tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37798669251480697972024-02-20T20:04:43.171-05:00Teaching in the Tech FrontierTales of an elementary teacher's journey with her students.Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-77102520985532892562010-08-10T15:01:00.000-04:002010-08-10T15:01:07.963-04:00August 10 for 10: Picture Book "Must Haves"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><i>This post is part of the August 10 for 10: Picture Book "Must Haves" being hosted by Mandy of <a href="http://enjoy-embracelearning.blogspot.com/2010/07/10-for-10-picture-books.html">Enjoy and Embrace Learning</a> and Cathy of <a href="http://reflectandrefine.blogspot.com/">Reflect & Refine: Building a Learning Community</a>. </i></span><br />
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</i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">My name is Mary and I am a picture book addict. I am not kidding about this. When I recently had to bring my own children's book collection home for a year and store it in our basement I was teased that I had enough books to open my own children's book store or library. So when I had to narrow down all the wonderful children's books out there in the world down to 10 I had a little trouble. I tried very hard to represent lots of different styles of writing and purposes for using these texts in my first grade classroom. Here we go.....and in no particular order.....</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJTlGUi2IuP4wqzJma0CwXxf16gH_q9t65arzpio70AnvMxhYV-hZmMsCGFlYxnYYqoaNhmhyviXZnEk4LOsIymTt0YPSJGu08_83_wwioJ9n2peKZ2VFn9MDJsO0mJQO6H7d6UrttCg/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJTlGUi2IuP4wqzJma0CwXxf16gH_q9t65arzpio70AnvMxhYV-hZmMsCGFlYxnYYqoaNhmhyviXZnEk4LOsIymTt0YPSJGu08_83_wwioJ9n2peKZ2VFn9MDJsO0mJQO6H7d6UrttCg/s320/Picture+3.png" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.harcourtbooks.com/bookcatalogs/bookpages/9780152046262.asp">The Great Fuzz Frenzy</a></b> by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">Helping young readers be able to develop the ability to create mental images while reading is a wonderful way to assist them in comprehending what they are reading. I use this book when helping students learn this strategy. I cover the outside of this book before reading it so they can't see the big tennis ball in the picture on the cover. While listening to the story students are asked to draw what they think is happening in the story. Not once in the text is it revealed to the students that the big fuzz is a tennis ball. In the story the tennis ball is thrown down into the prairie dogs' burrow and "fuzzy foolishness" ensues. It is always interesting to see what the students draw to show what they believe the fuzz to be. Later in the day I reread the story and show the students the pictures and they are amazed to find out the fuzz was a tennis ball. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kxdl2uI5UrO3nL7KHb5af1qN-oldiyK62s9Nx3VDRULkZq8fUKq42L-l1gXmVnky44pk88ObbmVWLkG-sC-RHLsPmnZFHhmeaHvWau_-w5WVgHVQl47_vq3pzCKcHXGykO1dLoOBwzE/s1600/Picture+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kxdl2uI5UrO3nL7KHb5af1qN-oldiyK62s9Nx3VDRULkZq8fUKq42L-l1gXmVnky44pk88ObbmVWLkG-sC-RHLsPmnZFHhmeaHvWau_-w5WVgHVQl47_vq3pzCKcHXGykO1dLoOBwzE/s320/Picture+4.png" /></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/viewWorkDetail.do?workId=1163329">The Deep Blue Sea</a> </b>Story by Audrey Wood Illustrations by Bruce Wood</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">The colorful illustrations with this story pop off the page with vibrant colors and really support the text on the page. Audrey and her son, Bruce, have done a superb job of creating a cumulative text story that builds starting with the deep<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> blue </span>sea. Young students love that the color words appear in the color they are. They also love that the text builds upon itself and it helps them with their stamina of reading longer passages with familiar words. Also, the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">purple</span> parrot drawing is a riot to look at! </span><br />
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</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvb6H1V3SlmsnMm05z9K57_sZf40yZbKSPdPX5NEC7zySa5_dSZvnmczsWYfeY4XIthHh9Z-dirMwMwcKNJo9wRNikGLQtwBBshJV70ZjEmI8l_xXgi-gVltPBpNSCH-xQ3dgiShuPjc/s1600/Picture+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUvb6H1V3SlmsnMm05z9K57_sZf40yZbKSPdPX5NEC7zySa5_dSZvnmczsWYfeY4XIthHh9Z-dirMwMwcKNJo9wRNikGLQtwBBshJV70ZjEmI8l_xXgi-gVltPBpNSCH-xQ3dgiShuPjc/s320/Picture+5.png" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.sharoncreech.com/picture/09.asp">A Fine, Fine School</a></b> by Sharon Creech</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">I read this book aloud sometime during the first week of the school to help start the conversation of what students define as a "fine, fine school". In the story the principal becomes overzealous in what he expects of his students and staff because of his pride in the school. School on weekends, holidays and all summer long is what he would like. The main character Tillie takes it upon herself to remind him there is more to learn in life than just school, for example how to climb trees. I love this book because it reminds me that my students are children and need to learn more than just academics. They need to learn how to solve puzzles, how to create things with their imagination and how to live in the world with one another. </span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.tomie.com/books/spotlight_on.html">Strega Nona</a></b> by Tomie dePaola</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">Strega Nona has been a favorite picture book of mine since I was a little girl. As a reader I find it to be a fascinating tale full of magic and mischief. My students love to listen to the tale as I stumble through the few italian words and use different voices for the characters of Strega Nona and Big Anthony. They love to join in the short, repetitive song that gets the pot to boil pasta and the one to stop the pasta. They are astonished when Big Anthony gets the magic pot to boil pasta but can't get it to stop and it fills the town until Strega Nona comes to the rescue. Secretly the reason I love it so much - the never ending pasta pot. I am a lover of spaghetti and was always jealous of Strega's ability to make pasta in such a cool way. