Earth Day

Earth Day is today, but should be a day that all of us "celebrate" everyday. Educating students how to reduce their carbon footprints, is not only ethical but necessary. With my younger students, I have introduced them to vocabulary and the basics of recycling. Check out these two helpful, and of course fun links regarding Earth Day.


http://havefunteaching.com/activities/holiday-activities/earth-day-activities/

http://resources.kaboose.com/games/earthday.html

Blogging on Blogging

I have subscribed to two technology blogs and try to keep up with their posts via an e-reader on my iPad. My favorite is Jeff Utecht's Thinking Stick. Utecht currently works as a high school technology and learning consultant at an international school in Bangkok. His ideas, organized website and topics give me food for thought. I also stumbled upon  Dan Meyer's Blog dy/dan after researching Sal Khan's Khan Academy. He has some interesting posts under the headings of "Design," "Guest Blogger," and "New Teacher Lab."

SMART Exchange

SMART Exchange provides teachers with an extensive collection of SMART Board lessons in a variety of subject areas such as geography, math, science and music. The library is categorized by grade level as well as subject matter. Using the search bar makes finding useful lessons a breeze. I have used SMART Exchange many times in my classroom (see Hip Hop Handwriting entry) and enjoy looking at the ready-to-go lessons the site offers.

4 Days Off and then the finish line is near...

The end is finally in sight. This weekend the district afforded us a 4 day reprieve due to the Easter holiday. The final few days off will be the last vacation before the end of the 2011-2012 school year. When we return on Tuesday, we will have 7 weeks to finish up the 4th quarter. Reflecting back, I am happy with the progress the students have made this year, both academically and behaviorally. Some have excelled beyond my expectations and others are still working towards achieving their IEP goals. During the last seven weeks of school, I hope to extend our learning by providing a rigorous learning environment...tough to do this time of year. This blog will help me keep up the technology aspect of learning. If I don't, Mr. Hodge...please give me a nudge!

Hip Hop Handwriting

SMART Exchange publishes a wide variety of SMARTBoard lessons for various grade levels. I particularly enjoy the Hip Hop Handwriting lesson due to the incorporation of learning modalities. The lesson requires visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. The lesson provides students with printed letters of the alphabet as well as catchy rap songs for most of the letters. Students can practice letter recognition, letter sounds and letter formation. I use the SMARTBoard to guide the students through the lesson and also supply the students with individual dry erase boards for practice at their desks. Lastly, I usually choose one student to model correct letter formation on the SMARTBoard.

Khan Academy in my classroom

A few days ago, two students were sent to my room for misbehavior in the regular classroom. As the students looked at me, I thought I could handle the situation in one of two ways.

Option A:  An immediate lecture on respectful behavior.

I paused and stared into their eyes and could see the frustration, bubbling over like a pot with a tightly-fitted lid.

Option B: An impromptu lesson to ease the tension.

Without further hesitation, I pulled up a Khan Academy  video on 3-digit addition with regrouping and was amazed at the attention it beckoned. After the short video, I wrote a series of addition problems on the board and said "Go." Keep in mind, both students have difficulties with completing assignments due to a general lack of motivation, rather than a lack of ability. As I walked between their desks, I smiled with satisfaction as the boys began changing their negative behaviors and learning a new skill at the same time. The three of us spent 20 minutes reviewing their work and providing feedback. At one point, the boys checked eachother's work and explained why the totals were correct/incorrect.

I suppose I lifted their tight-fitted lids and turned down the temperature a bit. After about an hour, I took the boys aside to discuss appropriate classroom behavior. Now, if only Khan Academy had some behavior videos;)

Graphing

The students participated in an introductory lesson on graphing today. Using a pre-made worksheet, the students learned how to complete a bar graph. To further the lesson, I also incorporated the SMARTBoard software to summarize the graphing results. After the students completed the worksheet, the class worked together to color the bars of the graph on the SMARTBoard. I found this graphing website which I would like to use in the near future. I was thinking about filling plastic eggs with M&M's and having students complete a graph of the different colored M&M's. I am sure the candy would make the kids happy and provide a source of motivation:)

Efficiency

Technology is suppose to make life more efficient...in a perfect world. It looks like my family and I are nearing the end of a cellular phone contract. This is a true blessing, as our cell service is inconsistent. Dropped calls, broken up phone conversations, inability to retrieve voicemail messages and no service at all are daily problems in our household. Researching a new company, plan and phone options is dizzying. Can I mention, expensive? Fees for activation, fees for data and fees for texting bundles add up to a used car payment. I am taking a step backwards and looking at the big picture. I need my phone for emergencies and a picture or two from time to time. The iPad has solved the issue of accessing web-based information while I am away from home. What I need is a usable cell phone that will keep me in touch with family, friends and co-workers. All the rest is fluff. I suppose my efficiency is simplicity.

