A Teacher's Thoughts

Me Manifesto Story: #30goals Challenge

2012-01-18T05:05:00.000-08:00

Me Manifesto: Spilling it Plainly on Storybird

My New Favorite Web Tool - Socrative

2012-01-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

I believe I have stated before that my teaching situation is unique. I teach at a very rural school, with limited technology. There is also not a lot of teachers that desire technology in their classroom here. Because of this situation, I am able to park our lone mobile lab of 20 computers in my classroom. So far, no one has expressed an interest in driving it to their room.

So my kids have their own laptop, all day long. I realize this does not always happen, and I am grateful for it. Well, since my kids all have a computer, we get to do some pretty cool stuff.

The latest tool we have been using is Socrative. I believe it is still in some form of beta, as you have to sign up and some people have expressed that they have not been given access.

After signing up, Socrative gives you a space for you to interact with your kids in a secure room. You can set up questions for them to answer in the form of short answer, multiple choice, and a few others choices. This website actually removes the need for a classroom response system. (Woohoo since we are never affording that!)

So far we have used the site as a place to conduct our spelling bee, answer group questions for social studies, and do math problems together. To allow my kids to be anonymous, I have given them a number from 1-21 to include with their answer. This allows me to know who answered what, and without the other kids making fun of their answers. After the kids respond, I can project all the answers up on the big screen.

After you have signed up Socrative will give you two links. One will be for the teacher, and the other link will be for the kids. A great feature is that the kids must sign into the room, and you get to keep the same room. Another great feature is that you can create pre-made quizzes that you can load up for the kids. It would be great to see a hub form where teachers can save and share quizzes they have made.

Have you had a chance to check this tool out? How are you using it?

A Dangerous Road for Teachers

2011-11-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

I know that I say things that reflect my flaws in my heart and motivation. It is part of being human, and often we say things in frustration as teachers. The issue I want to bring to light today, is one I believe to be the most destructive in the attitude of a teacher.

The conversation that brought this to light happened a few weeks back. Some teachers were talking about having a special guest come in to school. The guests were going to present to multiple classrooms, each at their own scheduled time. When a particular teacher was asked if they were having the presentation in their class, they responded with, "A course I am, then I don't have to teach my kids." That statement really shocked me.

Later that week I was talking with a plumber at the youth center I am working on. We were talking about enjoying our jobs. I was talking about how much I enjoyed teaching, and how I also enjoy doing construction work like plumbing. Dale, the plumber, when on to share a story about a work he had a year ago. The young guy was trying so hard to make a living out of being a plumber, but his heart was never in the work. Dale told me how one day he had to stop the young man, and tell him to find a new job. He told him that he needed to do something he enjoyed. It seems like an unlikely reason to relieve someone from their work, but just think for a moment how contagious that attitude can be. When we don't enjoy what we do, we create systems of actions that allow us to just do enough to get buy. We suffer by not getting joy from our products, and the customers or students we work with get a flawed imitation of the best.

This young teacher that made this statement about not wanting to teach is on a dangerous slop. Can you really put in 30 years at a job that doesn't drive you to always want to teach your students? Shouldn't we be looking for more opportunities to invest in our students. We are stewards of young minds, and we only get a modified year to pour into each classroom full. If you find this attitude creeping up in yourself, you may need to evaluate your motivations. If this attitude exists in those around you, stand up and be a beacon that leads others to cherish each teaching minute. You need to love what you do.

What's Yours....

2011-08-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

My son has hit the stage where everything is now, "Mines!" He is out to claim every object like some explorer on a quest through a new land. This got me to thinking about the way we deal with possessions here in America. Ownership is one of the underlying themes of the "American Dream."

In February 2010, my wife and I went to Ethiopia to pick up our son. One of the best parts about the people of Ethiopia is their willingness to share. When there is an abundance of goods, everyone stakes claim and makes it theirs. When there is a shortage of goods, everyone shares the goods.

What does this mean for us in the classroom? It means that we like to label everything, assign seats, designate lockers, and stamp names upon objects. The problem I am finding in this is that it runs counter to our desire as teachers to create a cooperative community of learners. Why share with my neighbor when we are all self-sufficient? We have so much abundance that we have killed the notion of borrowing a cup of sugar from our neighbor.

In my classroom this year I am hoping to make sharing a normal day routine for my students. That means there are no designated hooks and storage for their belongings. They keep a minimal amount of things in their desk, because I could have them move at any time. We also have a huge cart in the room that is on wheels. The cart is full of supplies the kids can share.

So far into the school year everything is running smoothly. Kids are not fitting over their own space.

What are you doing in your class to help build a better community? Share your idea.

Cast Your NETS-S

2011-07-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

How much do you know about NETS-S? I am not talking about the ever stumbling basketball team from New Jersey. NETS-S stands for National Education Technology Standards for Students. These standards were established back in 1998, but were later updated to now include these categories:

Creativity and Innovation
Communication and Collaboration
Research and Information Fluency
Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving, and Decision-Making
Digital Citizenship
Technology Operations and Concepts
(You can read the sub standards of each category here.)

When looking at these standards they are quite a lofty goal, especially for teachers who are always looking for more time to get everything done that is required of them. For many teachers, we are ready to explore new ways to allow students to learn. One of the avenues that is getting a lot of attention is the value of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. These tools allow our students to communicate, collaborate, and publish in easier and more creative ways then we ever imagined. There are new tools being created all the time, and the great thing is that these tools can help us hit on the NETS-S.

In just looking at communication and collaboration along, we find tools like Epals, Skype, and Wikispaces. Each of these tools alone allow our students to communicate easily with secure environments and produce products that highly creative. Just looking at Skype, we can now make calls to classrooms all over the globe. Classes are no longer limited to the walls of their building or the borders of their county. Are you studying about earthquakes? What would it mean to your students to communicate with a class in California who has experienced quakes? There is really no limit to the collaboration that can take place through many of these tools.

Do your students need more instances of problem-solving and decision making? Why not seek about a project on GlobalSchoolNet that requires them to help solve a problem with other classrooms around the globe? Your students could now use their understanding and knowledge together with other students to work towards a unified goal.

Lastly, the need for learning digital citizenship is something that cannot be overlooked. We cannot assume that our students are being safe and respectful online. Many of them are already taking place in compromising activities outside of school. As teachers, we can be using these tools to help our students learn classroom concepts, but they can also help our students to learn about being safe, courteous, and kind when working on the web.

This is just a few of the ways that Web2.0 tools can help address NETS-S. There are certainly many other ways to work towards these goals. For me this is just a place to start. As I move on through the school year, I hope to rethink the ways I can help touch on all that NETS-S lays out.

*This post is for a Wilkes class.

PTL it's PBL!

2011-06-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

After reading the articles and viewing the videos clips located at :“More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?!” - Diane Curtis, Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms, “Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning” - Sara Armstrong, Edutopia
http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects, “March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration” - Diane Curtis, Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs, one can start to form a framework of what Project Based Learning is all about.

In all three articles there are central circumstances, principles, and roles. These central parts are what make project based learning unique. In looking at the circumstances, you can see that all the schools were looking for active projects that were relevant to the students' lives. Each project was designed to create an authentic learning experience that could be assessed beyond the normal means of test and pencil. The principles that seemed to guide these projects were quite clear. One guiding principle was that each project presented a problem or essential question. This drove the project forward as the students worked collaboratively to solve the problem or question. Another principle was a large focus on authenticity. The teachers who created these projects spent time to make things as real as possible, and even at times took the reality and expanded it to reach thousands of students (i.e. March of the Monarchs). The roles in project based learning are create in a such a way that the teacher serves as only a guide to the students learning. The teacher is not the chief authoritarian, and does not simply lecture to stimulate learning. The teacher helps present the students with the problem or question, and then backs off to the let the students use their creativity and ingenuity.

The role the students play is an essential part to project based learning, because it gets students engaged. As educators, we know that if a student is engaged, they will most likely take ownership of their learning, and ultimately become knowledgeable in the content. This is the style of learning that seems to fit most soundly with students today. We do not want our students to simply be robots, and regurgitate information. We want students who are equipped to lead our country, and we need to start teaching them as if they will be.

*This article is written for a class I am taking at Wilkes University.

Having To Send Them Back

2011-06-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

This is my least favorite time of the school year. The kids I love teaching, skip and parade to a summer of swimming and sleeping in. I always get a case of the blues for a few weeks (I can't help it, I love my job).
As I reflect back on the year, there are many highlights:

My students read over 3,000 books and 8 million words on Scholastic Reading Counts.
We Skyped with 3 different classrooms this year.
We participated in Epals with a class in Texas.
We took part in the Global Read Aloud.
Some of my students were personal recognized by author Wendy Orr (Nim's Island).
We used used the mobile lab, a Nintendo Wii, and a class Ipod Touch to assist in learning.
We successfully just completed our first ever, Project Day, and built three wooden pieces for our school playground.
The students collect or earned $97 for BloodWaterMission, $120 to buy a goat, $55 to donate to Tom's Shoes, and $50 to help pay a teacher through Central Asia Institute.

The list could go on, but the point is that great kids make for a great classroom environment. I couldn't be more proud of the achievements these 2nd graders have made. I will miss them.