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQQhsRaeNSBfXVQVh83TsXuVQ6N8DSpBYKxSYy09LcdXG7RO_QZQOorLF4V1olqQupHwouODYQSoCUU6r84VWHwNON0ixHdGajjMmA7SrTGbGlY_yBsLeNkAspeWdWIaTzGe4tUPsXhE/s1600/Picture+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQQhsRaeNSBfXVQVh83TsXuVQ6N8DSpBYKxSYy09LcdXG7RO_QZQOorLF4V1olqQupHwouODYQSoCUU6r84VWHwNON0ixHdGajjMmA7SrTGbGlY_yBsLeNkAspeWdWIaTzGe4tUPsXhE/s320/Picture+6.png" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Too-Loud-Lily/Sofie-Laguna/e/9780439579131">Too Loud Lily</a></b> by Sofie Laguna</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">Lily is a hippo with a loud mouth problem she can't help. Everyone around her keeps reminding her that she is too loud. One day a new teacher comes to town, Miss Loopiola, who recognizes Lily's unique gift. My students love this story for how over the top Lily is as a character. I love it because it reminds me (and the students) that each person in this world has a unique quality to offer. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPZnIxkJGrEDrN39UYH08TXCVnY5iu5I7dfC_xfm_rLch8tguu0E4PIanK2lhKntLHSHhyphenhyphenuqsEaP2EJILA3-6Hr3jHYu0_PCIr6rU5p-m-pAGUUSxirCujI2hhBrHnYt0YIlgnn9HFBw/s1600/Picture+8.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPZnIxkJGrEDrN39UYH08TXCVnY5iu5I7dfC_xfm_rLch8tguu0E4PIanK2lhKntLHSHhyphenhyphenuqsEaP2EJILA3-6Hr3jHYu0_PCIr6rU5p-m-pAGUUSxirCujI2hhBrHnYt0YIlgnn9HFBw/s320/Picture+8.png" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.melindalongbooks.com/pirate.html">How I Became A Pirate</a></b> by Melinda Long</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">September 19th is National Talk Like a Pirate Day and for some silly reason I love it! My students make pirate hats when they get to school and we wear them all day and try to write and talk like pirates. To get us in the mood I read aloud this tale of a small boy who gets roped into helping some pirates bury their treasure. At first he loves the pirate life, but then he slowly realizes what he misses at home and leads the pirates to his backyard to bury their treasure. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz8gBRXB83izieYq8MIqPRoSrn2H_t_DyK2eXRDmox6sueVfrboi1U3wgmQvhZA7ilbafQ-1QGiZGsDYLl9ZwvkYlWikLUOqLz3MonW32afmj6wqnzebW0I8Nj5odMvlRwfQMEZlExRXs/s1600/Picture+9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz8gBRXB83izieYq8MIqPRoSrn2H_t_DyK2eXRDmox6sueVfrboi1U3wgmQvhZA7ilbafQ-1QGiZGsDYLl9ZwvkYlWikLUOqLz3MonW32afmj6wqnzebW0I8Nj5odMvlRwfQMEZlExRXs/s320/Picture+9.png" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/welcome_comfort/commain.html">Welcome Comfort</a> </b>by Patricia Polacco</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"> <i>The link will take you to the author's site where you can watch and listen to her read the first part of the story. </i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">Any book by Patricia Polacco could have made it on this list but I had to choose only one so I picked my favorite of all...Welcome Comfort. This is a story of a little boy, Welcome Comfort, who didn't have much to believe in or look forward to and the friendship he develops with the school custodian, Quintin Hamp. Through the years their friendship deepens and Welcome follows in Quintin's footsteps. This story is full of all the wonder and magic that comes with the holiday season and of course the kids eat it up. You have to read it to find out the special surprise! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tacky-Penguin-Helen-Lester/dp/0395562333">Tacky the Penguin</a> </b>by Helen Lester</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">When it comes to hysterical characters that can get kids giggling Tacky the Penguin is one of the best out there! Tacky seems to always be trying his best but his is just odd enough that he is a little off of what he should be doing. Nevertheless, Tacky always comes through and saves the day for the other penguins with his comic relief. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYC9vvRvZrXiAmYgHKexVD2a-oRTzl6Rf6RqzCz84_FhJf6uHM4t_1Qm0Nh4pt1BSSV5TAm4KRkWXDvBf-38YJoXK-q2e9lZLPbP7KpN3djotFf3fiIOohZ8AtO3uFLSDNgXNwuQ-XMvo/s1600/Picture+15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYC9vvRvZrXiAmYgHKexVD2a-oRTzl6Rf6RqzCz84_FhJf6uHM4t_1Qm0Nh4pt1BSSV5TAm4KRkWXDvBf-38YJoXK-q2e9lZLPbP7KpN3djotFf3fiIOohZ8AtO3uFLSDNgXNwuQ-XMvo/s320/Picture+15.png" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b>If You Give A Mouse A Cookie </b>by Laura Numeroff</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">Students seem to really enjoy the collections of books by Laura Numeroff that follow a writing theme of giving an animal a treat which leads them down a path of requesting various items and then circles back to the original item. These are great mentor texts for students use when writing. A few years ago a class of mine decided to write a class version where each child was responsible for contributing a page. The result was a hilarious book of "If You Take Miss Suchy To Hawaii". I was the lead character and wish the story was based on fact! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92LhA3UC5uUHMYAypCaKCyktZNjTNZEoWxlZgy7JQ_hMJFrO7mewWX-wiVYxhO59Pf6Fh7Q0XoOsXBa4MhM8qInU8CqNai9dLPlmGEPbOhJxayYOOlH8PndqohPs-0V8y63czYuQe8Ok/s1600/Picture+16.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92LhA3UC5uUHMYAypCaKCyktZNjTNZEoWxlZgy7JQ_hMJFrO7mewWX-wiVYxhO59Pf6Fh7Q0XoOsXBa4MhM8qInU8CqNai9dLPlmGEPbOhJxayYOOlH8PndqohPs-0V8y63czYuQe8Ok/s200/Picture+16.png" width="200" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><b><a href="http://www.memfox.com/mem-reads-aloud">Where Is the Green Sheep?</a> </b>by Mem Fox</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';"><i> The link will take you to the author's website and you can hear her read this story aloud. Highly recommend it! </i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">The wonderful Mem Fox put together a fabulous tale for young readers to be able to read with strong picture support, repetitive text and lots of sight words. The students love to jump in on the repetitive text of "But where is the green sheep?". At the end of course you find the green sheep, but when reading this text aloud it demands you to be dramatic in changing the volume of your voice for the grand finale.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">There you have it everyone! My 10 picture books I couldn't live without on August 10th. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">Feel free to post in the comment section a few of you "can't live without" picture books so then I have an excuse to go book shopping! </span></div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-72250190283524922582010-07-12T10:05:00.000-04:002010-07-12T10:05:41.462-04:00Classroom Space DesignLast year I had a wonderful opportunity to depart from classroom teaching and become a Technology Support Teacher for my district. The job was to assist teachers in technology professional development, assist teachers in infusing technology into the classroom, come into classrooms and lead or co-teach instruction using technology and to do some minor "troubleshooting". I had a great year, but I missed the daily interaction with the kids tremendously so I am heading back into the classroom!<br />
