Greetings from a snowy Saturday in Wisconsin! (I know you haven't heard that in awhile....) Every day, we creep closer and closer to spring, or at least that's what the calendar is telling me.
Today, I am linking up with Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for some motivation. Who couldn't use a little motivation on this second Saturday in February???
This past Wednesday was Digital Learning Day here in the US. Our tech director encouraged us to find a way to incorporate technology into our learning for this day. (I know...you are thinking, "Really, just one day??")
I thought it would be a great day to meet up with our Canadian pen pals from Mrs. Barton's class via Skype. (You know her as Lisa from Grade 4 Buzz.)
Our two fourth grade classes have been exchanging pen pal letters since the beginning of the year. It was incredible that we not only had the same number of students in our classes -- but the same number of boys and girls as each other! This made matching up kids easy.
We logged in and Skyped for about 30 minutes. Each student had a chance to "meet" their pen pal then we asked questions of each other. My students were so excited -- it was the highlight of their day! Now, when they write to each other, they will have a face to put with a name. How exciting!
(OK, dumb question....Does anybody know if I can just plug my webcam into my SMART board so my kiddos don't have to look in two different places? The webcam was on my desk with my laptop, but it was easier to see on the SMART board which was across the room. Any tips are appreciated! :)
What ways do you use Skype in your classroom?
I hope to see you at Head Over Heels for Teaching for some more motivation! I'll see you back here tomorrow for my weekly linky party, A Peek at My Week. Hope you will link up! ;))
I have read from several other bloggers that they go back to work tomorrow. It's hard to believe that the summer has flown so quickly. I don't go back until August 27th (the kids start the day after Labor Day) but we don't get out until June 11th next year so it all balances out in the end.
My National Writing Project experience at UW-Milwaukee is over. It was a GREAT time and I learned SO much. I am looking forward to getting back into my classroom, school, and district to share some of the great things that I have learned. (If you want to read about any of them, you can search by the "Labels" section to the right.)
So now that I can focus on something other than that, I am excited to link up with two great bloggers today for their linky parties.
First, the fabulous Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching. I absolutely LOVE Joanne...she is absolutely hilarious and always has such great ideas on her blog. Not to mention, she shares my love for Post-Its. I hope you will check it out!
We all know how important it is to have brain breaks in the classroom. Sometimes, kids just need to get a little oxygen to their brains to keep that thinking moving. That's where the Twelve Days of Fitness comes in!
This active song, sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a great way to get kids moving in a very short amount of time and the students LOVE it!
You start off by singing, "On the first day of fitness, my teacher gave to me, one stork stand" and the students stand on one leg like a stork. Then "On the second day of fitness, my teacher gave to me, two scissor kicks and a stoooorrrrrk stand" and act out both movements. The song continues until all of the 12 days are finished....or you can roll dice to see how many days you will sing that time if you don't have time for all 12 days.
I wish I could take credit for this great idea, but it belongs to the California Department of Public Health and their Power Up for Learning campaign. They have so many great ideas in this PDF about how to get students moving! I hope you will check it out!
I have to admit, I am an overachiever when it comes to setting goals so I am going to try to limit myself to goals that I feel are really important to me this year (and not just "nice to try for").
1. Incorporate the great ideas that I learned from the UWM-WP this summer. So many great ways to get kids writing! Specifically, I will focus on collaboration in writing and e-portfolios.
2. Share those great ideas with my colleagues to help them become better teachers of writing. I am heading up my district's writing committee so this will be a great opportunity to share!
3. Incorporate my technology into my classroom and instruction.
I think three is a good number, don't you? I am going to focus really hard on these three things to make them happen!
For those of you returning to work tomorrow, I wish you well! May this be your best year ever!
See you tomorrow for Monday Made-It with 4th Grade Frolics!
It's hard to believe that my second week with the UW-Milwaukee Writing Project is over. One more week left... :(
This has been such an AMAZING experience! I have learned so much about new ways to teach writing. As an added bonus, I have also discovered how much I love to write! We do tons of writing at UWM-WP, because as our fabulous leader, Karen, reminds us, "Teachers who write make the best teachers of writing!"
I hope you will look into getting involved with a Writing Project at a site near you! You won't regret it!!
I want to share a neat trick I learned about at UWM-WP that we refer to as the "Sticky Wall." Our co-leader, Jenny, introduced us to this fun idea. (Her favorite color is orange, I just wanted to add .... : )
To make a sticky wall, take a piece of nylon from the fabric store (a vinyl tablecloth might work as well) and spray it with adhesive spray which you can purchase at a craft store like Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
And voila! An instant place for students to place papers, notes, wonderings, questions, compliments and much more.
Why use a Sticky Wall instead of Post-Its? I don't know about you, but Post-Its always end up fluttering to the floor in my classroom. They just don't stick long enough for me, especially when hanging on a wall.
Now on to the presentation...
On Friday, Carrie presented her inquiry project on using e-portfolios for student writing. She began with this cute (and totally hilarious!) commercial video: (It's only 40 seconds long. Give it a look!)
So....are you an "Emma?"
I am! Or at least, I partly am....
I'll admit, there are some things I still prefer to hold in my hand on a piece of paper. There are other things I'm OK with being electronic. For instance, I now prefer to read my books on my iPad (although I thought I NEVER would). I also keep our family calendar electronically. However, I also have file folders and file folders full of paper at school.....some of which I will never look at again. How sad...
Storing student writing electronically is an awesome idea! There are so many benefits to using e-portfolios with students:
It increases student motivation and engagement-- Students take ownership of their portfolio and decide what work goes in it.