What was the highlight of your year?

The Fear We Must Face

2011-05-19T04:50:00.000-07:00

I have been looking back on my school year and doing some reflection. This year has been a huge year of growth and change for me. I am in my third year teaching at the 2nd grade level. In comparing what has been accomplished this year to the others, it feels like I did very little in my classroom the previous two years. That may just be my perspective.
One of the big lessons of the year was an exercise in giving up control of my classroom. You let your kids run wild like monkeys? No, not in the least. In fact I am usually pretty tough and demanding of my students. By control, I mean that I have tried to phase myself out of the role of "Chief Propagator of Knowledge." Here is where the fear sets in for many teachers. The fear comes from an unhealthy pairing of Authority and Control. Far too many teachers have confused these terms to mean the same thing, or have even melded the two into one ghastly beast that drives their teaching. When I talk to teachers many often talk of being tired and worn out from a long day of teaching. I know how they feel, because I ran the same race my first two years. Spewing out lesson upon lesson from all subject areas is a tiring task. I propose that far too many teachers are driving themselves towards burnout. It is sad to see the statistics of teachers leaving the profession or even the stats on job satisfaction. We truly have one of the most influential and meaningful jobs one can have. Somewhere along the line we have lost the passion that boiled out of as we loved our student teaching assignments, and the prospect of our own class. We all had big dreams and aspirations for our own classroom. How do we get that passion back?
To return to our passion, I believe we have to give up control of the classroom. When I say control, I am only talking about our role as teachers in creating a learning environment that centers its focus on a top down approach. Part of our goal as teachers should be to create learners who could still grow and succeed if the teacher dropped over dead. When we give up some of our control, we are opening the door for student ownership. Kids only seem to take a true active role in their learning, when they get grab the steering wheel for a time.
For my students this year, they have gone through distinct periods of change in dealing with having learning control. At first, many of the students acted as though they were put in charge of a complicated machine that made toys. They were scared of what to do, but they were excited about where this was going. The next phase I saw in my students was many of them doing the double take. They kept reflecting back on how their learning had been in the past, and asking ,"Will we be doing this the rest of the year?" It was almost as if they were scared to get their hopes up if this was just another rug to be pulled out from under them. The last period of change is ownership and active participation. Here are some of the things I qualify as being active students:

Using Kidblog to actively blog their reflections on class lessons, summarize books they are reading, and explain math concepts in details.
Posting to Edmodo, participating in polls that let me know what they enjoy in class, and creating reading group discussions.
Creating their own group stories on Voicethread that shows the parts of a story. They also recorded the story to accompany the pictures.
Importing pictures from Pics4Learning into Microsoft Word and creating informational reading.
Writing with penpals in Texas through Epals, and recently took part in a Skype session with that classroom.
Constructing group summaries on TypeWithMe for read alouds.
Building self-reflection glogs on Glogster.
Working individually and collaboratively on Sumdog, and Sokikom to reinforce math concepts.

*Though these activities are technology based, we can certainly still design a classroom environment that still encourages student ownership.

What are you doing in your classroom to call your students to an active role? As the end of the year approaches, are you reflecting on what you should change for next year? A good idea for making changes would be to ask your students what they hope to do in the next grade. This will let you know if there are things the students enjoyed in your class, and what maybe you could add for your next class.

Riddle Hunts: How To Guide

2011-05-13T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Riddle Hunt Wiki is growing and changing daily.

I hope you have had the chance to visit. If not, check it here: Riddle Hunts.

I just added a "How To" guide for people desiring to make their own Riddle Hunt.

See it here: How To Guide.

Wendy Orr: Nim's Island Writer, Does it Again!

2011-05-03T05:03:00.001-07:00

Now our amazing author friend, Wendy Orr has posted a video thanking my students. Check it here.

Wendy Orr: Nim's Island Writer, Sends Her Love!

2011-05-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by Wendy Orr (author of Nim's Island) this weekend, as her Google alert for Nim's Island brought her to my page.

We tried to work out a Skype session, but her being 14 hours ahead of our time, just makes it impossible.

See her post here: Wendy Orr blog

Riddle Hunts Video

2011-04-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

What Are Riddle Hunts?

Riddle Hunts Wiki

Nim's Island: Built by 2nd Graders

2011-04-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is the completed Nim's Island, made by two of my second grade girls.

If you would like to know any details on how to make, please contact me at isnyder@linemountain.com.

All credit goes out to my two students and their families. What an exceptional job!

Reinventing Play with Kids

2011-04-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

I never thought the day would come when the natural instinct in kids to play would diminish. When I talk about play I mean the interaction between kids. What kids call "playing" today is nothing more then self entertainment. With cellphones, ipods, and other personal devices (all of which I enjoy to a point) kids can pass the time through endless apps, games, and other means entertainment. There are great educational uses for all these things, but what I have seen in my students is a loss of group play. My students have trouble constructing meaningful play with their classmates. The case for this is the days my students have indoor recess. I have a closet full of games, puzzles, and other activities that they can use. The problem I have found is that most of them are unfamiliar with group play. They do not know how to get from boredom to fun game time with friends. Because of this conundrum, I have had to walk kids through playing games together. I have to physically get on the floor, help set up, explain the rules, and facilitate a game. Once I do this, the students have a blast and will play the game for days. Then I can work my way out of the picture, and help some other kids make the same jump.

How do you battle a world that is calling our kids to only value self entertainment? Would love to hear your thoughts.

*I am in no means against technology. I am against my students losing the ability to interact as kids, which will form how they interact with others throughout their lives.

The Birth of Riddle Hunts (A Hit With Kids)

2011-04-06T06:02:00.000-07:00

The idea of clues to lead kids on a scavenger hunt started with Ron Clark. If they started with someone before him, sorry I didn't know! I am certainly not trying to claim the idea as my own, but I think the best name for them would be riddle hunts, so that is what I am referring to.
So with Ron's inspiration, I created a riddle hunt to go with the beginning of The BFG by Roald Dahl. What a hit! At the same time, another class in Louisiana was doing the same riddle hunt. They also had a great time. That got me thinking that maybe this riddle hunt would be a lot of fun for others, so I posted about it on my blog.
Next the hunt got picked up by Mrs. Goodwin in Indiana. Her kids had a blast, check it here:

The BFG scavenger hunt from anita Goodwin on Vimeo.

Then Mrs. Goodwin posted her video on Twitter and it gathered another prospective classroom from Vermont.

This has spawned two important questions: Would you like to give the riddle hunt a shot too?

but more importantly....

How can we make more of these hunts and make them accessible to all?

The wiki for Riddle Hunts is now alive: check it here.

Traveling Ideas #30goals

2011-04-06T04:40:00.000-07:00

When I set the goal to infuse technology into my classroom this year, I really had no idea where I was going. It was like setting my goal for California, but having no directions to get there. I knew the end would be sweet, the sights along the way would be savory, but the route to take was up in the air.
In the travel to my goal, there have been some significant highlights. By far, the best stop has been the 30 Goals Challenge put forth by Shelly Terrell. If I have a chance to present to my colleagues one resource for change and growth, this will be it. The challenges have been relevant to reflection, growth, collaboration, professionalism, and so much more.
The amazing thing about the #30 Goals Challenge is that it has the potential to live beyond a schedule. Any great idea that is created with an end will ultimately lose its sting to make an impact. That is what is so great about this idea. It can be started at anytime, followed in any order, and completed on your own time. The challenge also comes with a vibrant Twitter hashtag: #30goals, that allows you to connect with others. The blog posts also link to more resources than you will have time to digest.
The 30 Goals Challenge is essential for teachers who are feeling burned out. It is necessary for new teachers who seek direction. It is a must for teachers who believe they have arrived and have been stuck in unfruitful traditions. Take up the challenge, and get ready for a wild ride.

Cut Teacher Pay...Please!

2011-03-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

I got this in my email and had to re-post. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. I am not sure who the originator is, but I must say, "Nice Work!"

Are you sick of highly paid teachers?

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right. Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan-- that equals 6 1/2 hours).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.

LET'S SEE....

That's $585 X 180= $105,300

per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special

education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an

hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.

Wait a minute -- there's

something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher's salary

(nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days

= $277.77/per day/30

students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student--a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Make a teacher smile; repost this to show appreciation for all educators.

Must Use Collaboration Tool: Type With Me

2011-03-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

I have looked a lot of web tools, but this one really caught my eye. Simple to use and not too much fluff to get distracted by.
The website is: http://typewith.me/
For the last two days my students have been working together to create summaries of our current read aloud, James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.
Day 1, was an organized disaster. The students were working on a summary, but were frustrated by the real-time editing that was going on by classmates. They didn't like people editing their mistakes and typing when they were. From a teachers point of view, it was fun to watch. It brought out the underlying weakness of each child's ability to work together. A bunch of the kids walked away from the experience saying, please don't have use do that again or I will be sick tomorrow if we have to do that again.
Like a good trouble maker, I had them do it again. First off, I addressed those with a negative attitude and reminded them that their feelings are contagious and don't help the cause. I also assured the whole class that they would get better with practice. They all agreed to work at it again. Today they created this summary.
I was extremely impressed and all the kids were cheering for each other on the great work they had done. Day 1 disaster. Day 2 success.