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So this summer I have spent a great deal of time pondering the set up of my classroom. I have actually gone into my new classroom and just sat on a chair in the middle of the room thinking. Admittedly, I have also snuck into other teacher's classrooms whom I admire for some inspiration. I am really struggling with what I want the layout of the space to be.<br />
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There are certain spaces I want in my classroom. For example, I have 4 student computers so there will be a space for those to be grouped together. I will have a SmartBoard next year so a space will need to be carved out for interaction with it. The rocking chair my mother rocked me in as a baby will need a space to. <br />
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I want my classroom to flow seamlessly and to have a logical, practical layout. I want it to be "user friendly" with student items down low so they can reach them (they are only in first grade so they are small!). I want my students to feel as if they have space and are not crowded on top of each other. <br />
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There is a book I have been wanting to read titled <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.thethirdteacher.com/">The Third Teacher</a></span> which addresses the link between school environment and student learning. I do feel strongly that there is a correlation between the two. A few teachers have read this and have talked to me about how it is impacting the way they are designing the layout of their classroom for the upcoming school year. <br />
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How is your classroom designed? Are there certain spaces you have in your classroom that you would recommend?Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-31658074049527946742010-06-11T11:25:00.000-04:002010-06-11T11:25:41.322-04:00Teaching and Learning at Tech CampSchools out for Summer! Well, for most people in our district it was on Tuesday, but for about 70 teachers they were just embarking on an amazing 2 day journey through Tech Camp.<br />
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Our district offered for the 1st time a 2 day free Tech Camp to teachers in the district that were interested in learning more about how to infuse technology into their classrooms. Day One was centered around teachers being able to attend 4 different sessions of their choice. We are a Mac district and sessions ranged from learning software (like Keynote and iMovie) to web-based options (like Moodle and Wikis/Blogs). During the sessions teachers were shown lots of examples of how to use technology with their students and then quick tutorials in how to get started. Day Two was an opportunity for teachers to collaborate with one another and start using the tools they learned the day before with "live" support right there from the previous day's instructors if they needed it. <br />
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It was a simply amazing experience to be a part of it as an instructor, and as a learner! To see teachers get inspired and to hear them start thinking of the endless possibilities for integrating technology into their students' learning was wonderful. Teachers were already starting to develop lessons and projects for the students next year using what they had learned during the Tech Camp. You could tell that the participants were embracing the idea of using technology during the learning process and not just as an end of unit project. You could also tell that the participants were becoming more comfortable with using a variety of technology options and were branching out beyond their comfort level. <br />
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Teachers were also shown a district wiki that was created titled "Technopedia". This wiki consists of ideas for integrating technology into the classroom and tutorials for teachers to use to learn technology tools. It's like an online "Tech Camp" that's available when they are available to learn more! All staff members have the ability to view the wiki content and add to the content to help populate this wiki with more resources. I think this is going to be a wonderful, powerful resource for our staff as we continue to learn and grow in educational technology! Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-45650515436392220162010-04-11T10:47:00.000-04:002010-04-11T10:47:33.164-04:00Letting Students ShineTomorrow is the first gathering of our new stop motion video club which has now been named Scotty Dog Productions. I must say I am full of excitement and nerves as I have never actually made one myself but have seen plenty of examples, read blogs about and discussed them with others. Word surfaced at school of a 5th grader who has developed a passion for stop motion videos and it was suggested to approach him as a support person for this journey. Tony (over at <a href="http://www.learnmesumthin.blogspot.com/">Learn Me Sumthin'</a>) and I agreed we would approach him with the idea of being a mentor to kids in the group. <br />
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The art teacher had shown me one of the movies this student had created and I was very impressed by it. He had created a scene that could have taken place during an Indiana Jones movies. He used a toy car, an Indiana Jones figure and then a "bad guy" figure. The gist of the scene is that the "bad guy" is in the car and Indiana Jones throws him out and takes over the car. <br />
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I called this student's mother to run the idea by her and I could tell in her voice that the idea of her child taking on a mentoring role would mean a lot to this student. He hasn't had much of a chance to come forward as a leader and this would be a wonderful opportunity to highlight one of his strengths. When I pulled him out of class and asked him if he would be willing to share his videos with the group and help us guide them through the process of creating videos of their own you could actually see the excitement start radiating from him. I feel like we have given this student a chance to shine in a leadership role that might not have occurred without this group being formed. <br />
