Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Reader's Theatre- Solution
The Jungle Dance is coming up! I am just so excited to dance
but I am also nervous, I think I might be a bad dancer because of my long legs
and long neck! When the night of the jungle dance came, I was so nervous. I was
brave and stepped towards the dance floor. As I watched all of the other
animals dance so beautifully, I hoped that I could too. Once I stepped out, all
of the animals began to tease me. I am so humiliated and embarrassed.
Reader's Theatre- Character thinking about other characters
I met this cricket the night that the other animals teased me. I am wondering if he heard me crying by the pond. I was so upset. The cricket was very encouraging right away! He told me that anyone can dance to their own tune! I was thinking, even if he is not right, what a kind thing to say. That is the kind of friend that I would like to be. I don’t want to be like those other animals!
Reader's Theatre- Character worrying about the problem
The Jungle Dance is coming up! I am just so excited to dance
but I am also nervous, I think I might be a bad dancer because of my long legs
and long neck! When the night of the jungle dance came, I was so nervous. I was
brave and stepped towards the dance floor. As I watched all of the other
animals dance so beautifully, I hoped that I could too. Once I stepped
out, all of the animals began to tease
me. I am so humiliated and embarrassed.
Reader's Theatre- Character Introduction
My name is Gerald; I live in the jungle with lots of other
animals! I am a giraffe; I have a long neck and love to eat leaves from trees!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Think Free & Zoho
I reviewed Think Free and Zoho.
As I was taking a look at Think Free, I was a bit overwhelmed at first! I noticed the word “Cloud” on the website and saw an image of computer and phone. My first thought was the ability to use this office device or program on a tablet. I think this will be a huge piece for our district as we just recently passed a bond to receive one-to-one devices in the 15-16 school year. I think a lot of worries about changing from Microsoft office is that it is so user friendly and easy to follow. It seems that Think Free is very similar and on the website it actually said that the program was designed to look and feel like Microsoft Office. I decided to give Think Free a chance on my tablet as well just to play around. I did not love it. It was a bit of a pain to set up and I had to log in a bunch of different times to try and download.
I did try Zoho as well and liked it much better. Easier to manage and I could easily sign in just through my Google account. This was much easier to use, what a cool program. I loved how easily you can share and tag. With just one app that I downloaded on my tablet I could do presentations, spreadsheets, documents, and pictures. I even used google voice to type the document that I created. I think this type of program would be useful in schools, I especially love the shared thinking and the tagging. I imagine students using this and think it would be especially valuable.
As I was taking a look at Think Free, I was a bit overwhelmed at first! I noticed the word “Cloud” on the website and saw an image of computer and phone. My first thought was the ability to use this office device or program on a tablet. I think this will be a huge piece for our district as we just recently passed a bond to receive one-to-one devices in the 15-16 school year. I think a lot of worries about changing from Microsoft office is that it is so user friendly and easy to follow. It seems that Think Free is very similar and on the website it actually said that the program was designed to look and feel like Microsoft Office. I decided to give Think Free a chance on my tablet as well just to play around. I did not love it. It was a bit of a pain to set up and I had to log in a bunch of different times to try and download.
I did try Zoho as well and liked it much better. Easier to manage and I could easily sign in just through my Google account. This was much easier to use, what a cool program. I loved how easily you can share and tag. With just one app that I downloaded on my tablet I could do presentations, spreadsheets, documents, and pictures. I even used google voice to type the document that I created. I think this type of program would be useful in schools, I especially love the shared thinking and the tagging. I imagine students using this and think it would be especially valuable.
Screencast- JING
I was excited to create this screencast, because it is something I am going to use with my class. We are doing online learning during the summer through kidblog. Some of the kids need reminders on how to get to my website and any subsequent links. I made this video to help remind them.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Concept Mapping
I was brainstorming uses for concept maps in Second Grade, and I know in writing we talk a lot about details. This would be a fun "All About" at the beginning of the year that we could use to get to know each other. It would go beyond your typical "favorite color and favorite food" get-to-know-you. Also, this would be a great use for our informational "All About" writing unit.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Custom Google Map
There are so many different ways to use maps in the
classroom. We sometimes use our globe and many times use Google Earth to help
aid in lessons. I was thinking about our animal research reports that we have
to do for our writing curriculum. Students get to explore a lot of animals and
use the information that they find interesting to choose an animal. I think it
would be cool to use Google Maps to do some whole class discovery on where
certain animals live; this would also give students a chance to practice this
on their own when they are learning about various animals and deciding which
ones that they would like to choose.
A lesson where students create their own maps could be fun
for social studies. I have created custom maps in the past for travel, maybe
students could choose a place that they would like to go, research it, write
about it, and create a map with some different places that they would like to
visit when they are there. The map below would be what I might like my students’
maps to look like.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Podcast
Here is a podcast station that I listen to and enjoy
TedTalks [education]
We watched a TT at one of my staff meetings this year. I think that it was a great way to communicate new ideas in education rather than constantly having leadership share or staff share. GRIT is an initiative in my building. How to build grit into our curriculum in our classrooms. How to use psychology to motivate our students- how to inspire students rather than push our students. Inspire them to motivate themselves. This helps instill in our learners the motivation to succeed and to try our best! The specific podcast that speaks about grit is by Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit.
Another podcast that I liked was by Rita Pierson. It's called Every Kid Needs a Champion. I think this is something that we forget as teachers, we are relationship builders. This is the stem of learning, especially for our kids that may not come from stable environments, is relationships. Pierson also mentions Steven Covey and the 7 habits- this is something that my classroom lives and breathes. It think it is important to inspire leaders and learners build on a trustworthy and respectful classroom community. You have to check out this TedTalk, it is a great re-charger at the end of the year.
TedTalks [education]
We watched a TT at one of my staff meetings this year. I think that it was a great way to communicate new ideas in education rather than constantly having leadership share or staff share. GRIT is an initiative in my building. How to build grit into our curriculum in our classrooms. How to use psychology to motivate our students- how to inspire students rather than push our students. Inspire them to motivate themselves. This helps instill in our learners the motivation to succeed and to try our best! The specific podcast that speaks about grit is by Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit.
Another podcast that I liked was by Rita Pierson. It's called Every Kid Needs a Champion. I think this is something that we forget as teachers, we are relationship builders. This is the stem of learning, especially for our kids that may not come from stable environments, is relationships. Pierson also mentions Steven Covey and the 7 habits- this is something that my classroom lives and breathes. It think it is important to inspire leaders and learners build on a trustworthy and respectful classroom community. You have to check out this TedTalk, it is a great re-charger at the end of the year.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
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