*This tool requires a web address that is case sensitive. Make sure you capitalize the right letters when sharing the link with your students. Stress the importance of typing your document address in just as it is written.

Little Movement...Big Change #30goals

2011-03-23T06:57:00.001-07:00

I love the subversive. Maybe it has something to do being the underdog. I remember walking on to the soccer field for our first championship game. Johnstown was the defending champion, and we were just a small school from Nowheresville. Their players walked on to the field like the game was already a wrap. They were a team full of seniors. Would a team starting some freshman really be able to compete? If bets could have been taken, the odds would have been stacked against us. Isn't that what ignites a fire deep within us? When your back is against the wall, and you have nothing to lose...you find yourself rising little by little. What begins as a bite on their ankle soon has the attention of the whole body. Your bringing down giants, or in our case, sending the guys in blue packing with a 6-1 defeat.
Movements in education, in the same way, can bring down towering trees that desire to be unmoved. These trees, with deep rooted tendrils that tell us, "We've always done it this way," impede our actions for change. In most cases, movements started to bring about change are met with opposition and take significant periods of time to make an impact. What I have noticed though is the more flat the world becomes, the easier good ideas can spread. Take the inspiration flowing from the ever relevant 30 Goals Challenge. Teachers all over the world are making sincere steps toward improvement, and the school district didn't have to ask, beg, or cajole anyone to do it.
Little movements are the snowballs we push from the tops of hills. We stand back and watch the new paths they plow. What movement are you joining?

Consider the 5 for 1 project. or something else that fires you up!

Photo from Jankie

Free Easy Internet Safety Material #30Goals

2011-03-23T03:30:00.000-07:00

#30 Goals: Digital Citizenship - Goal #28
For awhile I was assuming that my students would learn internet safety through someone other than myself. Then that changed one day when I stumbled upon a great resource: NetSmartzKids. This is a program designed specifically to teach kids about being safe and courteous while on-line. They even offer a free packet of material for educators. I used the interactive DVD with my students. We also discussed the rules for internet safety and the rules for real world safety from the included poster. This is a must for any teacher or even entire school that wants to present easy and relevant internet etiquette and safety.

"I-did/We-did" the Iditarod

2011-03-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

This is the second year my class has followed the amazing race across Alaska called the Iditarod. The kids really get into it. This year we cheered for Lance Mackey the whole way. You should really consider following it, picking a musher, or do any of the numerous projects and activities that go with the 1150 mile sled dog race.

We made this little project to present facts about the Iditarod to the rest of the school. Each kids has their face on a sled dog and they have an important fact about the big race.

Tech-nically Speaking #30 Goals

2011-03-17T05:01:00.000-07:00

My life as a teacher has taken a major turn. Usually when people talk about things taking a turn, it is in the negative light. My turn has been for the good. Here at my school, we now have a mobile lab up and running (and I have conveniently parked it in my classroom). This has opened a whole new world to my classroom. We can now use technology on our time to enhance or supplement our classroom material.
Here is a snap shot of our day, now that each child can use a laptop.
*Instead of Saxon Math Fact worksheets every morning ---> We now use www.xtramath.org to practice our facts and track our progress.
*Instead of hand written journals ---> We now use www.kidblog.org to journal and document our thoughts.
*We also use Edmodo.com to vote on different questions, discuss reading group questions, and gather resources from other classrooms.
*We often visit Studyisland.com to practice for PSSA and Terra Nova Testing. This site hits on state standards along with the upcoming Common Core Standards.
*With an update to the laptops, we hope to continue to help pilot Sokikom. Sokikom is a new math site that takes kids on missions and allows them collaborate in standards based math games.
*This week we used Wordle to create word clouds that describe penguins, which was a theme in one of our recent reading stories. We have also followed the live webcam of the penguins at California Academy of Sciences.
*My students have also learned how to import a picture into Microsoft Word to use for a descriptive paragraph assignment. We used the safe picture site called Pics4Learning.
*Did you know writing an email is part of the state standards? Pretty cool! We have been using the ever popular site, Epals, to write emails and communicate with another classroom in Texas.
Other sites we love: ReadingEggs, Sumdog, NLVM, SpellingCity, and Voicethread.

As I write this, I realize I could have my students using technology all day long. There is a balance we are working towards, and the kids certainly enjoy all the variety of sites we have been using. In the future, we may have to limit the amount of screen time, and not lose the value of discussions, debate, and physical collaboration. For now, the excitement is high here in our class.

Wells That Don't Dry: #30Goals (Resources)

2011-03-09T04:40:00.000-08:00

Teachers can get by with teaching, punching the clock, and going home. The truth is none of us start out with this goal in mind. We do not desire to have a job branded with isolation. We hope to connect with our students, and connect with our colleagues in deep meaningful ways. To make the later happen, we need to be willing to share what works. Knowing what works, requires reflection, which you should have already done in the 30 Goals Challenge. Once you have something that works for your students, there is a high likelihood that it can benefit other teachers too. Jump off your little island and share!
This year I had the great opportunity to have my class read, THE BFG by Roald Dahl with another class located at Tanglewood Elementary in Lousianna. One of the highlights of the project was a riddle/hunt that I designed to be completed throughout the school after reading the first three chapters of the book. I have since shared that resources, and now a Twitter follower: @amsgoodwin will be trying out the same riddle/hunt next week. I am looking forward to pictures and maybe a video clip of her students chasing down the whereabouts of Sophie. It is amazing to see one idea spread. Where are your resources and ideas traveling these days?

Want to read The BFG to your kids and want the riddle/hunt? Email me: isnyder@linemountain.com

Extra Amazing Resources Below!!!
Two Great Blogs to Follow:
Primary Graffiti
For the Love of Teaching P.S. I am hoping to borrow this great idea!

Teacher Pitfalls Series: Pat Pat My Back

2011-03-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

I am starting a new series on some common pitfalls that are common to teachers. Not sure how far this will run, but I currently have five of these lined up. Each is lead off by a Bible passage.

Pitfall #1: With Hopes of Rewards and a Pat on the Back

Luke 6: 31-34 (The Message) "Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that's charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that."

Starting in the hardest place seems like the right beginning to me. This pitfall requires a deep examination of who we are as teachers. I write this post because this is a "me first" confession. By talking about this stuff, I can flush out the things I feel. It helps me take inventory of what drives me. I also hope it will be useful to other teachers.
The pitfall I am talking about is deep seeded motivation on the part of teachers to only extend themselves to their practice when it means self elevation, progression, and ego boosting. Ouch! That just made me think of a few activities I threw myself at in the past week. I know what it is like to have days where you just want to get through and go home. I also know what it is like to have a rich and exciting day that flies by and you get mad at the dismissal bell. They are two extremes here that both lead to unfavorable results.
The first extreme is like the one mentioned in the verses above, and that is when we have a facade of care and passion. Behind that front, we only motivated by the hopes that our work will benefit us. This is where we need to get our focus off self. We need to work with a goal of student achievement in mind. Any tie we create between student achievement and our own elevation is tainted, and certainly a bad place to be working.
The other extreme is to take no action. This stance is also focused on self. When we are unmotivated to try new things in our class because of our own fears or excuses of time. This is also a role we play that reaps undesired results. With this focus, we create stale a classroom that you can fast forward 15-20 years, and everything will look exactly the same, just the student faces have changed. This position has removed the ugly pursuit of self benefit, but it has also removed a passion that will inspire students to excel and achieve. This kind of teaching runs counter to research based methods that prove to be effective in reaching all learners.
So how does one stay pure of self yet relevant? Here are three simple practices to implement that will help.
1. Be a reflective teacher. Honestly look at what you do from time to time. Evaluate the purpose of lessons and activities. (Blog, Journal, Discuss with Colleagues, etc.)
2. Make Goals for Classroom Changes. What would I like my class to look like in a month or two? What practices have I been doing by habit, but have not been reaping results in my students?
3. Be Knowledgeable, Discerning, and OK with what is relevant in current teaching. Keeping up with best practice can be tiring, and it is easy to say, "Oh I have seen this come down the pipe before." The truth is, the cycles of practices is not a bad thing. If is a good practice, then it currently should be continued to be held up as beneficial. Why not become an expert on a few practices and help younger teachers (like myself) put things in play?

Stay near by, Pitfall #2 is around the corner. Until then, please share and comment. Your reflections help me grow!