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Here's to hoping tomorrow's first gathering of Scotty Dog Productions goes well!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-65966474991718002472010-04-06T19:49:00.001-04:002010-04-06T19:51:02.896-04:00If You Give A Teacher TechnologyHave you ever had the chance to read books written by <a href="http://www.lauranumeroff.com/">Laura Numerof</a>f? One of her bestsellers is<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_You_Give_a_Mouse_a_Cookie"> If You Give A Mouse A Cookie</a> and it follows a wonderful pattern. If you give the mouse a cookie they are going to want milk. If you give them the milk they are going to want a straw and so on. Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the teachers in my building and showing her our district's Wiki/Blog. Our conversation reminded me of the pattern of this book!<br />
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We started off the conversation with clarifying the difference between the two web tools. Wikis being a collaborative space for multiple users to have input and Blogs typically being an individual's work where others can comment. As I showed her some examples of how these tools were being utilized in other classrooms I could see the wheels turning and her thoughts running wild.<br />
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So I had her back up and tell me what she was thinking about doing before we had started chatting and exploring and she had shared that she was going to have kids post a sentence or two about what they had learned that day. But she shared that with seeing all the possibilities of what other students had produced using these tools, and through our discussion, she felt like there were so many different directions she could go and she needed to rethink how to use Wikis and Blogs.<br />
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So we are scheduled to sit down again on Friday and continue our conversation. I am so excited to see how her thinking has evolved and where she is going to take her students (and me!) on this journey in using Web 2.0 tools!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-29471917841145175912010-03-31T17:28:00.000-04:002010-03-31T17:28:53.080-04:00Growing and Learning (Slice of Life Day Thirty-One)Whoo Hoo! I made it! 31 Slice of Life posts in 31 days! <br />
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I am sitting here in my dining room with the sun streaming in the open windows with a breeze gently flowing in while I reflect on this writing challenge and how it has helped me grow and learn. <br />
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There is a wonderful picture book by Edith Pattou titled <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Spitzers-Garden-Edith-Pattou/dp/0152019782">Mrs. Spritzer's Garde</a>n</span>. In the book a teacher plants and cares for a group of seeds (symbolizing students) over the year by caring for them and giving them what they need to succeed. I feel that at the beginning of this experience I was a bit like a new seed - tossed into the ground without really knowing how the journey was going to go. With a bit of watering and tending from my writing community's words of encouragement, I stretched my writing skills and grew out of my seed casing into a wee flower. Thinking back to my posts some days I grew rapidly by really focusing in on one slice of my day and carefully crafting my writing with choice words. Other days I didn't grow as much through hastily thrown together posts or distracted writing. At the conclusion of this daily writing challenge I feel like an early spring flower - just sprouting out of the ground with the hope of someday growing into a blossoming, colorful flower. <br />
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Thank you to the "master gardeners" Stacey and Ruth for inspiring us to write about slices of our lives! Thank you to all the "gardeners" of the Slice of Life challenge!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-34062059141177452592010-03-30T16:10:00.000-04:002010-03-30T16:10:30.372-04:00Bring On The Grocery Shopping (Slice of Life Day Thirty)Today was one of those days where a trip to the grocery store was necessary due to the complete lack of food in our home. I prepared for the trip like a Girl Scout troop preparing for a camping trip. I took stock of what was in the pantry and refrigerator. A game plan for upcoming meals was mapped out. The coupon organizer was poured through and assisted in the creation of the seemingly never-ending list that was developing. After a quick check in with my husband to make sure I had what he needed written on the list, I grabbed my keys, reusable bags, the bag of coupons and the checklist and headed out the door.<br />
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I love going grocery shopping in the middle of a weekday because there is less people to try and maneuver around in the aisles. I try my best to organize my list in order of how the store is mapped out so I don't forget anything, but in evidently I always have to double back for something I missed. With the quickness and concentration of a Jedi I moved through the aisles plucking items off shelves and tossing them into the cart. With a sense of accomplishment I crossed things off the list with gusto. At last I approached the checkout lane and proceeded to load up the conveyor belt with all my purchases. <br />
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Now comes the best moment - how much did I save in coupons? Each time I grocery shop like this I feel like it is a challenge to myself to save as much as possible with coupons from the Sunday paper. With great satisfaction today's total savings just from coupons was $14! Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-29440516539456428592010-03-29T10:50:00.000-04:002010-03-29T10:50:05.435-04:00Spring Cleaning Mission Monday (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Nine)Nick over at <a href="http://thenerdyteacher.blogspot.com/">thenerdyteacher</a> posted on his blog a <a href="http://thenerdyteacher.blogspot.com/2010/03/mission-monday-529.html">Mission Monday</a> challenge to those who wish to accept it. Traditionally during the season of spring people engage in spring cleaning of their homes. In his post he proposes that people also take the time to do some digital cleaning of their home and/or school computers. <br />
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I tend to be one of the those people that like to hold onto various items for memories, or to possibly be used later in life or with the hope that it will inspire me to try something new. I am not a hoarder however! When my husband and I moved into our house late last fall and we were packing our apartment up I got over saving some things really fast and let go of them either through pitching them or donating them. Today as I move through cleaning our new house I need to keep this in mind to help me weed through things that really need to be kept or things that can be removed from our house.<br />
