"...there are no RULES here - we're trying to accomplish something!" ~Thomas Edison

Found at: http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts

Today, I was personally tired.  My creative juices were not flowing.  They were stopped because my mother has been in the hospital all week and after awhile - no new ideas come.  Life happens.

I share that today to let you know that we ALL get to those points.  When we are SO busy, when others look at our technology and say "REALLY?!", when we are just tired.  We need to remember to continue on the path of good teaching and keep our chins up!

I have some ideas for you today that are essential to having a good handle on your one to one classroom or technology in your classroom of any type.

1.  Have friends you can share with and that build you up!

• I am lucky enough to be working very closely with two other 3rd grade teachers on the Project Launch team.  ALL of the team has been wonderful - sending messages about what works and what is great in their classroom.  You can follow all blogs at: Project Launch Blog Sites

• This morning I got an email that showed a video about Infuse Learning.  GREAT website!  It really takes less than five minutes to get signed up and going.  Teachers sign in and get a "classroom number."  Your classroom number stays the same.  The kids type in their name and your classroom number.  They don't have to sign up for anything OR remember a password.  Kids can reply to questions by drawing things out, multiple choice, open ended questions, etc.  Data is displayed on the teacher ipad or device.  This seems to work best with ipads, but can be used with computers, too.  Watch the video here: Infuse Learning Video

2.  Have colleges that will play with you at recess.

• I was SO excited about seeing the Infuse Learning website that over lunch I went to my room and signed up.  It was so easy - I thought I might have missed a step.  I wanted to practice with it before showing the class.  I took 3 ipads outside and the teachers and I tried it out.  IT WORKED!  I was excited! 

3.  Try NEW things no matter what!

This is how we felt when things didn't work.

• I told you I played with this before I showed it to my class.  BUT when I got to class - what worked outside with 3 ipads did not work inside with a classroom full of ipads.  The problem?  Connectivity.  Our WONDERFUL tech team is already alerted to the problem and they are brainstorming ways to make it work.  Unfortunately, this is how we felt when it didn't work....

4.  Always have a back up plan. (Be flexible.) 

• My kids were learning equivalent fractions and how to compare fractions.  We got out paper (yes, I know it is old school) and we drew.  We also did exercises with the punch-punch method.    I KNOW other ways to do this with technology.  I will use them tomorrow.  BUT - once my class was a bit distracted from the site not working - I needed to fall back on a tool they had used before.  We still laughed and learned.   I am blessed with flexible, good natured students! 

5.  NEVER give up.  (Best IF you have friends like the ones in #1 and #2 above.) 

• Best shown through this video: Swimming

Keep your chins up and "Just keep teaching, teaching, teaching....."

"Do you need NAILS pounded into anything??"

Picture captured from: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/01/02


A teacher has MANY resources.  Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by all that we have.  We think to ourselves, "That is a GREAT tool, but when will I have time to get that into my classroom?"  So - teachers adapt and pick the best of the best resources to share with their kids.  Each teacher picks differently.  What I would use for my students may not be the best for someone else.  Everything is tailored to the students and focused on their individual needs.  We do our best to give the best education to our students in the time that we have them.

We have to be tuned to listening to what tools they would like to use, too.  What interests them.  Bringing iPads into the classroom is a natural tool for my students.  While some have NO IDEA what to do with an iPad in the hands of their kids - some need to be reminded that we can begin with small steps - things we have already to enhance the learning for all children.

I have been surprised this year by my kids.  I have found this year that my students want more.  They expect it.  They demand it.  My students have an "Edmodo" account.  This account is a free service and a private Facebook look alike that allows me to "fill their backpacks" with websites, newsletters, videos for tutorials....."  They can comment on literature, have conversations about math - it is their online classroom created for just the students in my room.  Over weekends, on holidays, my students have visited this site to search for "things to do" because they know what we have on the site is good, educational, and enjoyable.

Remember back when we were little and we would have to carry our backpacks home full of books.  ALL heavy books- just to use a few pages out of them for the night.  This is a new generation.  We don't have to break their backs anymore!  We can give them access through websites and the cloud many more things than we could ever have sent home for them before.  There also cannot be any more excuses like, "Mom, I forgot my book..." Moms everywhere can go and get the material needed for their child.

Midlothian adopted a reading series a few years ago.  With the reading series came an online component.  This helps teachers assign digital copies of books to kids that we are reading for the week.  The company that Midlothian picked is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  The reading books are called "Journeys'".  With a click of a few buttons - I am easily able to send certain groups OR all of my kids digital copies of the reading book story as well as small group stories.  This gives the kids access at school and at home to books on their reading level anytime.  They can pull these books up on ipads or computers anywhere.  Also - in my classroom I only have 6 copies of each small group book.  With the digital access I can give ALL of my kids a copy of the book.

