Parker's World of Minecraft!

I just love how this one turned out. This was the easiest out of all the themes to decorate for. I really enjoyed this week the most. Our informational texts around video games was sooooo intriguing to the professors. They were all in. We also had our best days during this week, simply because they just love Minecraft lol

Parker's World Cup!

My professors LOVE SOCCER, THEY LOOOOOOOVVVVEEEE SOCCER! About three weeks before this week, we started our Hispanic Heritage Hero Projects. Each professor chose a famous man or woman of Hispanic Heritage to complete a research project on.  The week I did this, was the week of the Hispanic Heritage Hero Project Presentations. When my professors walked in, OH. MY. GOODNESS. THEY. WENT. CRAZY. My amazing husband(who helped me set every week up), made the Messi jersey.  That was such a big hit. We played soccer multiplication, read informational texts that dealt with soccer, we practiced measuring by measuring soccer goals, soccer balls, etc. it was so interactive and fun. Their presentation day was just phenomenal!!

Parker Motor Speedway!!

Well it's only fitting for us as North Carolinians to bring the speedway out! So this week we're learning our way through our content this week through Parker Motor Speedway. I have more boys in my class then girls so I knew this would be a hit. We really had a fun time with this. We did some racing(with little race cars that the kids got to bring them in, they totally loved that) that involved math, literacy, and science.

Let the Games Begin...

The 2016 Parker Olympic Games!

This is week four of my "flipped classroom".  This week I decided to take my professors to the Olympics.  So we had the 100m dash, the high hump and the hurdles.  I connect my theme to every single content area.  I used several different resources to dig deep into the concepts I wanted sharpened.  One of the favorites is Matt Miller's Epic Olympic Review!  It is really awesome!  Only thing is.....I totally forgot to take pictures and my Instagrammer of the Day was so into it, we didn't get any footage.  

My professors ESPECIALLY love it!  They get so hype about the theme and they go all in. On to the next week .....

Parker's City of Oz!

Parker's City of Oz!  Now this one really did not connect with the professors at first.  They didn't understand this one at all when they walked in.  So it was pretty interesting to introduce this entire concept.

Parker University!

This week we are learning at Parker University!  I decorated the class to look like a football stadium.  Our focus was Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  So each desk had an HBCU Pennant.  We had guests come in and teach us about their college.  We used News ELA again to dig deeper into texts and passages related to college.  Our school theme is "Growing Durham's Future".  So we were also doing more career research based on what we want to be when we grow up.  This went hand in hand with informational writing unit.

I am a very proud graduate of The North Carolina Central University. I speak so highly of  NCCU that my Professors have grown to LOVE it . We went on a field trip to Hillside High School, and as we passed by the NCCU campus, my professors went CRAZY!  They had never seen NCCU before, so it was overwhelming and exciting for them.  From that moment, I knew I had to arrange a visit to the NCCU campus.   The week of “Parker University,” I surprised my Professors with a field trip to NCCU.  They wore NCCU shirts and became actual professors that morning; they taught a college class. We toured the entire campus, spent some time in the Office of E-learning, and concluded the visit with lunch in the cafeteria. This made a profound impact on the second graders, but it also reminded our university students of our responsibility as adults to engage young learners and encourage them to consider HBCUs.   I extended my campaign of teaching small children about HBCUs to educate everyone through media. I use Facebook, Instagram, and the live feed video option of Periscope and Facebook to teach a wide audience.  Each theme I implement is intended to be a “journey to destination theme.”  I chose them because the kids themselves are on a life journey and I feel it is my duty to equip them for their life journey in the very best way possible.

Parker's Island

This week the Professors and I took a journey to many different places.  I turned our classroom into a beach.  The first day, when the professors walked in, the floor was covered in ocean water and sad(blue and brown paper.  They were initially greeted by a bucket that said:  "Put your shoes in and enjoy learning on PARKER'S ISLAND".  So they all threw their socks and shoes in and found themselves a comfortable spot on the island.  Then they realized that on their desks, there were beach visors and leis!  So they draped the leis on themselves and then threw their visors on.  THEN they got back "in the ocean" and began their learning.  I designed the theme and decorated, THEN I added all the content.  News ELA was my very best friend throughout this week.  I would stretch the theme through centers, literacy, guided reading, math, and science.  It was incredibly fun.  By the end of the week, we had "visited" Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Hawaii!