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I also need to repeat that practice and go through my laptop files, RSS feeds and bookmarks. I am certain I will find some files that could be deleted and others that could be saved for the future. My bookmarks definitely need reorganized and I have played with the idea of moving them over to a social bookmarking site like Delicious. Maybe now is the time! Also, my RSS feeds need to be weeded through so I can make some decisions of which I should keep, if I need to delete any or if there are any I need to add to my Google Reader. <br />
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So now that I have said I am going to do all of this I need to get moving on it all! Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-79222228421400922892010-03-28T10:20:00.000-04:002010-03-28T10:20:55.385-04:00Love My Parents (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Eight)Quite simply put - I love my parents!<div><br />
</div><div>Today my husband and I are going on a date adventure. We won tickets to go to the Cleveland Cavaliers game today and we decided to make a day trip out of it and visit some friends as well. We have a dog and since we would be gone most of the day we needed someone to either come to our house and let her out a few times or someone be willing to adopt her for the day. Parents to the rescue! They kindly volunteered to have her come to their house for a "sleepover" with them and their dogs. So now we don't have to rush back to get her this evening before my parents head to bed! Yeah Mom and Dad!</div><div><br />
</div><div>Also, this morning my husband had to attend a work meeting before we could leave town. So I dropped him off at the meeting and then headed to my parents house to drop off the dog. Bless my mother for greeting me at the door with a "Do you need a cup of coffee?" Yes! So as I settled into their couch to drink it my father so kindly offered to make me breakfast. Yes again! I felt like I was back home visiting from college as he whipped up eggs, bacon and toast for me. Nothing tastes better than a home-cooked meal that you didn't have to prepare or clean up! </div><div><br />
</div><div>So now I am sitting at a Panera (with a pleasantly full belly) down the street from my husband's work waiting patiently to get the call to go pick him so we can head off on our date day! </div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-20155283135525702572010-03-27T15:03:00.000-04:002010-03-27T15:03:23.657-04:00Stop Motion Video Club (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Seven)After hearing about, reading about and thinking about stop motion videos this year my friend Tony over at <a href="http://learnmesumthin.blogspot.com/">Learn Me Sumthin</a>' and I are plunging into this world with a group of 3rd and 4th graders. We decided to start small this year focusing on two grade levels and then next year possibly branch into more grade levels. The group will meet once a week for 5 weeks for an hour after school. We sent out the forms this past week and I was not quite sure what the response would be. <br />
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The response was awesome! We have 38 students who brought back forms expressing interest in joining the "club". So now we have to start laying some foundations for this to get off the ground successfully. We are crafting an agreement for the students to sign laying out the expectations for group members. Anyone have ideas of what we could include? <br />
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A big thank you to Kevin at <a href="http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/">Kevin's Meandering Mind</a> for inspiring this journey!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-35631425797404176072010-03-26T22:13:00.000-04:002010-03-26T22:13:18.480-04:00Lenten Friday (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Six)Fridays during Lent season are always a difficult time for a catholic girl like me. I take pride in practicing in the abstinence of meat and poultry on Fridays during Lent. There are a few things working against me though during this time.<br />
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I am an Irish lady who enjoys her "meat and potatoes" at meal times. I admire vegetarians from afar and their ability to create amazing meals that exclude all types of meat. Me? I come up pretty short in that department. When I think of meal planning it all starts with the meat. Will the meal be all about chicken, red meat or pork? Unless I start with the idea of pasta, but then it turns into what type of meat will be in the pasta dish......<br />
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Also, I have unfortunate genetic makeup of having food allergies. I am talking MAJOR food allergies! I bet when you first starting reading this post you thought I would have fish on Fridays like most catholics. Wrong! I am allergic to all fresh fish. Maybe you thought I could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during Lent. Wrong again! I am allergic to all nuts. Add legumes to the list of things I am allergic too as well. I also have the raw deal of being allergic to chocolate!<br />
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So you see....Fridays during Lent center around food choices like cheese pizza, noodles with mariana sauce and cheese quesadillas for me. Heres to one more Friday this season!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-91863417865447557092010-03-25T22:05:00.000-04:002010-03-25T22:05:07.745-04:00Salon Time (Slice of Life Day of Twenty-Five)I have been going to the same hair dresser now for 10 years. I have known her longer than I have known my husband! I love going to the salon she co-owns because it always feels like stopping by a friends house for a visit. If you have seen the movie Steel Magnolias it is exactly like Trudy's salon. You come in the back door, announce your arrival and grab a cup of coffee or tea. You settle in to "catching-up" conversation about what's new, how the family is doing and the local news. Depending on the time of day it's either daytime soaps, news or Jeopardy on the TV in the corner. You also can always count on the salon being decorated to reflect the current holiday or season. Today I had the pleasure of stopping by, sipping a cup of coffee, chatting and getting my hair done!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-86108799280840293502010-03-24T20:38:00.000-04:002010-03-24T20:38:40.686-04:00Teacher and Student Connections (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Four)Today I had the really awesome experience of bring a teacher to her students even though she was at home recovering from a surgery. Yesterday she had contacted me with the idea of using a video chat tool to be able to connect with her students. She wanted to reassure them that she was recovering well, hear about what was going on with them and just overall check in. We worked on getting her home computer set up with a video chat service (iChat) and scheduled a time that I would go into her classroom and we would "call" her.<br />