Using Pictures for Grammar: Easy and Fun

2011-02-27T10:04:00.001-08:00

Teaching parts of speech and anything related to grammar has a history engraved in my head. I picture days of diagramming sentences (this is a good still a good skill). Making grammar fun can be a challenge for any teacher. There are lots of great ideas out there, and when you find one that works you should be inclined to share it. This is one way I found to help kids understand nouns and adjectives, and their sinister plot to make the world a better place to read:

Make Math Fun: 3 Sites You Should Try

2011-02-24T17:54:00.001-08:00

Teaching math can often lean towards drill and kill. I know this because our current program, Saxon Math, spirals the teaching of math facts throughout 2nd and 3rd grades. The truth of the matter is that kids need to know their math facts. The annoying part is finding a great substitute for piles of worksheets. So taking action as inspired by TeachPaperless here are some sites that are great alternatives to worksheet overkill:

XtraMath: A simple site that allows your students to quickly practice facts. It is timed. It tracks results and emails you their progress. A breakdown of mastered facts is an essential part of the program. Kids can access anywhere, and log in is a breeze.
Sumdog: A game based site that allows students to complete challenges and competitions created by their teacher. Kids can play against other classmates, students worldwide, or against the computer. A variety of games and topics gives kids a challenge and keeps their interest.
Sokikom: This site is still in "beta" and my class in the middle of being a pilot for the creator. From what I have seen so far, this site is full potential. It takes students on missions to complete solo or cooperatively. As quoted from the site, "Sokikom has designed the games using the principles of guided, discovery-based and situated learning. Our games contain learning objectives derived from the latest National Council of Teachers of Mathematics curriculum focal points with activities aligned to the new Common Core State Standards." More to come on this.....

You Have a Couch? #30goals

2011-02-22T03:21:00.001-08:00

I love the latest 30 Goals Challenge: Change Your Environment, mostly because I have an obsession with changing things in my room with the hope to foster better learning. I consider it like Edison and his hundreds of failed attempts at the light bulb. Change, reflect, tweek, and repeat.
Here are some major changes in my classroom that I have done and enjoyed:

No Desk Friday. This is a simple tool to get kids out of their seats and moving about the room. They have a spot for the entire day that serves as their learning spot. As you know, I teach 2nd grade, so this is a big deal to them.
Get a Couch. Won't kids abuse it? I think you would be surprise how well kids can handle objects with respect and care. You certainly have to set up some guidelines, but kids thrive when they take ownership. The couch serves as a place to read and do group activities. My other "fun places" include: the closet which is a small nook with it's own light, the bean bag corner, and under my desk. Since these are sought after places, I have to draw names when we do silent reading time in the room.
Around the School Scavenger Hunts. I stole this idea from Ron Clark. I got the secretary, the janitor, and a few teachers to be key players in our traveling scavenger hunt related to our book, The BFG by Roald Dahl. They held the next sealed part of the riddle, that would in turn take us on another hunt. It was a real blast, and when it was done the kids looked at me and said, "Is it really over?" The cool part was at the same time, our partner class in Louisiana was doing the same hunt, and Mrs. Thompson got the same reaction. We both agreed that we needed to create another riddle hunt in future.
Surveying and Interviewing is a fun and exciting activity that gets my students outside of the room and interacting with other students in the school. The kids use our class Ipod loaded with the app, PollDaddy (see my review on IEAR) to browse the hall, ask survey questions and create bar graphs from the data they gather. The kids also started using our Flip Video camera this week to interview students about Abraham Lincoln. We will combine the clips at early next week and make a highlight video of all the short facts and tidbits. We plan to post and send out to the other classes in the school to see our handiwork.

These are just a few of the things going on my class. I would love to hear the cool changes in your classroom. Post a link so I can read and see your learning environment.

Teacher At Work, Parents Keep Out

2011-02-16T03:07:00.000-08:00

Transparency is found only when we learn to open our door and let parents in. Letting parents in does not just mean having them come into our classrooms. It means giving parents a voice on matters that we may think are sacred cows, reserved only for us.
The truth of the matter is that kids and parents offer a new perspective that teachers can often overlook or dismiss. A beautiful thing happened this year when one of my students had the idea to run an after school book club with kids in the class. The parents contact me and said, "We want to see if the girls will do this club. Can you help us?" This is the stuff that should get us excited as teachers: kid's ideas paired with parent support. So I picked the book, The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes. The project was to create a wardrobe and create one hundred dresses to go inside. Certain dresses would feature different elements of the story. The girls and their parents jumped on the idea, and the girls meet faithfully on Thursdays at each others houses to work on it. Here is their finished project:

Parents have valuable opinions on homework, schedules, and learning styles. The truth is, a good parent knows their child much better than we ever will. They are the number one influence in the lives of their kids. We need to give them credit and a voice.

5 for 1 Project: Days 2 and 3 with TA

2011-02-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Investing into a child is sometimes like buying a lottery ticket for the year 2030. Only time will prove whether all that was spent was worth it. (And in the end, the time you spend helping a kid is never wasted.)

So the past two days I have been working hard to instill some love and care into my buddy I call TA. Yesterday we had a the all too common missing homework. Do you check your child's homework for completeness and double check that it makes it back into his back pack? THANK YOU! For kids like TA, that extra help towards responsibility is amiss. So here we were, sitting inside at afternoon recess making up the missing work. I could tell it was killing him. It was Friday, the weather here in PA had finally broken, and little legs were desiring a run. After I watched him work hard at the missing work for a few minutes, I called over to him. "Go outside and play," I told him. As he jumped up and started to race out, I stopped him quick. "You know I really like having you in my class, right?" His face lit up, he smiled, and said, "Thanks Mr. Snyder." Then out the door he went.

I have been doing as many of the 30 Goals Challenge (#30goals) as I have time for. What a great project Shelly Terrell has going over there. I really seemed to connect with the latest goal, #10, Plant A Seed of Belief. We must believe as teachers that all kids can be reached. Randy Pausch talks about this in his amazing book, The Last Lecture. He describes how we must find things that kids think they cannot do, let them work at it until they discover they in fact can, and then repeat the process. For kids like TA, and many kids we cross paths with, they have never had anyone believe in them. We must be the catalyst, and build belief in kids through simple tasks that exalt their abilities. As Shelly talked about in her podcast, we simply sow seeds in faith that mountains can still be moved.

5 for 1 Project: Day 1 with TA

2011-02-10T17:11:00.001-08:00

I have been really frustrated with my schedule lately. Last week we had a bunch of snow days and an in-service day. This week I had the lucky chance to be picked for jury duty and sat through two days of a trial. The whole time I kept thinking about how much I would rather be teaching. All this to say, I decided to start my 5 for 1 project today and carry it into next week.

The first day of this project with my little guy, who I will call TA, didn't start so well. I came back to hear that TA was extremely wild and crazy for the substitute teacher. So to start the day, I had to address behavior issues and assign punishment. Behavior with substitutes is one of my biggies and the kids know that. I couldn't let it just slide. He seemed fine with the punishment, and we moved on. Later on I tried to reach out to him by letting him select $5 worth of books from Scholastic, since I found his order form crumpled up in the hall. It was still highlighted with the choices he was hoping his mom would let him pick from. It obviously never made it to her hands. At first when I told him to pick something that would add up to $5, he said, "Where am I going to get $5?" I smiled at him and let him know if was from me. He checked my countenance to see if I was joking. He then re-marked a few items and I tried to help him select the items he would like the most. When the end of the day came around he still couldn't decide yet. I was wondering if maybe he was prolonging the adventure of choosing.

My reflections of his character are such that he creates a distance between himself and others by doing a variety of things. He will avoid eye contact and act uninterested. He will talk out, joke, or doing a mocking voice to always keep the mood light. He will never answer a question or assignment that shows his feelings or reveals a flaw in his character.

He is one tough cookie, but you can't have him.

#541

Five For One Project: 20 Teachers Needed

2011-01-25T03:09:00.000-08:00

The Five For One Project was birthed by a simple concept, at-risk youth need caring teachers.

The past three years teaching, it never fails that I always have one student who needs me more than the others. This is not because I am great in any sense. Their need is due to a lack of some sort at home. Many times the kids just need someone to show attention and let them know that you care. This simple concept is what got me thinking about starting a call to teachers around the country to be intentional about investing in One Student for Five Days Straight (and document your experience).

Who: I am looking for 20 teachers to take on this task with me.

When: starting date is a bit open. 5 for 1 should be completed and documented by Feb. 25, 2011.

How: Simply pick the student you want to invest in. Spend days showering them with care and positive attention. Document your experience (daily or at the end of the week).

Where: We will use a hashtag on Twitter (I use Tweetdeck): #541. We will also use Wallwisher. You can also document your findings on your blog. Post them below in the comments, or even create a wiki. Make sure you share links to your thoughts. When talking about a student please choose a fake name or use initials.

Why: You are a teacher. You have the ability to change lives through your words and actions.

Please pass this around and share with other teachers. 20 is certainly not the limit!

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Getting Kids Reading: A Guide (part 2)

2011-01-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

(if you missed part one, click here)

Rewards and Dangling Carrots

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.- Maya Angelou

This quote is true. I have also found that any motivating factor to get a kid reading is also good. Motivating kids in second grade is incredibly easy, so when I speak of these dangling carrots, remember that my strategies may not work in all grades.

One great thing about my school has been the inception of Scholastic Reading Counts. Whether you agree with reading programs or not, this computer based tool has kids reading all over our school.

The basis of the program is kids read, kids take quizzes on what they read, and kids rack up points. The points really have no value unless the school ascribes value to them. For my second grade kids, setting and reaching their goal is usually enough motivation. The big motivation from the school is a big carnival for all students who reach their goals (which we set month to month).