Link to our reading website: Think Central

For a lesson I have sent them the books on the Think Central Website.  They have the main story Life on Ice as well as the 4 stories that pair with it for small groups.  Today they will read the stories.  Tomorrow, I will break them into groups and they will find the main ideas of the stories and then supporting details.  I am thinking of having them create some sort of movie about main idea or maybe a book trailer type of thing with the story.  I am still thinking about what the finished product might be.  I will blog again soon to tell you about their projects.

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

 ~Thomas Edison

Word problems are not easy.  They have become even more difficult in the last couple of years with the introduction of the STAAR test in Texas.  Children from Kindergarten all the way up - solve word problems or story problems.  In 3rd grade it becomes a critical year because children go from learning to read (2nd and below) to REALLY focusing on reading to learn.  The students have to read the problem, figure out a plan of action and follow through with the plan.  Sound easy?  

As an educator, my job is to teach children how to think for themselves.  How to reason through these problems.  This isn't as easy as it sounds.  Yesterday and today - I found a tool that can help me.  On the class iPads, we have an APP called "Screen Chomp."  Screen Chomp can be used with any subject area - today we used it for math.  We used it to take a picture of the word problem (saving the kids time because they didn't have to write it out- and paper because no printing was involved), and we put that on the screen as a background.  Then, we were able to use the different colors and tools at the bottom of the page to help us solve the problem.

The children even got to go to different parts of the room and "record" their movie of how they solved the problem.  The recorder will record the movements they make on the ipad and their voice.

Here is an 2 minute example.
http://www.screenchomp.com/t/Tiu6RcGgxm

This is not the BEST video ever.  BUT - it will show you the thinking process of this child as she goes about solving a math problem.  She shows you more that speaks - but you can SEE as her thoughts unfold.  How can this be a tool in the classroom?

• It makes the kids feel important because they can think about their work, make a plan, record, and then play it back.  They can enjoy watching their own process and seeing their plan worked. 
• IF another child had a difficult time on the problem - THEY can watch the video to see where they might have done something differently.
• Videos can be shared with students at home.  Kids who are ill or absent could work a problem and then see a solution (one way to work the problem) from a peer OR teacher.

This is a good APP.  This APP, along with others may not teach math specifically - but it can be a tool that I use to encourage work from my students.  I was amazed to hear today - during indoor recess that the kids were ASKING for math story problems to take pictures of and use on screen chomp.  They are - right now- working together to solve math problems.  It seems to be because they found a "COOL" new way to solve them.  Really, the methods that we use are the same.  The difference is the tool.  Who knew that something so simple (like a FREE APP) would turn my children from kids who were afraid of story problems (or didn't like to attempt them) to ones that would request them during free time??   I have for the time being - hidden what they thought to be work and dressed it up to look like a challenge they would like to rise to.

There are many more things that I will be using with math.  Screenchomp is just the first of many.  

"If you are a kid, reading is really important stuff." ~ Bruce Jenner

I am a lover of reading.  When I was little I would collect books and line them up in ABC order by last name (like a librarian) and check them out for 10 cents a day.  I would take the money and buy new books.

I still collect books.  The children's kind I use for my classroom and for my own library at home (still organized in ABC order so that I can find them quickly when I need to grab them for school.)  I love the smell of the books.  The weight of the book in my hand.  Places like Barnes and Nobel or Half Price books are very calming to me - even if I just go and look or sit.

Things are changing faster than I had realized.  The children today know about books and like books - but Friday were introduced to a bit more.

Every Friday we have time for "book buddies."  Each year I have had a class younger than 3rd grade.  This year we have Ms. Cooper's 2nd grade class.  In my classroom I have a good selection of chapter books and picture books, but they stay the same most of the year.  We have a special box of library books I check out to share with our reading buddies.  These are books that my children have picked to share with their buddies.  We share all 25 or so of the books for a week or two and then change them out.

Friday, I sat both classes down in my room and went over basic rules of the iPad for the 2nd graders.  I explained that they were going to first look at the Time for Kids website to explore nonfiction text and then half way through I would signal for them to get on tumblebooks.com.  Tumblebooks has many choices of books, many are fiction.  After their exploration through both types of literature we sat down again as a group to talk about their experiences and thoughts.