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You should have seen the faces light up when her face popped up on the screen and the kids realized they could see and talk to her! And not only the students faces lit up, but hers as well! <br />
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The kids took turns asking questions about how her surgery went and what she was up to at home. A few of the kids took the opportunity to share some tidbits about what was going on in their lives outside of school with her. It was really interesting to see the connection between the teacher and the students and how much the opportunity to touch base meant to both sides.<br />
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Later on in the day the teacher contacted me again through video chat and shared how she wished we had thought earlier about this idea and how she may have been able to read aloud the story for the day. How cool would that have been?!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-60794108985948992682010-03-23T20:02:00.000-04:002010-03-23T20:02:30.038-04:00Peaceful Quiet (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Three)Tonight was one of those rare occasions where the husband had to work tonight, there were no meetings to attend, no dinner plans with friends and no pressing housekeeping to be done. Nick over at <a href="http://thenerdyteacher.blogspot.com/2010/03/missionmonday-for-march-22.html">TheNerdyTeacher</a> posted a "Mission Monday" blog about taking the time for educators to do something nice for themselves. So I snapped up the opportunity to have a "Mary Night". <br />
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I decided to turn off the cell phone ringer while I accomplished 3 things I have been wanting to do uninterrupted and in almost silence for awhile. I felt giddy as I changed my settings from "normal" to "silent"! I did feel a twinge of guilt at the thought of maybe missing my mother call, or an important work call, but quickly quieted that thought with "So let them leave a voicemail!"<br />
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I then proceed to complete a 30 minute session of yoga on Wii Fit Plus and focused on my desire to get better at making working out a priority for me. I did turn the sound down to as soft as I could get it but still being able to hear the instructor. It took a lot of work though to get my brain focused on yoga and not on other things. I had to tell myself to be quiet!<br />
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After that I prepared my favorite thing to eat - noodles! Nothing fancy here people, just buttered noodles with some parmesan cheese. I did not turn on the TV or iPod. I did not check email, Twitter or my Google Reader. I did not make the most of my time and try to squeeze in a housekeeping chore like unloading the dishwasher. I stood there and watched the water boil and listen to the sounds outside.<br />
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As I ate my yummy noodles I opened a new book that I have been wanting to start for a few days and started reading with a vengeance. The silence of the house enveloped me and I got lost in the world of the story. Little did I know but 30 minutes had passed when I noticed it getting a little bit harder to see the pages because of the lack of light in the room. <br />
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Thanks Nick for encouraging me to take time for me!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-55419804822348588662010-03-22T19:46:00.000-04:002010-03-22T19:46:50.992-04:00Perseverance of a Student (Slice of Life Day Twenty-Two)Today a student was thinking with more innovation than I was and this led to some perseverance on his part and some learning on my part. I loved every second of it!<br />
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This student had been diligently working on a project about the Titanic displaying all the knowledge he had gained through reading books and researching on the web. He had artfully created colored text boxes, sharp looking topic headings in each box and had imported eye catching pictures of the Titanic to support his text. <br />
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But was he satisfied with his final project? No!<br />
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Was he going to settle with just these items on his final product like everyone else? No! <br />
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He posed the question, "Can I find a video about the Titanic and put it on my project?" Sure! Why not!<br />
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He and I tried every which way we could think of to get a video from the web onto his Pages document. We tried clicking and dragging like you can do with an image. Nope, didn't work. We tried using the embedding code. Nope, that didn't work either. Then we came to the thought of trying to create a live link to the video on the web. Bingo! That worked! <br />
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Because of this student's creativity, and his perseverance in wanting this video on his project, it pushed me to not give up on trying solutions to fulfill his wishes. I appreciate him having patience, and maybe some faith, in me and my abilities! It was wonderful to see his eyes light up with excitement when we got the link to work! Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-10015345412470097472010-03-21T21:54:00.000-04:002010-03-21T21:54:25.131-04:00Grandma's Magical Quilt (Slice of Life Day Twenty-One)I truly believe I have the best quilt in the world and it holds magical powers. My beautiful quilt was handmade by my Grandma in 1983 just for me. It has bright sunny yellow, crisp green and vibrant red colors throughout the fabric she used for my quilt. I remember when I got it and was told I could use it when I got older. It sat for years in my closet inside a pillowcase to keep it clean. I would be allowed to get it out every once in awhile to admire it, but it always returned to its pillowcase for safe-keeping. I yearned for the day that I could use the quilt for what it was intended for! <br />
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Finally, when I reached college age, it was decided I was old enough/responsible enough to use the quilt. During college it resided on my bed and then later on in life it turned into my "couch quilt". I always have it spread across my lap when I am sitting on the couch or I have it wrapped around me like a cocoon if I am laying on the couch napping or watching TV.<br />