Beyond the motivation of the school, there is much more that can be done to get kids reading. Each year I have thrown my kids a huge party when they reach 1 million words read as a class. This year, my students reached that goal much too soon, so I upped the ante. They have to reach 4 million (yeah I know, big jump), and here in January they are already over the 3 million word mark.

I also set little rewards throughout the month that really get the kids fired up and reading. I will give out various passes as rewards (homework, class movie, extra recess, eat in the classroom, etc.). These little touches of flavor can do a lot to get kids reading.

The last bit I have to say has to do with competition. I am a believer in healthy competition. The way we do this at school is to compete at each grade level for a traveling trophy. The class with the most reading points gets to keep the trophy for the month. This was a cheap investment that really gets the kids excited. As the month goes on I always keep a tally of the three second grade classes. The kids love to see if they are ahead or if they need to get moving. They watch these numbers closely and talk about them with the other classes at lunch, recess, and other times they pass. The competition is motivating for all the kids.

The Ongoing Results (keeping kids reading after your job is done)

The last point I want to make is simply this, if you invest intentionally in getting kids reading when they are in your class, you will also be able to influence their reading beyond your class. Confusing? What I am saying is, if you are an active participant in kids reading (asking them about their books, finding them book you know they will like, finding cool projects they can do, encouraging them push the limits), they will value your opinion when they return the next school year. For the past two years, I have students returning to my class to borrow books, and asking what book they should read next. They will still share what their books are about, because they have become book lovers. A book lover will always seek out another book lover who shares their passion. If you do not have this passion, you are irrelevant in a way that matters so much. The ongoing benefits of pouring yourself out, to get kids reading, will not always produce the quick results we love to see. The ripples from this work are subtle, but resilient. Your effects will flow through all areas of learning. You will create kids who can multiply passion, and the end result of that, you can never measure.

Weeks 6-Something Using Technology

2011-01-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I talked about my tech. use.

Here is a quick update.

I have found some sweet apps to use on my Ipod Touch. Kid Favorites:
The World (Kids look up facts about a specific country)
Train Conductor 1 and 2 (Kids favorite game with a nice twist of strategy and quick thinking)
Mathster (Fast, Easy to Use, and Reinforces fact families)

My favorites:
Evernote (I have my students record their Dolch lists so I can review on my time)
Chorepad (I have a new student track their classmates class job completion)
Read Me Stories (I have my students look and listen to stories)

Ones I am looking to use once I get Wifi:
Tales to Go
Dragon Dictation
Discovery News

I also took advantage of the deal on 2 Flip Cameras for $150. I got one for my class and donated the second to the school to use. Starting today, the camera is out on loan to a student for an extra credit project. She is recording a tour of her house, having use meet her family, and is going to interview her brother. This is just the first of 5 kids who are completing the requirements to take the video camera home and use for an extra credit project.
Other projects kids are doing:
- Recording a weekend trip
- A Tour of My Town
-Meet the High School Wrestlers

I am really excited to see what they come up with!

I also applied for a grant to get an IPAD for my classroom. Keep your fingers crossed.

How have you been using technology the past two months? What is your plan of action for the New Year?

Getting Kids Reading: A Guide

2010-12-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

Getting Your Students Reading: A Guide

I heard a disappointing comment from a teacher the other day. “I don’t really like reading that much, so can’t really get my kids excited about.” I had to obviously hold back the things I was thinking. There really is no excuse for a teacher to have anything less than a passion for reading. If not a passion, then you better at least be quite competent on the components of literacy. This comment got me thinking about how there may be teachers who might need a little guide on how to get their kids reading. As always, I am not an expert in any way. I will tell you things I have done, and I will certainly try to credit all the great ideas I have stolen from amazing teachers out there.

This guide will essentially be composed of these elements:

1. - Building a library that isn’t stale and a classroom with reading zones.

2. - Gaining genre and author knowledge

3. - Modeling Reading and Book Talk

4. - Rewards and Dangling Carrots

5. - The Ongoing Results (keeping kids reading after your job is done)

Part 1

Building a Library and Reading Zones

One big challenge for new teachers is taking the time and finding the money to build a classroom library. Not everyone will walk into a job with a donated classroom library. We certainly will not receive a “blank check” from our principals to cover the many volumes we will need to build a solid classroom library. You have to understand that this part of the process is always part of the job of a teacher. To start focus on purchasing a large amount of books at one time to jump start your library. The best two ways I have found are purchasing books in “lots” online (sites like ebay: search term “book lot” and then click on the left column to sort by children books) and the other is being a yard sale hawk. Last year I was able to purchase about 300 books online for less than $100. I have also gotten quite good at spotting children books while driving up to local yard sales. You can really get a lot of books for a few dollars if you search long enough. Once you start building your library you will always be getting better at picking books kids will like and finding great deals.

As the classroom library continues to build, you now have a task of creating an environment where reading is focused, comfortable, and meaningful. Some of this stuff will come again as I talk about modeling for your kids. Your job at this point is to look for unique zones or places in the classroom where you can picture your kids really digging into a good book. This year I have slowly added new spots as the kids show more maturity (I have to pull popsicle stick names for the spots). I started with a simple corner of the room with a bean-bag (two kids can read there). After a week, I added that one person will be able to read under my desk. Then after a few more weeks, I cleared out the bottom of my art closet and made a reading nook with a light on a switch. About 4 weeks ago, I made a big step and brought in a love seat. These are now zones where reading is happening every day. Kids behave in their special spots because they can quickly lose them for talking and fooling around. There are many other cool things teachers are doing to create reading zones. The important part is to understand your kids, go slow in giving responsibility, and be creative.

You can also build your library through Scholastic Book Clubs. Be sure to set up online ordering for your parents, and send home lots of reminders and book recommendations. You will earn free books, bonus points, and other great rewards.

Gaining Genre and Author Knowledge

Getting to know what kind of books kids like will take some work and research on your part. I have found over the past three years that I continually get better at picking books that kids will like. The more you know your kids, the easier it is to match them with a book they will love. With young kids there are a few genres that mesh with the majority of the class. The best to focus on are funny/humorous, mysteries, and realistic fiction.

A great place to start for picture books is to focus on getting the newest Caldecott winning books and work your way backwards. Kids will love the pictures, and many of the books have authors that make it easy to build connections to other books. Newberry books often make great read aloud books, but I have found my second graders can’t tackle many of them.

If you are looking for chapter books there are the obvious selections like Magic Tree House, Ready Freddy, and Junie B. Jones. If you find a series that your kids like, shoot for getting the whole series. This will keep kids reading for a long time, and more often than not, they will get their classmates interested in the same book.

I usually study one author or illustrator at a time in my class. I pull books from my library and from the public library so that kids can get familiar with the person we are studying. I try very hard to pick a person that has a cool website that the kids can access during computer time. Some great ones would be: Roald Dahl, Dav Pilkey, Jan Brett, Shel Silverstein, Chris Van Allsburg, Mo Willems, and the list keeps growing. Studying great writers and artists is a great way to get familiar with books along with your kids.

Modeling Reading

If you want your students to be readers, you most likely will need to show them what good readers do. You will also need to model the behaviors you expect in a reader. I read to my students every single day. We are usually tackling an amazing chapter book. Here are my favorites that the kids beg for: My Father's Dragon, Wayside School (all three), Flat Stanley, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Invention of Hugo Cabret (end of the year). During the reading time you should model ways to ask good questions. You should always be encouraging kids to make connections (read up on this!). Beyond the read aloud, your students need to have a set time for quiet reading every day. “I can’t do it everyday!” is the common response. My response, “Then make time to do it everyday!” We all know by now that reading is essential for all subject areas. It is the building block we cannot afford to neglect (unless you want a leaning tower). If we want our kids to achieve we need to give them lots of time to practice reading.

When I started this school year, I built in a block of time for silent reading. I followed a model set out in the book, The First Six Weeks (with some modifications). I started the first week of school by having the students read for 5 minutes and then they could read or draw for the next 5 minutes. The following two weeks my students were reading for 10 minutes, and could read or draw for the next 5 minutes. After that, I started to phase about the drawing part, so that the students were reading for 15 minutes. The next step was to move the kids to 20 minutes of reading. I spent the next couple of weeks having the kids read for 20 minutes, but I broke the time up in 10 minute chunks. In between the two time periods my kids would “Book Buzz”, which is essentially kids talking with a partner about what they are reading (saw it in a video by The Responsive Classroom). When we got to November this year, the kids were able to move the sharing time to the end and read for the entire 20 minutes.This is quite an accomplishment for 2nd grade students.

Some things to remember and try:

· - The teacher should do their best to read for a portion of the time. Kids should see you reading too. My students love to come ask me about what I am reading.

· - Provide different tools that help kids remember what they are reading. Ms. Winston has a great tool called a ThinkMark . I also got handy bookmarks for each kid from Into the Book. You can also find great tools at: http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/tools.htm like the Self Select Rubric by Brad.

· - Get involved in the sharing time. Have kids talk to you about their books and be sure to tell them what you are reading.

Part 2 is around the corner…..

Learning How to Die

2010-12-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

I have been sitting on this post for awhile. Mostly because this time of year is crazy, but also to let my thoughts take form. To begin, this post is not about how to end your life. If you stumbled here in search of things of such nature, my words are only of hope, peace, and life.