Khan Academy

60 Minutes featured a story on Sal Khan last week regarding Khan Academy. A not-for-profit organization "with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere." By incorporating video tutorials and practice sets in the areas of math, science, humanities and test preparations (SAT, GMAT, etc.), Khan Academy has found its way into public education in the state of California. Khan Academy attempts to provide students additional instruction in academic areas at home or school, while allowing teachers to track and facilitate students' learning in the classroom. Khan Academy also provides opportunities for differentiated instruction by allowing students to move on from mastered lessons and embark upon new lessons. All the while, the Khan Academy provides teachers with data collection software to notate student progress. Teachers love data!

On a personal note, I shared this site with my daughter, a high school junior, who is tackling Trigonometry, Algebra II and Chemistry II this year. She was excited about this resource due to the ability to re-visit instruction and also learn differing ways for problem solving. The fact that this site is FREE and available to my children is amazing!!!!

Dreamweaver...where have you been hiding?

Dreamweaver brought back some memories of last summer as I worked on a website project for the Web Design course. Hours upon hours spent developing that website through XHTML coding consumed a large portion of my free time. When I began the current project for this course with Dreamweaver, the ability to type in text and have it translated immediately into XHTML is a tremendous asset. I am not saying I would have used this as a tool for supplying me with proper coding in the Web Design course, but perhaps as a tool to check my work. I remember spending a week trying to solve an issue, which was remedied eventually by a small mistake (either a bracket or semicolon). Dreamweaver is a lovely tool and one that I may purchase for myself in the future. Are there other web authoring tools, which are more economical? If so, please share:)

Spring Break

It looks like the students and I made it to Spring Break. With some nice weather in the Missouri forecast, the vacation time will be a lovely break from the typical work week. This time off gives me time to work on projects for my graduate classes (Dreamweaver project, Capstone, Foliotek project and the comprehensive exam). While I have numerous projects going at once, I have been conscientious about pacing myself and not getting behind. With half of a semester left, I need to remember to keep my eyes on the prize...graduation! Don't get me wrong, this week will not just be all work and no play. Family time and getting out to do things I love are just as important:)

Class Dojo

I was at a School-Wide Positive Behavior Support conference today. Among the many things the presenters shared with us, Class Dojo, was a particular highlight. This online behavior tracking tool is a eco-friendly way of tracking student behavior. Instead of using sticker charts or paper-based tools, this online version offers teachers a resource for tracking behavior, which can be portable especially with the use of mobile devices (iPads, Smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc.). The program allows teachers to use the default settings (seen here) or modify the settings to the teacher's preferences.

The behaviors are entered by the teacher by clicking on the student's name and entering the appropriate behavior.

As you can see above, Bradley Pitt, Hugh Jackman and Natalie Portman each have earned a postive behavior note. Information can be reset or changed as needed. Reports can be generated by class or by individual student. 

I think this tool is a wonderful way to stay organized and to share information with parents, other cooperating teachers, administrators and the students themselves. Incentive programs can be built around this system, allowing students to be rewarded for positive behavior. I love the online format, the report generating capabilities and the portability of the program through the use of mobile devices.

One week left in 3rd Quarter

This past week, I spent a large amount of time ensuring I had completed quarterly assessments and graded papers. With the end of the quarter on Friday, the classroom has been a busy place. The students impressed me with how much they have learned, thus far. I am looking forward to continuing the momentum and finishing the year strongly.

Spring Break is less than a week away, therefore I plan on using some St. Patrick's Day activities in the classroom this week. I think the students will enjoy this. Here are a few links:

http://mediashare.discoveryeducation.com/mediashare/index.cfm?event=pushFile&guidAssetMediaFileId=86ba3794-237d-0719-0c89-9614f4795b6a

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/st.patricksday/games.htm

Changes...

As you can already see, I took some time to change some the appearance of my blog. I was getting bored with the template and settings. I decided upon this green/blue outdoor background, as I am hoping for an early spring. Perhaps it is already here???? I changed the font to "Susan Francisco." I have never used or seen this font before, but I like the style, so here it is. What do you think?