These are their thoughts (unedited)

• "I liked reading the same thing as my friends group - but not having to wait to share."
• "We got to read more because we were not always getting up to get a new book." 
• "We could find books easier.  In the library we have to go to the computer and then find the right part of the library.  With the iPad - we can just type in the search box." 
• "My partner and I really liked the book 50 Degrees Below Zero.  So, we learned more about the book.  We took the quiz and then went to Google and looked up the author.  With library books, we cannot find that stuff out quickly."  

The last comment is the one that blew me away.  I never expected the kids to WANT to know more about the book without being prompted.  I didn't expect them to have a clue as to how to get more information on their own.  All I had to do was give them the resource (iPad, websites) and the time (book buddy time- time we were already spending reading. 

Friday afternoon I went home and had my family time.  At night, I read the last of the book I was reading.  I was wanting to read something else, but it was late at night.  I had read everything in 

my house.  I couldn't run to the library or bookstore.  I turned to my iPad.  On it I found that on Amazon - they have "books under $3.00".  These are books to be used with the Kindle app.  They have both children's books and adult books.  I checked one out.  I have not been able to put the story down.  I have found that if I tap on a word - a dictionary will come up to help me look up words that I don't know.  I have read on the Kindle before.  I never really took to it.  After listening to the kids Friday, hearing their awe of HOW MANY books they had at their fingertips - instantly.... After feeling the need to read a new book late at night.... I think the next statement might be true:

"Digital reading will completely take over.  It's lightweight and it's fantastic for sharing.  Over time it will take over." ~Bill Gates

 

My job as a teacher is to teach my students resources THEY will have when they grow up.  I cannot cling to things I am comfortable with.  I have to jump into this digital abyss and together - we will learn SO much while equipping all of us with the skills we need to enjoy and survive in this new age.  Can you imagine what Ben Franklin would say if he, the inventor of the library, had an iPad in his hands?  

Sticky Black Fingertips - OR NOT?!

It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper.

Jerry Seinfeld

My daddy LOVES to read the newspaper.  My mother would let him read it at the breakfast table.  He would stack the issues in the one kitchen chair set off to the side by the wall.  The newspapers would collect.  I remember liking the smell of the newspaper as it mixed with the smell of Daddy's coffee.  I would read the comics along side my daddy in the morning.  My fingers would turn black after I had tracked the words with them, ink sticking itself to my tiny, breakfast crusted fingers.

Even those enjoyable memories have not made me think of buying a newspaper.  To hear about news I watch TV (which can be recorded if I am not ready to set my life down for a bit to watch it) or I can Google anything online.  Today I decided to teach my kids that news was at their fingertips.

We were able to dive into the online life of online news.  At Miller Elementary we subscribe to Time for Kids in 3rd grade.  I have always loved this magazine - and still do.  Today, to make things a bit more interesting, I decided to show the kids (safely) a bit of news online.

For the "lesson" I began, like always, handing out the magazine and the children could spread out around the room in pairs or by themselves to read.  After about 15 minutes I called them together and showed them how to go to the site www.timeforkids.com.  There are MANY ways to do this:

• Open your browser and type in www.timeforkids.com to go to the site.
• Print out the QR code.  All kids would then take their iPads to where the QR code was located in the room and use their QR code scanner app to scan the code.  The website pops up automatically.  This is helpful for the children who might type slowly or get lost with too many directions to follow.
• Also there is an APP from Time For Kids.  It has issues of the magazine that you can buy after downloading a FREE app.  This app was created more for using at home with family.  Famlies can also buy their children a year's subscription to the magazine.  

Today we went the old fashioned way and typed in the URL.  Our QR code isn't installed yet..  I am thinking that I am going to make a wall of QR codes and label them with favorite sites to visit.

The site www.timeforkids.com is lovely. It will let kids explore the articles, some movies, things about countries - all for free.  It is a GREAT site to partner with the magazine.  Kids can even search for an article or movie on the article.  The searches also find other things related to what you are searching for on the site.  This teaches my students to "search" on a site to find information quickly.

After about 15 minutes exploring the site on their iPads, I called the kids together to discuss what they were thinking.  I held an iPad up to "capture" their discussion.  The kids talked about how they liked certain articles.  One article that continued to come up in our conversation was about the SportsKids of the Year.  

Sports Kid of the Year (Watch the movie by clicking the link.)

My students talked about how the article in the magazine was good, BUT the video was "MOVING."  (Moving here is literal - they are literal thinkers.)  They also said they liked "being in the moment." I would SHOW the video of their conversation, but I have to admit I forgot to press "record."  (Lesson learned.)  