The phrase, "Learning How to Die," is stolen from a song I love by Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot):

That line of the song has been rolling around in my head for the past couple of weeks. What does it mean to ,"Learn how to die?" In this culture, it would seem almost absurd for someone to live their life to become obsolete. The thing is, as teachers our job should be directed at our extinction. One of goals from day one in my class is about phasing myself out. What do you mean? I mean that I try to daily become less vital to the long term outcome of my class. I would like to picture that one day, my students would walk in, begin their learning, questioning, and discovering and never realize that I wasn't there. I am not talking about bogging students down with busy work. I am talking about making students self-sufficient and about them taking ownership in their learning.
If we are honest, it takes a good amount of dying to yourself to give up the roles we take as teachers. We like the stage. We enjoy being the "Deliverers of Knowledge." The problem is that learning that is all teacher directed is often a breeding ground for passive students. We create avenues where kids store everything in their short term memory for quick test regurgitation. Are kids going to naturally pick up the torch and run? I would say no. They will in time, grab the torch firmly and run farther than what you dreamed if you teach them to. When this happens, we just get to be a fan in the crowd. If we are lucky, we are maybe a coach on the track, but our goal should never be about being noticed.
Again, I am guilty of often setting the bar quite high, but I think I have this one right. Teach your kids like you will be dead in a month or two. Teach like their will be no substitute.

To measure you are doing, record how much time your students can spend in quality learning without your directives and prompting. If all learning hinges on your presence, you may have to start learning how to die. I would love to hear about ways your students run the classroom. Please share in the comments.

Grouping Kids Easily

2010-11-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

The past two years I have been trying to be very intentional and strategic about how I group my students. First of all, I want my kids to be able to form into groups quickly. Second, I want them to meet with a variety of classmates. Last, I want there always to be a natural leader in each group.
To get kids to get in groups quickly can often be a task. If I let my kids choose a partner, I see the same thing happen over and over. I will watch the smart, responsible, and dependable kids get swallowed up in a quick wave. I will then watch 2-4 kids wander like lost prom dates around the room. They use the corner of their gaze to eye their eventual partner as they think, "Him again." Letting my second grade student pick their own partners is chaotic and inefficient. To help with this problem, I start the school year off by creating a bunch of groups by a category.
For example this year every kids has a number group, color group, shoe group, shape group, president group, and state group. Then under each group I have the labels that divide the kids. So with the state group, some kids are Pennsylvania or New Jersey, others are New York or West Virginia. When I say meet with your color group, everyone is already divide and they meet quickly.
Each of the groups is a mix of different classmates, so that all kids learn to work together.
My last goal of trying to place a natural leader in every group is hard because I often make the groups before I get my students. I sometimes have to cheat and talk to the first grade teachers. Sometimes this part of my goal can fall through, and I have a dead-beat group that no one will take ownership in. This is the group that doesn't get done. This is the group that needs remixed!

One new thing I have added this year (just in the last week) is to create a dangling reading strategy sign above each group of students. I know have created a new category for each kid. The groups I create are now inferring, summarizing, making connections, and visualizing. I often have the kids sit with their reading strategy group when we meet on the floor for read aloud time. I then can direct questions to a certain group. The plan for the future is to move a few kids at a time to new reading strategies. I also plan to switch up some of the signs to new skills.

How do you group your students? I would love to hear your ideas.

Photo courtesy Flickr user Scott Maxwell Lumax Art www.lumaxart.com

Setting The Bar As High As You Can

2010-11-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

I expect a lot out of my students. In fact, sometimes I have to sit back and evaluate if I am pushing them too hard. "They are only in 2nd grade...." It is easy to see when I have expected too much out of them. I create an assignment I think will be really great. Two minutes into the work and my desk is surrounded by questions, doubts, and confusion. Right away I can see all the holes that I overlooked before. This is the Homer Simpson moment of "DOH!"
Sometimes we can be right on target for our expectations. Expectations can and should be higher at first than what a student believes they can reach. When the doubt creeps in, it is our job to infuse a belief that will drive them to achieve. It is amazing what a child will do if someone believes in them.
The past couple weeks we have been working on leaving meaningful compliments for each other. I will never forget the first week when one little boy only had one comment left for him (it was from me). He came up to me and said, "This is dumb. I only got one and it was from you." This opened a teachable moment for me to push this little boy to go higher. I asked him how many compliments he had given other people. When the truth came out, he had only given one half-hearted note to someone else. Then I asked him, "How can you expect to get back more than what you have given?" At the next opportunity I saw him sliding a couple of notes behind a few names at our Compliment Central. When they collected their compliments this past week, he rushed up to my desk and said, "Look, I got three this week." He was beaming with joy. That little boy just learned in real time the impact kindness to others can have.

How do you set the bar high for your students? Post your success stories of helping kids go beyond where they thought they could.

Photo Credit: http://www.posetech.com/pose_method/track-records.html

Failing as Teachers

2010-11-08T03:13:00.000-08:00

Friday morning a young 14 year old boy took his own life. The root of the problem was bullying. As I read the article, I couldn't help but feel that as teachers we need to do more. My school is starting to implement a bullying policy, and I have witnessed many schools doing the same. This a great top down approach for the administration to lend a hand, but I also think there needs to be a ground up approach that can join in the middle. On the ground needs to be students caring for students. The truth of the matter is, kids do not care for each other if not led to. It is part of our responsibility as teachers to teach children how to care for each other. I see enough in 2nd grade alone that reveals just how self-focused we naturally are.
I teach in a very rural district and driving home today I was looking at the carved out hillside that gave space for the road I was on. To the my left was an edge that led down to the river, and to my right was the rock facade that had a few scattered trees. I traced along the line of the road thinking again about this young boy. As my mind scattered around thoughts of the family and friends, I caught sight of a large stone from an old rock slide. Holding up the large stone is a small tree piercing out from the side of the hill. As I looked at that scene in my quick passing, the weight of this matter of bullying became much more clear for me. That single solitary tree is a picture of this 14 year old boy. It is also a picture of hundreds, maybe even thousands of kids across our country who daily face ridicule, abuse, and loneliness. The large rock is the weight of bullying. Day after day so many kids are stuck in a situation where they just try to survive and get through.
As teachers this is where we must step into the scene. We need to focus on easing the pressure by removing the strength of the oppressing. We do this by creating classrooms that are inviting and accepting. We also do it by being active in the lives of our students. As Yogi Berra said, "You can observe a lot just by watching." As a teacher, I strive to make at least one meaningful conversation with my each of my students everyday about their lives. It could be one minute about their morning, what they did last night, how they are getting along with their siblings, etc. Try it out, and you will be surprise how much a kid will reveal about themselves. From here you have laid the foundation for respect and rapport. You have also gained access into motivations, strengths, weaknesses, and fears.
As teachers we also need to focus on strengthening those being picked on. It is a little known fact that all kids want to be liked and known in some sense. Your job know may be helping that child connect with others. Getting them connected is most easily done by finding the least common denominator, I mean interest, between that child and one other. Facilitate the relationship by making it about all three people, then slowly step off the scene as the students connect. Your goal is to connect kids to kids by teaching them to make quality relationship choices, and the job is never over. I facilitate relationships with my old students in 3rd and 4th grade still. I only have access now because of the ground that was laid when they were my students.
There are so many great things being done by teachers all over the country to battle bullying. My focus this year has been a large dose (may even a bit too much) of kindness. My students from day one have been mastering the art of complimenting each other. For the first couple of days, this was done by finding a matching playing card and complimenting them. After that, we moved to a few weeks of free choice compliments. This period was filled with, "I like your shoes, etc." Getting kids to think about others was the goal. Last week we made a major shift. We now created, "Compliment Central" which is a large pocket chart with a name card of everyone in the class (including teacher aides). Now the students have been asked to write out their compliments, and they can no longer compliment about material items. It was amazing to watch them work. Last week that pocket chart was like a bee hive with little workers eager to do a good job. The kids were begging all week to take their cards, but I have them wait until the end of the day on Friday. With excitement they all snatched up their cards on Friday and big smiles were all over the room as kids cared for each other. When students all filled up with kindness there is little room left for being hurtful.
How do you teach your students to take care of each other? Please share your great ideas.

Bring Giving to Life....We Skyped

2010-11-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today we had the amazing opportunity to use Skype for the first time. My students and I have been talking the past couple weeks about changing the world. We read, Miss Rumphius, we watched a video on Blood:Water Mission, and have been talking about how giving a goat through Heifer Project can multiply to touch many lives. Today we got to hear and see the book, Beatrice's Goat, as the caring and giving Joanne Kaminski gave up time in her day to give us a Skype read aloud. Mrs. Kaminski brought the words and ideas to life for my students. They walked away being stunned that they had just connected with someone in Wisconsin while we sat in our small Pennsylvania town. They also walked away with a sense that they could change the world, and I know they will! Read what Mrs. Kaminski thought here. Contact her about how she may be able to connect with your students too.

