see if they'll send me something for free...hmmmm?