After the discussion I sent them to our private classroom site www.edmodo.com.  They logged in and had to vote on one of three choices and tell WHY they voted the way they did.  

One of the answers:

I pick both because there is a lot of stuff on the magazine and the time for kids website on the ipad because it tells a lot of stuff on both and they have a lot of cool stuff on both. i like it because you get to read and watch videos.

As you can see, my kids liked the iPad OR using both paper and iPad.  They think they can learn more if they use more resources. 

Please respond to this post and type how YOU like to get your daily dose of news.  My students would LOVE to hear from you! 

"To a great mind nothing is little." ~ Arthur Conan Doyle

Yesterday in my classroom a wonderful thing happened.  We got technology.  My students and I have been selected in our district to become one of 9 teachers/classrooms piloting iPads with learning.

I have as much things APPLE as the next person - iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Pro.... as much as I LOVE these things - they are just things.  It is what you DO with those things that will make the difference.  It is my goal to talk to you about my journey through this wonderland of discovery.  I will share what works and what really didn't and how I might do it better next time - or if I might never do it again.

The story begins a few months ago - October, I think.  I was still at my desk after the kids went home and I get a "ding" to signal a new email.  I was about to go home, but I decided to look.  I opened an email invitation sent to everyone in the district to apply to be on a new pilot project called "Project Launch."  I was all of the sudden filled with a great joy!  I grabbed my things quickly because it was time to hurry and pick up my 4 year old.  With my daughter following me down the steps saying every once and awhile - "Mommy, SLOW DOWN!"  We sprinted past the office.  That is when I noticed a light on and the door open to the principal's office.  With Avery still behind struggling with her backpack she will not let me carry - I decided to pop into the office and share with my administrator that I would like to try for the position.  Only one teacher per school would be selected.  I spoke with her for just a couple of minutes and shared the joy of finding the email and thinking about the possibility that it could be in MY classroom as a tool to help MY kids.  After our discussion I went home and wondered how many others would apply.  Doubt began to seep into my thoughts smashing the joy.

BUT - yesterday, after a long awaiting - the iPad cart was rolled gently into my classroom.  I was not surprised that it was there.  We had received an email that morning all about getting the cart.  When it was wheeled in - my students were in transition from math to lunch.  Books being stashed away, jackets grabbed in case of recess, and smells of lunches filled the air.  Some of the children were already in line and had to stand back as the cart was pushed through.  The faces on the children - who didn't know it was coming were magical.  THEN - they looked at the lock on the front of the cart.  We were given instructions NOT to open the cart until later in the afternoon.  The joy was still contagious!  The children gathered around the cart and wanted pictures.  Some had been out of the room for one reason or another and as they came in another picture had to be taken.  Each child wanted to make sure everyone in the classroom felt included and felt the happiness as it spread.  I reminded them that we were late for lunch, recess was to come next and that MAYBE we would be able to unlock the cart after that.....

It was a beautiful 67 degrees at recess.  My students played, but frequently I was asked by different students when we would go up to our room.  When we MIGHT be able to open our iPads.  We went back to the room and the cart was still locked.  We began reading time like normal.  The children stealing glances at the cart while trying to pay attention to what they were reading.  Then it happened - 20 minutes into our reading time the children looked up to find "a lady" in our room opening the cart.  Immediately - I heard shouts of "it is time!"  "Ms. Clark - LOOK!" Jana Thornton is my technology superhero for the campus.  She was checking each iPad to make sure it was hooked wirelessly to the airport.  As she touched each iPad we chatted and I could feel the relief, excitement and joy radiating from her at how easy the transition to the campus had been so far on her part.

After finishing our story and everyone returned to our classrooms I gave them our first "assignment."  They needed to take a picture of their partner holding up chalkboards with their name and class number on them.  These photos would teach them how to use the camera.  We were learning how to set a picture to wallpaper, and it would make the iPads - which all have the same cover - easier to identify.  If you don't know - there is ALWAYS more than one way to do anything.  The children knew how to take pictures and they came up with two different ways to add the picture as a background.  I was instantly reminded that these kids have grown up KNOWING how to use these.  I need to remember to be a leader - but to also stand back and watch the magic happen.

We have a long way to go.  These iPads are a wonderful tool.  Just like when teachers were first able to use pencil and paper - this is going to change the way we do things.  This will give us another tool to use to connect us to the world.  This is just the beginning of our journey.  These little iPads, the cart - are just a tiny thing -  but in our minds it is magic!  For today our journey began with joy.

“To a great mind nothing is little.” 
― Arthur Conan Doyle