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I know this quilt has magical powers from my Grandma. Whenever I am sad or sick the quilt makes me feel better by surrounding me with her warmth. Whenever I am exhausted it helps make me comfortable enough to sleep soundly. Being wrapped up in my quilt it is like being wrapped up in my Grandma's wonderful arms!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGPnDCDWtVlvAs0QLGk5hqWP-zK4yDTc_ZIxSSQx3hE1Cj6FhhIWhmTDREnJ49WYuX5lVqXYKYlb858NJWOrrcw0tmeaTX5cdYXguvak_rGI8sMxoLqWiGocOU19deAZAccIWj6tgem4/s1600-h/Photo+17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuGPnDCDWtVlvAs0QLGk5hqWP-zK4yDTc_ZIxSSQx3hE1Cj6FhhIWhmTDREnJ49WYuX5lVqXYKYlb858NJWOrrcw0tmeaTX5cdYXguvak_rGI8sMxoLqWiGocOU19deAZAccIWj6tgem4/s320/Photo+17.jpg" /></a></div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-54917479857291928332010-03-20T20:42:00.001-04:002010-03-21T21:39:39.240-04:00Family times (Slice of Life Day Twenty)So I am sitting here surrounded by family at Cincinnati's Hofbrauhaus. We are here to celebrate my father's and brother's birthdays. It occured to me I had to get a post in to keep up with my slice of life writing challenge. My brother so kindly slid across the table his iPhone for me to use for this post. Got to love family and have to love technology!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-10601930696183823062010-03-19T22:52:00.000-04:002010-03-19T22:52:50.258-04:00So Proud! (Slice of Life Day Nineteen)Today our district held it's 3rd annual Dodgeball Tournament with an elementary 5th grade bracket, a middle school bracket, a high school bracket and an adult league bracket. This was the first year for the fifth grade bracket to be included and after tonight's events I am so glad they did!<br />
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The gymnasium was packed, the crowd was loud and the games were lightening quick to watch. My school's fifth grade team was absolutely amazing to watch. They had actual skill and strategy to their games. They exhibited such teamwork and showed support and encouragement towards one another my heart swelled with pride. It was so awesome to watch because in those fifth grade boys I could see the little versions of themselves from long ago when I had them in second grade. I screamed my head off for each of their three games and now I am home drinking water trying to sooth my scratchy throat. But it was well worth it to be a part of cheering them on to the championship round where they won!!!!!!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-56766094868615715182010-03-19T22:30:00.006-04:002010-03-19T22:33:38.388-04:00Technology and Primary Learners<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', LucidaGrande, Lucida, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"></span><br />
<div>At times it seems that in primary grades teachers are hesitant to introduce or utilize technology tools with their young learners. Maybe it is because they are thinking it is too hard for the students. Maybe it is because the teacher does not feel like an expert or feel comfortable with some of the technology tools that are available. Maybe the feeling is there is so much to teach these young learners there isn't "time" to use technology.</div><div><br />
</div><div>In my experience in the past and this year I have seen a different viewpoint. I feel that primary learners are the perfect people to use technology with because their rate of learning and understanding of new concepts is exponential! They are Digital Natives and us educators are Digital Immigrants. These students know only of the digital age and expect to interact with technology, not just be passive intakers of information. Also, these younger learners are not afraid to explore something new and figure out what it does with no fear of deleting work or messing things up. I have watched countless young children push various buttons just to see what it did. In addition, by using technology tools students can learn academic content, practice academic content and show their understanding of academic content and isn't that what we are trying to accomplish in the first place?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Here's a video of ways a teacher in a primary grade in Canada has been tapping into technology tools. I hope it helps others start thinking of ways they can include our primary learners in the world of technology.</div><div><br />
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</div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-69055200997286263532010-03-18T19:13:00.000-04:002010-03-18T19:13:58.978-04:00Time Flies! (Slice of Life Day Eighteen)5 years ago today my life changed forever.<br />
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I went on my first date with the amazing man who later became my husband. That day seems so long ago sometimes, but other times it feels like it was yesterday.<br />
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I remember walking out to his car to leave on our journey and thinking how exciting it was and how nervous I was for this date. The conversation in the car on the way to the restaurant was general getting-to-know you stuff, but it seemed to come easy to us. Throughout dinner the conversation continued to flow naturally and it was so comfortable to be around him. After dinner ended we agreed to go to another establishment to check in on March Madness scores and to keep talking. We ended up deciding to go see the movie "Hitch" with Will Smith to extend our time together. If you have ever seen that movie you might agree it may not have been the best choice for a first date movie, but we didn't know! When I finally was dropped off that evening I felt like I was on cloud nine and I had found someone special.<br />
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I guess my hunch was right that night as he is still by my side after 5 years!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-1828898398766862332010-03-17T19:34:00.000-04:002010-03-17T19:34:22.451-04:00Irish Imagination (Slice of Life Story Day Seventeen)I love when St. Patrick's Day rolls around in an elementary school, especially in the primary grades where imagination still runs rampant. <br />