Setting Goals

As referenced in my last blog entry, I began the lesson "Talk is Cheap" with my students. My apprehension was alleviated today when I saw students develop and write appropriate learning goals for themselves. We spent Tuesday watching the movie "The Tortoise and the Hare" from the Discovery Streaming videos. After the students had a firm grip on the main parts of the movie, we spent Wednesday digging deeper into the tortoise's and hare's goals. The students soon realized that, though the tortoise and hare had the same goal, the plans to meet the goal were vastly different. Today, the students spent time differentiating between positive steps or negative steps to goal setting. This was documented on the lesson's accompanying worksheet. At the end of the lesson, each student composed a learning goal and identified one strategy to help them achieve that goal. For instance, one student said, "I will use the rule keep my hands, feet and other objects to yourself." He identified a strategy for achieving that goal as "I will keep my hands to myself during lunch." It was gratifying to see students think about areas of weakness and to apply specific strategies for improvement. I'm so proud of them and I am delighted to hang their work in the hallways for everyone to see.

February is Almost Over

I cannot believe next week is the last full week of February! Granted we had some days off due to snow and President's Day, there are only 7 days of school left in the month. Assessments, grades, checking papers and lesson planning are at the top of my agenda. Next week, I plan to facilitate the "Talk is Cheap" Lessons. One of the steps in Assessment for Learning include identifying and setting goals. I feel this lesson will clearly explain the goal setting process. To incorporate technology, I plan on using either a Discovery Education or Youtube video to show the story of "The Tortoise and the Hare."

First day of the week and tomorrow is the last...

What a strange week. After two snow days, school reconvened today. With the option to celebrate Valentine's Day today or tomorrow, some students ended the day in a festive and sugary way! I took the opportunity to squeeze as much academics in today, as tomorrow is the last day of the week for students. A teacher in-service on Friday and President's Day on Monday leaves us with little time to squeeze in the important stuff. However, I did have time to incorporate a new lesson nouns and verbs. Students supplied a short list of nouns and verbs, which I entered into the Notebook software for the SMARTBoard. The students composed sentences using the nouns and verbs (which are movable on the SMARTBoard) while supplying other words with the SMARTBOARD markers. It was a short lesson, which incorporated spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization and handwriting.

Tomorrow, we will party:)

Snow day?

The winter, if you would like to call it so, has been unbelievably mild. With an impending snowstorm on its way, many students (and teachers) have begun thinking sbout staying home from school. In my mind, lessons are being shifted around, just in case. With Valentine's Day parties and a teacher in-service this week, instructional time is already minimized. No worries though, taking tome to adjust is an inevitable part of teaching. I am planning to incorporate some educational and fun online activities for the kids in celebration of Valentine's Day:

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/valentines/games/match_up/valentinematch.htm

http://www.billybear4kids.com/games/online/search/valentines.html

http://pbskids.org/vday/

Academics will fall into place, as they always do.  The kids, I'm sure, will not mind a break from the usual:)

Behold the Power of the iPad

Student misbehavior has been on the rise in the last two weeks. I have been seeking alternatives for rewarding positive behavior. A co-teacher has a few iPads for students in her classroom and has been kind enough to share. Students who achieve daily behavior goals and complete classroom work are given a short period of time at the end of the day to use the iPad. The iPads are loaded with educational applications, which stimulate thinking and keep the students engaged. Many of my students enjoy the interactive nature and touch screen. The application ABC Tracer teaches students the alphabet song, letter/number identification, proper handwriting techniques, phonemic awareness, alphabetical order and sight words. ABC Tracer offers immediate feedback regarding handwriting strokes. Correct strokes are reinforced with a green line and bell-like sound while incorrect strokes are negatively reinforced with a red line and a squeeking noise. The quiz section prompts students to find the picture which begins with a specific letter. Correct answers are awarded with applause and an incorrect answer elicits an "uh oh."

I love the iPad, as it helps support educational goals and affords me time to check my e-mail, plan lessons and catch my breath. Behold the power of the iPad!

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to post pictures of the graphing project my students completed last week. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, our classroom assistant was talented and willing to construct a cardboard stadium replica for the graph. The students took the time to color the team helmet of their choice and placed it on the field. After all of the students placed their votes on the field, they each took part in answering the questions listed in the rubric. It was definitely a fun and unique way to incorporate current events into our classroom.