Global Education Conference 2014

I am looking forward to attending the Global Education Conference beginning on November 17th. The online conference schedule is full of keynote speakers and presenters who will enlighten and inspire. The highlight for me will be the launch of the Global Classroom Project on Nov. 21st at 6:00 am CST. We will officially launch our 5th year of global connections and projects. Please look over the information below to learn more about participating in this amazing event! 

Thinking Maps and The Global Read Aloud

For several years, my teaching partner Ginny Limer has encouraged me to use Thinking Maps. She uses them daily in all subjects. I have used the circle map, but haven't ventured much farther until this past week. We are participating in The Global Read Aloud - a world-wide event where classes read the same book and then share via social media, blogging, skype, etc. We are in the second week of our reading of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and so far we have made predictions and asked questions with other classrooms via skype and blogging. Yesterday, I wanted my students to write about how Edward looked and felt before and after being thrown off the ship. Ginny has shared examples of the thinking maps with me, so I looked through to see which one would work best for this assignment. I chose the cause and effect map because the boxes were set up just the way I wanted. During a class discussion about our reading, each student completed their own thinking map. Using the map, they were able to easily organize their thoughts. This example is from a student who tends to get hung up and frustrated. The thinking map allowed him to be articulate and confident in his writing.

   
After writing, my students use an Editor's Checklist to assess their own work before turning in. I have found that this pushes them to scrutinize their own work more thoroughly.

The link to this check list can be found HERE

For more information on The Global Read Aloud click HERE 

Follow Me With Bloglovin!

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I just signed up with Bloglovin because I have so many great blogs I follow, but it's hard to keep up with them. Bloglovin allows me to follow my favorite blogs and get updates on new posts! Now I won't miss out on anything new and wonderful from my fellow teacher bloggers!

Using Remind to Prepare Students for a Substitute

One morning last week I woke up feeling terrible. I went to bed the night before with chills and a headache, but thought I would be better after a good night's sleep. Wrong! There was no way I was making it to school that day.

After calling our secretary and informing her of my absence, my next thought was my kids. I have never been absent this year, so I wanted to prepare them before they got to school. I sent this Remind message to their parents and within minutes 3 had used the Stamp feature to let me know they had seen it!

The next day when I returned to school, I asked the students how many knew that there was going to be a sub before they came to school. Almost all of the students raised their hands! One of my students proudly told the class that his mom let him read the message.

The substitute left me a note saying how well the students behaved. I think that being able to alert them ahead of time really helped the day go smoother.

Thanks Remind! 

For more information on getting started, please visit Remind.

Big Event Fundraising $1000 Giveaway!

Big Event Fundraising has launched a $1,000 giveaway! 1 lucky school will win $1,000 worth of student prizes! Each package contains an assortment of prizes that are great for school stores, academic awards, fairs, carnivals, or special school events. 

Check out their giveaway page. Hurry! The giveaway ends on October 15^th.

Dot Day-ish

 

International Dot Day is celebrated on or about September 15th....ish. Thank goodness for the "ish" because this year we couldn't stick to just one day. We celebrated for a whole week! 

Betsye Sargeant of The Phoenix School in Salem, Mass. and I collaborated on the Dot Day Recipe Project. Originally created by librarian Matthew Winner, this project allowed for us to really delve deep into art, technology, and language arts. 

In a nutshell:

• Read the books The Dot and Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. 

• Students explore with paint and create color recipes using primary colors and white.

• Students exchange recipes with another school and use the color to create a work of art. 

• Students view each other's work, post on their blogs, and write thank-you notes to each other. 

• example of a "thank you" blog post: click HERE

For the full lesson plan click HERE

Please enjoy our Dot Day 2014 video!

The Dot Big Screen Book - click HERE for more info

        

Netsmartz Online Safety Lesson

This is our 3rd week of school and the students are ready to start blogging and exploring other web-based platforms. To prepare for our online activity, we have been using NetsmartzKids.org to learn about digital citizenship, netiquette, and online safety. Our first two visits to the computer lab were spent exploring the Netsmartz website which has great videos and activities that are geared toward a younger audience. Students can safely explore the site and play the games while learning what it is to be a digital citizen. 

Today we watched “Router’s Birthday Surprise” together and reviewed all of the safety rules that we have learned. We ended our lesson by signing an internet safety pledge. We are ready to be safe online and offline! This afternoon the students wrote their first blog post. Many of them wrote about what they have learned. Please visit our student blogs HERE. They did a great job for first time bloggers!

The videos and activities are fun and engaging so it makes learning about online safety fun!

Watching “Router’s Birthday Surprise”

Making our learning and thinking visible.

Signing the Internet Safety Pledge.

UYN - Use Your Netsmartz!