Ms. Petropoulos' Biography

Ms. Petropoulos is excited to be wearing several teaching hats at Decatur: 4th-grade Homeroom, 3rd-grade Mathematics, and Makerspace. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and holds her BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. She earned her MEd in Elementary and Middle-School Education from DePaul University in Chicago. Ms. Petropoulos is endorsed to teach middle-school English Language Arts, French, Social Science, and Science.

This is Ms. Petropoulos' eighth year of teaching with Chicago Public Schools and her very first year at Decatur. Prior to Decatur, Ms. Petropoulos taught Exploratory Science (STEM Lab) for four years to Pre-K through 8th-grade students at Saucedo Elementary in Little Village. Before that, way back in the ‘90s, she taught Library Media to Pre-K through 8th-grade students and then First Grade. After that, she worked full-time for eighteen years creating K–12 curricula for the Great Books Foundation’s Junior Great Books program, Encyclopædia Britannica, and National Geographic Learning.

Being an editor allowed Ms. Petropoulos to work flexibly at home so she could cook healthy, delicious meals for her family and spend time with her two sons as they grew. When her sons reached middle-school and were more independent, Ms. Petropoulos realized she missed exploring this fascinating world with children and missed providing opportunities to help children find their passion in life! So, she returned to teaching.

In her spare time, Ms. Petropoulos loves reading, writing poetry, gardening, birdwatching, and thrift shopping. She also enjoys playing the violin, bass guitar, and electric keyboard—while her pet birds sing along.

Makerspace Activity Rubric

Makerspace Project Rubric

3rd-grade Math Rubric

3 = Mastery

2 = Emerging Mastery

1 = Below Mastery

0 = Insufficient Response

Classroom Behavior Expectations

* Respect everybody

* Take care of our stuff

* Get into the work

* Ask for help and help others

* Have fun

* Put our stuff back

Makerspace Science & Engineering Practices

* Ask questions and define problems

* Develop and use models

* Analyze and interpret data

* Use math and computational thinking

* Explain and design solutions

* Argue from evidence

* Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information

Posts

Week 2 Grade 3 Math/Grades K–8

3rd-grade mathematics: Students made connections to math and their lives, math and literature, and the uses we have for large numbers. They are in the midst of practicing how to round large numbers to different specified place values.

Grades K–1: In Makerspace, we study patterns in nature because these patterns can be useful solutions when we mimic them. This week we studied the ant life cycle and anatomy. We also had time to free build with LEGOs.

Grades 2–6: What do engineers know how to do? Persist! Regulating our emotions when we try to solve difficult problems is the skill we practiced this week. Our failures teach us how to solve problems worth solving. Students succeeded in reiterating and not giving up. Videos show some results after many fails.

Grades 7–8

This week students followed procedures necessary to complete mini science experiments with microscopes and magnets. They are learning about expectations and responsibilities related to becoming my lab assistants in our Makerspace. Some students were able to complete their experiments and independently set up technology in our classroom. We will be focusing on computer science and coding next week.