Dania Borrero

Student Learning Examples In the 2016-2017 school year, I decided to take my teaching to a whole new level. I used a flipped-classsroom project-based learning model. Not all of the following examples are what you would call mastery, but they are true forms of students' understanding and learning process. In my leadership class, students were to present a variety of topics showing their critical, creative thinking, developing positive habits, and developing great presentation skills through TedTalks. https://sites.google.com/gulliverschools.org/leadership/home In my physics classes, students were to use knowledge of physics concepts to create a safe driving ad. https://sites.google.com/gulliverschools.org/bordphysics1617/home In my biology classes, students were to develop an ecological understanding of specific areas and the importance of zoo conservation efforts. https://sites.google.com/gulliverschools.org/bioecoprojp2/home https://sites.google.com/gulliverschools.o...

5 Tips and Tricks to Creating a Curious Classroom There are many issues we, as teachers, face in light of teaching digital natives. In reading Wendy L. Ostroff’s “Cultivating Curiosity in K-12 Classrooms: How to Promote and Sustain Deep Learning” ( ASCD Book) , there have been key points that I can either relate to within my class, or new tips and tricks to try out. The book states that these are for K-12 classrooms, so there were some things that were relevant and usable in my 9-12 classes, however, some were not. Another issue I find that needs emphasizing is that by the time the students get into high school, their curiosity flames seem to have been extinguished, and when asking them to become curious, creative, or even have fun with what they are doing, school no longer is “fun” for them, and they see everything as a chore. It takes persistence and consistency to develop a curious classroom, and finally, when you think you have it down, it is the end of the school year and you...

5 Tips or Tricks to Have People Put in Max Effort What a great feeling it is to see people take initiative and put forth maximum effort from your own guidance. I went on vacation with my friends to enjoy the wonderful world that is Disney. Before leaving, I had a conversation with my students on the expectations that I had of them while I would be gone, and upon my return today, I was in shock! The substitute said that the students worked on their presentations last class and that some were even recording their videos. I never thought that my students would take the initiative to actually put forth maximum effort and complete a task that was totally independent of me while I was not there. However, they did. I was floored when they came in before class already planning on what they needed and where they were going to go to record their video projects.  I actually wanted to ask my students:  I was wondering where my students where? Who were these clones? They came in rea...

5 tips and tricks to love your job Blogged while listening to 90's R&B in my backyard lounge.  Today's blog is inspired by my current feelings right at this instant and should not be taken as an exaggeration of an all-encompassing unhappiness for my job. While I am interacting with my students and coworkers, I am generally happy. However, there has been a creeping dislike for the direction and morale that is currently engulfing my place of work. In trying to self-reflect, I have put the blame on my Sagittarius qualities of having too many interests, becoming bored too easily, and a great need for challenges and growth opportunities. All of these qualities are surfacing and in my current state of emotions are not being placated by my job, to no fault of my job, of coarse. In an article of the Best and Worst Careers for a Sagittarius , teaching has always been a calling for Sagis. So one would think that I'm in my ideal situation, right? NOPE. I keep having to work a...

5 tips and tricks to find what genre of books you'd like to read Blogged while stuffing my face with some good Sunday night pizza night pizza as my husband plays video games.  Today's post ties in to my 2017 reading goals . When I was younger, I loved murder mysteries/revenge/vampire novels. I remember reading Iris Johanson's "The Ugly Duckling"  in high school and loving it. I had decided that murder mysteries what genre I liked to read, and anything else was pretty boring. Give me a great Twilight series, and I'm in. I couldn't imagine reading someone's biography or a historical nonfiction novel.  BORING !!! As an avid reader though, sometimes it takes another person, or situation to put a great book in your hand to realize that there is so much out there. Who knew that I would love reading t ranscendentalist authors such as Emerson, Thoreau or Fuller, but after visiting Walden Pond in the stillness of its frozen covering, I immersed  myself ...

Long Lost Are the Days Where Students Go To School To Memorize Content 5 Tips and Tricks To Keep Focused on What's Important Blogged while watching #SummerHouse and SMH, giving more support on why we should be teaching our students what's important When I went to school we were required to learn content, memorize that content, take a test, and move on to the next. Being a teacher today though encompasses bringing in real world issues, relevant situations, technology management, student-centered instruction, with collaborative presentations and projects. It has been said that we are preparing students for jobs that still yet don't exist. Every year I reinvent my teaching style, incorporating different activities, technology, and focus of learning for my students. Being completely transparent and honest, it is exhausting and sometimes it is hard to notice if it's worth it. See my post on How to WOW Students with activities that I completed last school year. You c...

On one of our teacher work days recently, we had a GAFE summit. I had seen GAFE around twitter, but never really knew what it stood for. I then found out that it means Google Apps for Education. I became really excited and wanted to sign up for every single session, but of coarse, I am only a person of one, therefore couldn't get to every session and felt like I missed out on other sessions that may have been equally, if not more, benefitial than the sessions I had attended. I felt what the kids now a days call FOMO , fear of missing out. This happens at every conference. I have decided to blog about my own personal reflections, lessons learned, and experiences from the GAFE summit at my place of work. The day started out like a normal professional development day. The head of schools made announcements, then introdcued our keynote speaker @HollyClarkEDU. She  discussed being #futureready and really, what I got out of her presentation was that she was around when the intern...

One of the most wonderful sounds I've been able to hear is my students say "Wow", "Cool", "It worked!".  A couple of weeks ago I was so ecstatic that I was able to hear those delightful words from quite a few of my students as they walked into the room. What brought this surprise? Let me explain... A few weeks before, I had decided to change the course in which my class usually was executed. From a flipped classroom, I decided to take the focus on learning information because I, their teacher, gave it to them, and put that focus on them learning information and executing labs that they wanted to do. I felt that they could take ownership of their learning, open their minds and create a love of learning. I did this in the hopes that this would bring in those students that were otherwise disconnected and not focused. Some of it worked, some of it didn't, and I've decided to keep on this idea of creating a love of learning for all, but since this...

Today's posts is about another out of the blue, inspired topic. What inspired me this time? Not on a very positive note, but I've been calling it (for dramatic effect) "that horrible thing that happens tomorrow." Going back to work to teach early Monday morning after a 2 week winter vacation is not really a bad thing, and I'm excited to try out some new ideas, however, the reality is, sleeping all day, eating whatever/whenever I'd like, binge watching TV, watching movies (Star Wars of coarse and Daddy's Home for comedic relief), and hanging out with family and friends was really very nice. Here are a couple of pictures of my husband and I in our celebratory elements. A few nights ago, I was telling my husband how my sleep cycle is out of "wack" because of my vacation. I explained to him that I needed to go to sleep early and wake up early to prepare for "that horrible thing that happens on Monday."  I have yet ...