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Shifting Our Words to Shift Our Thinking!

8/26/2019

Have you ever noticed that when you shift the words you are using your thinking goes right along with it? I have been reading Word Shift by Joy Kirr. In her book she states, "Our thoughts become our words, and our words become our actions." I have noticed since reading her book and intentionally changing the words I am using it is also impacting what I am thinking, and what people are perceiving because of my word choice.

As I was reading, I came upon the word crazy. What Joy wrote resonated with me. If you asked me what word others would use to describe me I would probably tell you crazy. I owned that title of crazy and never really thought about how others might perceive it Until... I was asked in an interview what word others would use to describe me. The first word that came to mind was CRAZY! But, is that really what I was. Was I crazy to have provided ball chairs, flexible seating, and regular chairs for the students in my classroom? Or was I really innovative, courageous, and/or Impactful? We must be careful of the words used. Not everyone will perceive them the same way.

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Where is the Edit Button?

8/19/2019

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Where is the Edit Button?

Click to read this book, made with Book Creator

https://read.bookcreator.com

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Boggle EDU

8/12/2019

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Ready to have some fun reinforcing spelling and word study? In the game Boggle EDU you can do just that in a short amount of time and possibly time that would be used just waiting around to use the bathroom. In this challenge, put together by my friend Brooke Sulzmann, students reinforce concepts taught through a game based activity increasing their enjoyment, motivation, the love of words, pattern recognition, critical thinking, and scanning skills. Here is how she did it.

“Use them but don’t abuse them
and always know what will serve your children best”
Dabell, J. (2018)

Boggle Challenge
By Brooke Sulzmann

I challenged the 2nd grade through 4th grade students to a game of boggle.

I display the boggle board in a central location. In my school, I chose near the bathrooms where the students lined up throughout the day for bathroom breaks. Prior to hanging up the board I visited each classroom to explain the rules. They were to have at least 3 letter words, no abbreviations, no names, and real words must be spelled correctly. They cannot repeat the same letter (example - sleep, using the same letter, must be two separate e’s) I answered any of their questions and gave several examples and let the kids look for words and see if they would count toward the challenge. I provided sheets to the teachers each week and I went to the classrooms on Friday to collect the sheets. I also provided a picture of the new weekly board to the teachers through an email so they could display the board on their smartboard. I scrambled the board each week for different challenges.

Week 1 - I did not provide a specific challenge, I just wanted the students to explore the game of boggle. And continued to answer their questions throughout the week.
Week 2 - I challenged them to find a word that is a reading strategy they use when they are reading. (example - question, infer, predict, etc.)
Week 3 - I challenged the students to find 2 homophones (example, sail, sale, berry, bury)
Week 4 - I challenged the students to find a word that is part of our school expectations/Howard Husky Way (Example - respect, responsible, safe)
Every Friday at the end of the day I would collect all the sheets from all the classrooms. I would give prizes (Husky Bucks) to students that spelled all their words correctly along the rules of boggle. I gave another buck to the students who met my challenge. They were not ever expected to fill the entire sheet, but if they did, they would get lunch with me with another friend. I would hand out these prizes on Monday while introducing the new board and challenge.

Where would be the best place(s) on campus to deliver this content?Burgess, D. (2012)

How to play Boggle
Boggle for Education is played a little differently than the actual game. Boggle EDU starts with a game board put up randomly or with a focus. Next, Students are given a recording sheet and set expectations according to the teacher. Some teachers only allow vertical, horizontal or diagonal words. This is good for younger students. For a little older students it is acceptable to allow them to make words with letters that are touching consecutively You can assign points for words or just check the words. The skies the limit. Make it your own and especially what works in your classroom, hallway, school. In Teach Like a Pirate Dave Burgess Discusses The Safari Hook. (a hook is to activate student engagement) For this hook he suggests asking these questions

How can I get my class outside my four walls for this lesson?
Where would be the best place(s) on campus to deliver this content?
Is there an area of the school that serves as the perfect backdrop? Burgess 2012

I think about this hook in the sense that our time is valuable and depending how you are using #BoggleEDU may determine the place it should be located. For Brooke’s challenge she placed it near the bathroom. It was a way to use a space and time that sometimes is lost to standing and waiting. She turned this time into a learning opportunity by reinforcing skills across three grade levels by using Boggle EDU. It allowed students to find words using word patterns, they have been taught.

The exciting thing is Boggle is not just for word study. Many teachers have been using it to reinforce math. By changing letters to numbers you can ask students to locate numbers to write an equation and reinforce order of operations.

When is the best time to deliver the content?
How are you going to deliver this content?
Is it using your time wisely?
Padalino, A. (2019)

Why
I know word searches and word games are sometimes used as busy work, but they do not have to be when used intentionally. I have been doing some research to determine their value in the education setting.
Here are some things I discovered about Boggle EDU.
For word Study Students

engage in lots of scanning, sifting, and searching
develop word recognition and can improve spelling
introduce and review new vocabulary
help develop pattern recognition
improve problem-solving
support learning context clues
are self-differentiating
can boost working memory
foster persistence
can improve self-confidence ~ Dabell, J. (2018)
Increase enjoyment of word study

For math students

engage in lots of scanning, sifting, and searching
develop number recognition and can improve math skills
Reinforce math facts and order of operations
help understanding math families
improve problem-solving
are self-differentiating
foster persistence
can improve self-confidence

Resources

$Picture$

Boggle Pocket Chart
This pocket chart is currently in production. Please fill out the contact form if you are interested in either a pocket chart or a pattern to create the chart. The word Boggle or Noggle can be added, left off, or replaced with a pocket so you can add your own title. Please specify interest in the form.

References
Burgess, D. (2012). Teach Like a Pirate, https://daveburgess.com/blog/

Sulzmann, B. (2019). Boggle Challenge. Guest blogger for https://www.bringedlife.com/blog

Dabell, J. (2018) Word Searches – A Waste Of Time? https://johndabell.com/

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April Padalino and Cyndi Dull

We are educational coaches with a passion for learning and empowering students, parents, and educators to Bring Education to Life.

Shifting Our Words to Shift Our Thinking!

Where is the Edit Button?

Boggle EDU

“Use them but don’t abuse them ​and always know what will serve your children best” Dabell, J. (2018)

Where would be the best place(s) on campus to deliver this content?Burgess, D. (2012)​

​When is the best time to deliver the content? How are you going to deliver this content?Is it using your time wisely?Padalino, A. (2019)

April Padalino and Cyndi Dull

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“Use them but don’t abuse them
and always know what will serve your children best”
Dabell, J. (2018)

Where would be the best place(s) on campus to deliver this content?Burgess, D. (2012)

When is the best time to deliver the content?
How are you going to deliver this content?
Is it using your time wisely?
Padalino, A. (2019)