Susan Rynkiewicz's Page

Hey Susan, Nice to meet a fellow from MI! I don't teach 7th grade....but I just met my mentee adn she teaches 7th grade so I'll be digging in! Have you downloaded the "Companion Document" from the MDE site? This could help you with your planning. It is waht the MEAP folks will be using as a guide to test the kids for science in 8th grade. Go to www.michigan.gov/mde and search companion document. It is set up by grade level so that makes it easy.

This year I am having my students create a project or complete an assignment that has some form of technology attached to it. In fact our science fair projects will NOT be on tri-fold boards! I know - crazy. We are requesting that the 6th graders complete the same pieces but as a Powerpoint presentation. I am really excited about it. I am also including some projects using Excel, Inspiration, MS Word, and MS Paint. We are very fortunate at our school to have Smart Boards in all our middle school core classrooms. We have mobile laptops we can sign out and bring into our classrooms so I am really excited about the possiblities. I am looking for some ideas to incorporate since I've only planned about 5. So if you have any good ideas!!! Chat with you soon!

Hi Susan - So glad you joined the MSP2 network. I wanted to point out that we've got lots of resources for middle school math and science educators - look at the left side of the Main page - Math and Science Resource Guides, Diigo lists, and project blogs where we highlight exemplary online math and science resources and the research that is going on at the polar regions.

You can get to the recordings of all of our webinars (just in case you happen to miss one) by clicking on the Web Archive link.

You can see all our upcoming events by clicking on the Events tab. We've got lots more topics to cover in the next few months - technology, pedagogy, content knowledge, all sorts of fun stuff!

Any ideas or feedback you have would be greatly appreciated! You bring a very important perspective to the network - 2 years experience!

Welcome – Kim

Thanks, Susan, for sharing. Congratulations on being a mid-career teacher!!!

I'm glad you found the Interactive Notebook session helpful. Todd has posted a follow-up on the session, and I'd love to encourage some on-going conversation. Please feel free to comment, share what you found helpful, ask any question you might have, etc.

Wow. What system are they using? It sounds very frustrating.

We had SchoolCenter as a district wide portal (loved it) but are currently switching over to SchoolLoop (which I have mixed feelings about). So I am in the process of redoing all my pages. One of our teachers is making the change kicking and screaming. I'll inquire on the cost of a single teacher service, since he is investigating that with SchoolCenter.

I feel your pain. The hardest part about using a prepackaged program is the limitations of the system. Many of the things I used to do, I find I am no longer able to create. A tool should make your job easier, not limit your abilities and curb your creativity.
I am to the point that I wish they would just give me the server space and let me load up DreamWeaver pages. Then my only limit would be my knowledge level, not software level.

Hi Susan
Welcome to MSP2
Glad to see our Tech Talks interest you. Let us know if there is something in particular you want us to address or other technologies you might want us to add to the list. If you have any questions or comments, you can add those to the discussion boards for the event.
Please introduce yourself, explore the site, join groups and add to discussions. The more we all share, the more we all can learn. There is a wealth of resources here, and now you are a part of that too.
If you need any help or would like to see something added, just let us know.
toodles