BELIEVE you can do it. Find it within yourself!

When children come to me in 3rd grade - it is a whirlwind of new information.  The kids are taken from the first floor and placed on the second floor in classrooms.  Just walking up the stairs can be intimidating.  Making sure they have everything and watching the steps closely so that they don't trip.

We have been working on getting INTO reading.  Really trying to relate to characters and find the LOVE for the books - no matter what genre.  After reading a story called Walls Within Walls we turned our attention to nonfiction.  I passed out the Time For Kids magazine that we get weekly.  I gave them a little time to read it.  THEN - I was able to hand every child in my room an iPad for the first time this year.  (The last 5 my cart needed just came in.)

We have been using iPads daily in my room - but this was the first day that I said, "This one is YOURS.  Treat it kindly."  We talked about the expectations.  We took pictures of ourselves and set it on the home screens to that we could easily see who's iPad it was if we picked it up.

Then we dove in head first.  We looked at www.timeforkids.com and were able to see articles about things going on in the world.  Some of the articles related to the magazine we read and had more information.  There were videos online that brought the articles to life.  The kids wanted to read more and more on the iPad.

I believe the iPad is just a tool.  So is the magazine.  BUT - when my kids went to a safe made for kids site to learn about important news events they became hooked.  Several even asked when they could go to the site again today.  One said that it felt like the WHOLE WORLD was in his hands - all he had to do was power it up and find what he wanted.  He said, "Ms. Clark - THIS is better organized than my DESK!"

Yesterday I took my kids on a journey and they didn't even leave their seats.  They went from kids who sighed when we passed out nonfiction reading to kids who dove into articles and could not get enough information.  They could choose which articles they read.  They were proud when they could tell about things that happened to a buddy who read a different article.  They have always had this love - it is inside of all of them.  The love for knowledge.  The hunger for things new.  But - Sometimes they have to learn it for themselves.  We, as educators need to take ALL of the tools in our buckets and find what unlocks their excitement and passion for learning.

This Sound of Silence..... (song reference- sing in your head)

"Silence speaks when words can't."  SO DO PICTURES! This is the first year that I have begun my school year with iPads for every child in my classroom.  OF COURSE in everything school - some things take time.  My class has 18 iPads for 23 kids.  So I thought I would share with you the things we have done in groups, pairs, and even by ourselves through learning. I will share my thoughts over the next few posts.

The whole "Silence" theme today is mostly because I haven't written since August 22.  Kids came and just like that - everything was a whirlwind of excitement and learning!  On "Meet the Teacher" night (the Thursday before school began) I set up 2 accounts for my classroom.  You are welcome to follow us.  We post an average of 100 things a week.

Twitter - millerclark3rd
Instagram - millerclark3

For those of you who don't know much about these - Instagram was explained to me like a Facebook without many words - mostly pictures.  It is very visual.  I heard growing up that "A picture is like a 1000 words."  This is what it looks like on a computer.  When it is pulled up on a phone the viewer can see a picture and the words about what we did in the classroom below it.  The viewer can also add comments.  I enjoy reading the kind words they have for their children.

Twitter has hashtags (#) to group things when writing.  It has links to pictures, sites, articles, etc.  It is a wonderful place to learn new things and get into chats online about educational topics.  I am not good at using the hashtags yet - I am still learning.  This is what a couple of my "TWEETS" from my class look like:

MANY of the parents in my classroom didn't have an account on either.  I didn't have an Instagram account personally until this summer.  So - we are all learning this together.  Learning together is fun and scary at the same time.  It can give you that rush of joy when you all learn something new and someone to smile at when you learn it together!


TIME SAVING TIP: When I post, I make Twitter and Instagram mostly the same.  I load the picture through Instagram and then share the post with Twitter.  I am finding many of the parents like either Twitter OR Instagram - not both.  By posting on both - the parents have the choice of what works best for them.

TIME SAVING TIP #2 - When the kids have a lesson they have learned - get them to explain it and type it in under the first picture in Instagram.  THEN - copy the words before you send it and paste them into the pictures that belong with the same lesson.  Notice the example above from Twitter about our Our Time meeting this morning. Both posts tell the same thing about the lessons.  While we don't ALWAYS do this - sometimes it is great for saving time.

Finally, I will tell you that my classroom has "Instabugs."  (I don't need an exterminator.) We created the word.  We defined the job.  We have 5.  Instabugs in my classroom are assigned days of the week.  When it is their day - they take the class mini iPad with them to specials (like Music and Gym), to lunch, to recess....  Their job is to take pictures that will tell about their day.  We have a list of classmate's names on the front.  Each time a photo is taken the Instabug quickly puts a tally mark beside each name.  This helps to make sure that everyone in the classroom is included a few times a week in our feeds.

In my classroom the Instabug and I take turns with pictures.  If I am working in a small group - the children can go and talk with the Instabug about learning stations, lessons learned, acts of kindness, etc that need a picture.  The Instabug takes the picture and then when we have a minute - we work together to think of words to express the learning that took place.  I am the only one that can give permission to hit "SEND."

I like to share instantly with the parents.  The parents feel as if they are in class with us.  They can have the feed pop up on their phone or computer all day - or they can check it at night.  They don't have to check it at all if they don't want to.  BUT the information is out there.  I have shared things like when Grandparents Day was.  It was a reminder on that day that the Grandparents could eat lunch with their grandkids.  Reminders about Scholastic orders or bragging on Random Acts of Kindness.  With all of the positive information going home daily about what they are learning and doing - everyone has a positive attitude about learning.

On a final note - I am continually amazed at the engagement with the children.  The iPads are just tools,  but in that one tool we have camera, video, productivity apps, notes, journals - everything in your hands.  We have been SO engaged and into our learning - I have no time for anything else.  Which is WONDERFUL!

My goal was to light the fire in them that will bring them joy as they learn more and more this year.  I think I am doing just that!