The link between home and school is strengthened as parents can access their child's portfolio to stay involved.
They provide a forum for student goal-setting, self-assessment, and reflection. E-portfolios can be used to show how students are meeting the standards and show growth. They make progress more visible and are a great formative assessment tool.
They develop 21st Century skills and support lifelong learning.
My favorite reason.....E-portfolios support collaborative learning and an AUTHENTICaudience as students share their writing with others (and the world!) and provide feedback through commenting on other writing.
There are a few sites that Carrie shared that would be helpful in getting started and for learning more about e-portfolios.
I have used Kidblog in the past, but not to the extent of the possibilities that I learned about on Friday.
If you want to learn more about using e-portfolios in your classroom, Carrie shared an awesome wiki put together by Kathy Cassidy with TONS of information about getting started and ideas for using e-portfolios:
Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week!
Today in the UW-M Writing Project, we had a very fun day learning about and creating digital storytelling. I learned that it was no where near as difficult as I thought it would be! We used Windows Movie Maker, but you could also use iMovie or another program if you have it. Many of you probably already have Movie Maker on your computer (if it's relatively newer) or you can search the internet and download it.
Anyways, if you have photos saved as .jpg, you can create your own digital story! (Really, you can!!) You can even download free music to use in the background from various websites, including Freeplay Music. Simply upload your photos, arrange them in the order you want them to go in, and press play! You can even add text, music, transitions, special effects, etc. if you want to get fancy!
Here is my video that I made of my family if you are interested:
How can digital storytelling be used in your classrooms?
Students prepare a biography project of someone's life (or their own life)
Preview a book for a read aloud
Book reviews from independent reading
Learning a new concept in science or social studies
Performance assessment in any content area
Introduce yourself to your class
Multicultural fair
The possibilities are endless! Using digital storytelling is also a great way to meet the Common Core Standards for Speaking and Listening!
Short post tonight....I need to get working on my Inquiry Project that I am presenting on FRIDAY...yes, 2 days away! It has to be 75 minutes long so I need to get to it!
Just a quick post today to share a very fun activity we did today in class involving Wordle and our end-of-year reflections.
I always have my students write a year-end ABC Memory Book about things they learned each year. This year, I found a fantastic ABC book from Fifthin the Middle that was so cute, I just had to use it! If you are looking to complete a project like this, check it out!
As a part of this activity, I had my students complete a Wordle. We went into the computer lab, each of us logged onto Wordle, then typed our names three times into a new project so our name would appear the largest word on the page. We then rotated around the lab and typed one word or phrase into each student's project.
When thinking of words to include, I asked students to consider:
What do you think each student is good at?
What word could describe each student?
Is there something each student is known for?
I was truly impressed with some of the thoughtful words my students came up with!
By the time we were finished, we had our name (typed three times) and a list of 18 adjectives that could be used to describe us. Once we got back to our own Wordle, we could mess around with the fonts and colors until we found one we liked. Here's a sample:
I especially like mine! :) Although I'm not sure what "The Big Boss" means....
I then collected the Wordles and we will glue them onto our ABC Memory books when we are finished with them. I will then let my students autograph each other's memory books on the back cover, kind of like you do in a yearbook. I think this will be a nice memory of their 4th grade year!
So what kinds of projects do you do to end the year? Leave a comment and let me know!
Teachers, by nature, spend a lot of time reflecting. We teach a lesson, we think of how we can do it differently next time. (Many times this even happens WHILE we are teaching!)
With this year drawing to a close, I am linking up with Finding Joy in 6th for her What Will You Do Differently? linky party. Love it! There are LOTS more things I want to try for next year, but these are three things I am committing to make happen!
We do A LOT of reading in my classroom. Whether it's a read aloud or silent reading, I have not been so great at having my kids respond to their writing in a consistent way. I have tried lots of different things (journals, Kidblog, letters), but haven't found the exact thing that clicks with me. I will say that we have had some fantastic discussions about our reading, but I know that it is SO important for kids to write to process their thinking.
I'll admit it....tech is just not my thing. However, I recognize that it is HUGELY engaging for my kiddos so this summer I will seek out new methods of incorporating tech in my instruction. I already found a great blog to help, Free Technology for Teachers. Check it out!
PBL is something that I was introduced to this year and I am absolutely in LOVE with it! There are a few bloggers out there who already use PBL on a regular basis in their classroom and achieve AMAZING results. With the new testing emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking, I think PBL is a great way to prepare students not only for testing, but for life! If you are interested in learning more, check out the BIE website.
So what have you been reflecting about for next year? Head on over to Joy in 6th and link up!
Unlike last week, this week is REALLY flying by for me! (Wahoo!!!) Here it is, Wednesday already. So I'm linking up with Ideas by Jivey for Workshop Wednesday. This is such a great linky party -- I hope you will check it out! (And yes, I am a little jealous that today is her last day of school! :)
This week's topic: How do my students respond to their reading?
I have tried lots of things to have my students respond to their reading. I occasionally have them use Post-its, which is a great way to track their thinking. However, this year I have tried using www.Kidblog.org and having them blog about their reading. (For some reason, involving tech is like the energy drink for student engagement in my room! :)
This worked especially well with our read alouds and I loved that the kids could access it from home to complete their responses! I would simply go on the blog, post a question, and students could respond.
They could also respond to each other's responses and begin an online book discussion. So fun!
Kidblog is FREE and easy to get started. All posts need to be approved by the teacher before they will post to the internet so it is easy to monitor.
So how to your students respond to their writing? I'm looking for some new great ideas....Won't you share yours in a comment below? Head on over to Ideas by Jivey to get some more inspiration!
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