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In one of the schools I teach in some teachers pretend that a leprechaun visits the classroom and does "silly" things like tipping chairs over, leaving books opened on desks, writing notes on whiteboards and spilling green confetti to make a mess. The little ones go crazy for this stuff! Their imaginations go into hyper-drive and dream up things you never thought possible. All of a sudden kids are screeching they saw the leprechaun run across the room or they hear tiny footsteps on the ceiling. The kids end up spending part of the day trying to find and catch the leprechaun. It's always great fun to watch!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-62699539315811408102010-03-16T20:09:00.000-04:002010-03-16T20:09:15.122-04:00LOD = Learning On Demand<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', LucidaGrande, Lucida, 'Helvetica Neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"></span><br />
<div>Currently I am taking a class offered by my school district where the focus is on using technology in the classroom. There was a discussion about how POD stands for "play on demand". So that got me thinking about an idea - LOD or "learning on demand".</div><div><br />
</div><div>Picture this:</div><div>Teachers and students collaborating and creating items such as documents, slideshows, videos and audio files and then posting them on a website. They then could access these resources at any point in time via the web and/or by downloading them onto a computer or iPod. A teacher could access it to share with another colleague or to reflect on a lesson. Students could access these resources to review a concept, study for an assessment or to learn content that was covered during an absence.</div><div><br />
</div><div>By creating this type of environment it would invite the concept of accessing resources to "learn on demand"!</div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-1512384750458141722010-03-16T19:51:00.000-04:002010-03-16T19:51:55.613-04:00Spring Smells and Sounds (Slice of Life Day Sixteen)<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Spring Smells and Sounds</span></b><br />
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Crisp Air<br />
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Basketballs Bouncing<br />
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Squeaky Bikes<br />
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Musty Mulch<br />
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Runners Feet<br />
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Dogs Barking<br />
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Mesquite Grills<br />
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Birds Chirping<br />
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Children LaughingMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-21522882704371698782010-03-15T19:32:00.000-04:002010-03-15T19:32:43.462-04:00Energy Zapped (Slice of Life Day Fifteen)Do you ever have a day where it feels like someone forgot to charge your batteries the night before and then all of a sudden your battery dies? Do you ever feel like all the energy has been drained out of your body and no amount of pop, coffee or candy is going to kick start you into gear? Do you ever feel like the pep in your step has been zapped?<br />
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I do.<br />
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Here's to having a difficult adjustment to the time change!Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3779866925148069797.post-35826160009181522822010-03-14T17:50:00.000-04:002010-03-14T17:50:30.159-04:00Irish With An Attitude (Slice of Life Story Day Fourteen)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> I had to go into school today to take care of a few things and there was a huge surprise waiting for me on my desk. I had actually won for the first time ever a basket in the theme basket raffle that was held during Springtacular (school's spring carnival)!! The theme basket I won was "Irish With An Attitude", which is how I think some people might describe me!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is filled with all sorts of goodies. I scored a gift card to <a href="http://jenisicecreams.com/">Jeni's Ice Cream</a> which makes such delicacies as Salty Caramel Ice Cream. I got a few more gift cards to different restaurants and speciality shops in my hometown. Also in the basket were a t-shirt and umbrella baring the "Irish Is An Attitude" logo. There was a beautiful shamrock lanyard which was awesome because I was thinking about buying a lanyard this week. There is a great wall hanging I am thinking of using to decorate our downstairs bathroom with since it is bare right now! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of the neatest things in this basket was a traditional Irish worry stone. It is made of connemara marble which is a green marble found in West Ireland. It is crafted to usually be round with a slight indentation in the middle for you to rub your thumb on. Legend is that by rubbing a piece of connemara marble you will relieve your worries and bring good luck. There is a saying that goes with the worry stone:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, boton, medium, italic; font-size: small;">There are only two things to worry about: either you are well or you are sick. If you are well, then there is nothing to worry about, but if you are sick there are two things for you to worry about: either you get well or you will die. If you get well, then there is nothing to worry about. If you die, then there are two things to worry about: either you go up or you go down. If you go up, then there is nothing to worry about. But if you go down, you will be so busy shaking hands with old friends you won't have time to worry.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's a snapshot of the basket before my husband tore into it to find out all the goodies I had won:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUch3fLYjrhhmwd4sPlovD4HW0Ld5UG7gC5HS4heCeH_LeS6TgB8S5f_JcahgYiKPIYMePN3EvBugr5ShIo07maNennETxHoZHsCPXs92uRNq_ZKXXOqeWZVUTslRfNY_2xKPF1kuvxg/s1600-h/IMG_1562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUch3fLYjrhhmwd4sPlovD4HW0Ld5UG7gC5HS4heCeH_LeS6TgB8S5f_JcahgYiKPIYMePN3EvBugr5ShIo07maNennETxHoZHsCPXs92uRNq_ZKXXOqeWZVUTslRfNY_2xKPF1kuvxg/s320/IMG_1562.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a picture of the shamrock lanyard and Irish Worry Stone:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMASFY-cQUovAQCX-hKKCjqrcbNp9FABjQ8u24CK2RD9KpkX0rqSsxh-Rewz79EijxawKy12CZ_DxtEFAfYUv1bo_DczvRqHWAF_1hWJ_NgB3V9bwZJKmwe4iBJ586BUGnJs5sXQ4LdI/s1600-h/Photo+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMASFY-cQUovAQCX-hKKCjqrcbNp9FABjQ8u24CK2RD9KpkX0rqSsxh-Rewz79EijxawKy12CZ_DxtEFAfYUv1bo_DczvRqHWAF_1hWJ_NgB3V9bwZJKmwe4iBJ586BUGnJs5sXQ4LdI/s320/Photo+20.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3 days and counting until St. Patrick's Day!</div>Maryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09659717841951263671noreply@blogger.com1