Go Ahead...Be Human

2010-10-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

I can't say I am a huge fan of Halloween, but being a teacher I have discovered a fairly consistent truth. Kids love Halloween. Year one, I was Paul Bunyan. Last year, I skipped out on the teacher theme of crayon colors. This year I decided to get a little crazy for the sake of the kids. Our theme was board games, so I jumped at the chance to be The Old Maid (I am one of two guys at my school). I figured it would be a great chance to make the kids laugh and let them see their teacher in a different light. Here is the result:

Getting The Best Elementary Web Tools

2010-10-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

I have discovered in the past couple of months that there is an ever growing need for more categorization of Web Tools. It also a no-brainer that the "desired-user" needs to see real, practical uses for the tool. In other words, show me how I can use this right now and you sold me.
With categorizing, a post will become more exclusive to a certain subject or grade level. The problem some may have with being more specific in a Web Tool's use is that they reach a smaller audience through keywords. Yes, you may have less people visit your site. Get over your numbers game. With a better focus on categorizing, it would be my hope that we have smaller, detailed, and example based sites and posts. Instead of having a large cloud (aka: Top 50 Lists, etc.), where educators have to spend oodles of time signing up for tools they may not be able to use, I would love to see a site dedicated to Web Tool Reviews and Categorization. I think they folks over at IEAR have started in a great direction. It would be great to see something similar down for Web Tools. Obviously there are the tools that reach across multiple subjects and grade levels, and they can certainly be categorized as such. In that case, the focus should become practical uses clearly shown for various grade levels and subjects.
The need for showing practical use is one of the main reasons it is hard to get older teachers to jump on board. Web Tools are often seen as just the "next thing," because they are not shown ways that they could use the tool in their classroom tomorrow. I realize that there are the teachers who are stuck in their ways, but in my little time in teaching I have come across many who simply need to be slowly taught. You can make them a believer if you go slow and show them how the tool fits perfectly with their curriculum.
In closing, let me say again, be more specific! We don't really need a million "Best..." lists. We need focus and practical use.

*Twitter Tag: #elemtools to join the discussion!

Photo by Margolove

Something I Hate to Hear!

2010-10-21T03:16:00.001-07:00

Being busy in the class has certainly cut down on my time to blog and get my thoughts out. This little rant has been with me for awhile, and I just now found the time to get it out.

As educators we talk a lot, but we also hear a lot. If we are decent listeners. I am pleased about most things I hear, but there are some big-uglys that sting a bit when I hear them. The phrase I most hate to hear actually comes from parents.

The scene looks like this. I am talking to a parent about their child who is having some difficulties. They are listening to the interventions I have tried, the assessment results, and my plan for going forward. Then it is their turn to talk. Inevitably, I usually hear one of two answers. The first answer, "What can I do at home to help?" (Woohoo!) The other answer is the phrase I despise. "I was never really good at __________ in school either." (Noooo!)

There are many things we automatically pass down to our kids. A child's ability to succeed in a certain area is not always tied to your past failure. I understand that you may not be able to provide a lot of help at home because of your past. I understand that you may not have a lot of resources at your disposal to boost success. That is okay with me. What real gets to me is a mindset in parents that sets the bar way too low. A goal for every parent should be to see our children achieve more then we ever did. We have to be okay with our kids being smarter than us. It has to be okay when they reach your aspirations and go even higher. It is not always easy to lay down and let our children boost higher from our backs. There is pride to swallow.
One of my favorite lines of Jesus is from John 12:24, "I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit." In dying to our own desires, we produce so much more in our kids than we could ever have done in our own strength.

Weeks 3-5 Using Technology

2010-10-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have to say the IPOD TOUCH is getting used a lot. It has really helped me achieve my goal of using technology to stimulate learning. So the past three weeks, I have been trying a couple of things.

I picked up a cheap microphone for the touch. Now I have kids record themselves reading books. They absolutely love it. I can then listen back to the recordings to hear their reading. The recordings reveal fluency, expression, self-correcting, sounding out words, and other strategies. I am also surprised at how it builds confidence.
I have also started using the touch for one of my learning centers. I downloaded the Brain Quest App and now the students work together through various games and subjects to achieve a high score. The kids have done a great job taking care of the Ipod without my close supervision and they are learning across all subject areas.
We have been tapping into the awesome videos on United Streaming. There is a large collection of books that can be downloaded, converted to ipod videos, and easily synced to the touch. The kids love watching the videos.
I started using Kidblog (Thanks Rich) with a few of my students, and I hope to have them all blogging by Christmas.
I have also been having my students access our 2nd Grade Wordpress page for our computer center. The kids love it and with frequent updates, they are usually engaged for a solid 40 minutes on the learning activities I post.
One thing I have been using with my parents to show class needs is our easily updated wall over at Wallwisher. Parents can see what things we need and what items have been completed. Check it out here.

I am sure I am missing a few things here and there, but this is a sufficient update. How have you used technology in your class? Got some good tips for 2nd grade use, please leave a comment.

Boy Readers. Response to WSJ.com

2010-09-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

This post is in response to today's article How to Raise Boys that Read on the Wall Street Journal.

If you are a person in the position of connecting boys with books, I would think you have a response to Mr. Thomas Spence. My perspective comes as a second grade teacher who constantly tries to connect boys with a good book, and scrounges yard sales, book orders, and offers for a book I think will hit the spot for a child. I often will seek out a book for the sole purpose of trying to connect it with one kid, which is but a snapshot in their education (the most brief click if they don't get past page two).

Mr. Spence makes the assumption that boys are only connecting with the rude humor books. They seek out a wide variety of books that span across a range of genres. And though most of them can connect with Mike Thaler's Lagoon books, and the Dav Pilkey Captain Underpants Series, I have witnessed these books as a simple bridge to book immersion. The use of comic book style graphics, and two page chapters is a stepping stone to boys. A full jump into a regular chapter book is wasted without a developed imagination or honed comprehension. The quick success boys can have in reading the "gross-outs" is laying a foundation for a group of new readers that are growing up in a fast-paced, graphic decorated culture. You cannot compare this new generation with old school Hardy Boy hammering boys of the past.

Mr. Spence also that these books are, "suited to producing a generation of barbarians and morons than to raising the sort of men who make good husbands, fathers and professionals." Are fart books really a cause of the dead-beat dad epidemic in our country? Would this not be the place to talk about the addictions, divorce, poverty, etc.? You are far from connecting with the true issues. The real issue behind your statement is the lack of modeling. There is no dad around to read to our kids. They lack the skill of being readers because they have not been taught or exposed to it at an early age.

If you are looking for a place that is speaking and addressing the real issues, spend sometime here. These guys know what they are talking about. Sorry Mr. Spence.

Responding in Kind

2010-09-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

As I get adjusted to my new class and peep a bit down at next year's class, one thing seems to evident. That thing is the necessary response for teachers to understand the ever evolving world and culture that our students are growing up within. Example: Last year I had one or two students that were really pushing to get a cellphone for Christmas. This year I already have students sharing a cellphone plan with their parents and it is an Iphone. I also have students who came into 2nd grade with Facebook accounts. Oh and I forgot to mention that they have Ipod Touches, Nintendo DSis, and many other gadgets.
The reason there needs to be a teacher response is that we are fooled if we believe that we can just copy last year's program (and who knows how many years before that). There is a new class of students, that is evolving rapidly, that is connected, tech savvy, and ultimately bent towards visual and interactive learning. Our response cannot be more lecture, more paper based learning, and ancient games like Number Munchers (I used to live for this game!).
If we can, we need to respond with educationally based tech tools that the kids are familiar with. We need to find ways to bring value to the Ipod Touch, the cellphone, the Wii, the DSi, and so on. I am not saying that we reject practices that are proven to be effective, but most likely we are holding on to "sacred cows" that could be replaced with tools designed to make learning more relevant and exciting.
I believe that anyone that plans to stick around in education for awhile will fall into two groups. They will either fight against this growing wave with ancient practice or they will respond in kind, armed with evolving tools for evolving students. Please meet me with your weapons in tow!

Weeks 1-2 Using Technology

2010-09-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

We officially have two 4 day weeks in. It was such a blast for me. After I got through all the get to know you and routine preaching, I was able to really focus on my goal for the year: Use Technology to Strengthen Learning.
Earlier this week, we got to use our newly acquired I-Pod Touch (thanks PTO). I loaded up a great video from a podcast favorite of mine: BestofYouTube (screen all videos before showing). We watched: The Happiest DJ in the World. The kids took notes during the video of the funny things the DJ did. Once the video was done (we watched it twice), we worked on a Hamburger Paragraph about the DJ. The kids absolutely loved it. Even my reluctant writers didn't realize they were having so much fun writing a 5 sentences paragraph.
Today we got to make use of the Nintendo Wii. It is one of my learning centers for the next week. The group of students played the highly addictive, WordJong and tried to solve the daily puzzle. When they were done, they woite down their word list and handed it in. They used word building skills, teamwork, beginning and ending sounds, just to name a few. I let them use their QuickWords dictionary too, which helped build their dictionary skills. The game tracks their score and if they completed the daily puzzle. This was also really fun, and every kid was figuring out how many days until they were at that center.
I also had my computer center accessing our class website all week at: http://webapps.linemountain.com/blogs/dalgrade2/

Stay tuned for more.

IPod Touch Help

2010-09-05T17:02:00.000-07:00

So after a lot of research and input from my awesome PLN, I decided to buy an IPOD Touch with the $200 that our PTO gave us. Now I need just a little more help. What would be the best ways to use this little gem with 2nd grade students?

Leave a comment here or use the hash tag #200spend on Twitter.

Maybe you could lead me to some sites for educators using the IPOD Touch.

Desert Island Question

2010-08-31T02:55:00.001-07:00

I have always loved the desert island question. It goes something like....suppose you were going to be stuck on a desert island for the rest of your life, what is the one _insert noun__ you would want to have?
I really like this question because if the person in question truly considers their answer, they will most likely reveal some stuff about their inner character. (Kind of like the guy on This American Life show the other day that asked people to pick a super power: Flight or Invisibility?)
So I wanted to pose a question for my readers, it goes like this. Your classroom is stuck on a desert island, you only have one classroom computer (hey this sounds familiar!) that can only pick up two websites. What are the two vital websites you would want to have for your students to use?

Pic CC elvispayne

$200 to Spend: PLN HELP!

2010-08-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

So I just got word that I have $200 to spend outright on something for my classroom. I tried to crawl through my brain and remember things I had once wished for, but I drew a blank. Once I overcame my blankness I realized that putting this to my PLN will generate a lot more ideas. Can you help me? I would really like to add some kind of piece of tech., but realize that $200 doesn't go all that far (p.s. my class has: 1 TV, 3 ancient computers, and an overhead).

Please post a comment or use the hashtag on twitter: #200spend

Thanks in advance!

Research Based Mania: Education Perfection

2010-08-18T07:18:00.001-07:00

I must keep reminding you that I am extremely new to the teaching world, therefore my view is very limited, take what I say with a grain of salt!
One thing that keeps coming back to me as striking is the amount of money and research that goes into education. When I load up my Tweetdeck, I get a whole load of articles that my great PLN have posted. The amount articles, blogs, podocasts, etc. focus on we should and should not be doing as teachers is a bit overwhelming. There such a push for education perfection that best practices have already change from what they told me in college three years ago (2010 is a major time of change). How does one keep their head on straight?
The obvious major check and balance is that this reform must be researched based, and not just an opinion (just like this post!). This makes me wonder who is keeping the researchers in check? The skewing of results is so easy!
Sidenote: I confess I manipulated a science fair project once in 7th grade. Does Gatorade effect mice? Control Group: A mouse running on a wheel that drank water is timed. Experimental Group: A mouse running on a wheel that drank Gatorade. How did I get the results I wanted? I let the mouse with water run a bit, then held the wheel and he got off. I let the mouse with Gatorade run his heart out. Sorry Mrs. Tumisto! I cheated.
Could the same manipulation be replicate for the educational researcher (kids on Gatorade, joke!)? What it funding and his job depend on his findings? What if he has already contracted to write a book about the findings he believes will come? I don't know anyone else, but being a man I have trouble with staying focused when there are so many directions to go. Anyone other new teachers feeling this too?
This post is not in anyway to say that I do not believe in searching for best practice and implementing it. I am the ambitious ready to try it guy at the in-service meetings (the vet's sometimes despise me!). My only reason for this rant is that I believe we can easily overwhelm teachers with so many things to focus on, that we have trouble focusing on anything. (Kind of like how we have a zillion PA Standards)
The #EDCHAT: What are the essential skills needed by today's educator was a nice THINKTANK. I would like to see the most common skills boiled down to a top 10, and then have some research done on them (with a close eye on the guy with the PHD sarcasm).
What is your main focus (or top two focuses) as a Teacher?

Countdown to Action

2010-08-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

It is right about this time every year that I get a weird feeling. With the school year just about to start, I suddenly ask myself, "Do I remember how to teach?" (This same thing happens over the long Christmas break). My wife had the same feeling about returning to work after 6 weeks off. The funny thing is that we always reassure each other with, "As soon as you step in the door, it will all come back." That statement proves to be true again and again, and I can't wait for it to happen. I just love to teach.
As I think about this coming year, I feel recharged and equipped with a renewed focus. The two classes I took this summer have given me a boost to apply summarizing and a much needed crash course in technology. This will be my third year in, and in many ways it feels like a paradigm shift. I do not expect that "loss of how to do this" feeling to slip away, but it is time to move beyond just survival (that is what they told me to do the first year). I'm ready to unbolt the training wheels and get moving.
Can you reflect on your first years of teaching? What triggered your movement beyond survival? How many years in before you really took ownership and thrived? Please share!

P.S. I am on vacation. The beach has been part of the recharge!

Showing Hope

2010-08-08T08:22:00.001-07:00

One of my goals in teaching has always been to give every child a sense that they are making a difference. This will be my third year that my students will donate to the following charities: Tom's Shoes, Central Asia Institute, Heifer, and BloodWaterMission. What I have discovered in my class is that all kids can learn to be giving, and not surprising is that the poorest students are often the most charitable. I believe it is those with little that can most relate with those that have even less. The way my students have been giving to the first three organizations is by earning money through spelling. Here is a brief layout of how it works (WARNING: This will cost you! It's worth it though!)
1. My class has a weekly spelling list of 15 words.
2. At the end of each week the students are tested on SpellingCity.
3. After all the tests are done and printed, I then give three oral bonus words.
4. These bonus words are usually connected to other things we are learning in class. The bonus words are used to replace any word they have wrong. (Example: -1 Spelling Word + 1 Correct Bonus Word= 100%). Anything correct bonus words over 100% are banked (I keep a list with a running record for each kid).
5. Anytime a student reaches 10 saved bonus words, they are given $5 to donate to one of the first three charities. We keep a graph in the room that shows the goals we are working towards. ($55 for Toms, $120 to buy a goat from Heifer, and CAI is an open goal).
6. When we reach a goal, we send the money out and usually get back a certificate. The kids love it, and it gives legs to their knowledge.

The other organization, BloodWaterMission is collected by keeping a big empty water jug in our room all year that the kids can toss money into. It usually collects about $140 dollars over the school year. ($1 = 1 year of water for 1 African. Astonishing Fact!) We also tried putting the jug in the hall this past year to get the rest of the school involved. This year we will be looking for new ways to get more school involvement.

I also found some Toms videos, read some books related to giving a goat (Beatrice's Goat, Give a Goat), and read Listen to the Wind to my students. The more ways you connect the kids to resources, people, and other classes, the more the kids will take ownership.

Feel free to adapt and improve. Find what works with your students and let them run with it. If you already are doing something that connects your students with giving, please share.

Keep Showing Hope!

Pennsylvania Teacher Chat

2010-08-04T03:59:00.000-07:00

I am starting a new hashtag chat in Twitter. I am looking for Pennsylvania teachers to join up.
1. You need a twitter account. (follow me: dalmatiasecond)
2. You should get Tweetdeck and add the column with your twitter account and one with the search: #PATeach

What will it be about? I am planning on running a weekly question that you can respond to.

This may also be a great opportunity to link up with other PA Teachers.

Tell your friends, #PATeach.

See you there!

Tips for Starting the Year Right: Interactive!

2010-08-02T09:28:00.001-07:00

Above the Noise: New Teacher to Teacher Guide

2010-08-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

I am heading into my third year as a second grade teacher. The past two years have brought a lot of change in terms of staff. With a lot of people coming and going, it can be hard to build trust in colleagues. The truth is, you can't afford to be an outsider. What I have found is that sometimes it takes putting your neck out a bit to help others before they will trust you. The danger in doing this is worth it. If you think teaching is a solo effort, you are probably in the wrong field. You may work in school district that is full of gossip, and where things seem divided like the Hatfield and McCoys but you have to realize you are there for a reason. Here a few tips to start building some connections:

Avoid building close relationships with those that talk about other people. They are most likely talking about you when you are not there.
Find one or two people that love their job, and invest their best in their student. These people will always bring out the best in you.
Never ever join sides in a battle against another group of teachers. Divisions never lead to a better work environment.
Don't be afraid to spend some time with co-workers outside of work. People are easier to connect with outside of the work place.
Keep your door open.
Eat in the teacher's lounge. Even if it is full of gossip and cheap shots, be the one above the noise. People will notice and eventually you should find a person to connect with.

There are many other things you can do to build connections, but hopefully this will get you started. Got a great idea to add? Leave a comment.

Best Sites to Connect with Other Classes

2010-08-01T13:28:00.001-07:00

If you are like me, you have big dreams of building an awesome connection with another classroom (maybe in your state or even around the world), and having it inspire your students. You dream of them collaborating on projects, emailing or writing letters, sharing their culture, and learning from each other. This stuff is all possible, but sometimes it is hard to find the place to build these connections. Here is a list (you might want to bookmark this post or each link) to get you started (this is not exhaustive in the least):

Global School
Project Based Learning
Edutopia- Project Based Learning
Thinkquest (requires registering your school)

You should be able to connect with someone through one of these sites. I know last school year, my second grade students connected with the eIditarod, Trees Around the World, and Write On... all from connections I found on the above sites.

Have a great site to add? Leave a comment and I will add it to the list.

The Agents of Change

2010-07-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love the quote by Ghandi, "Be the change you want to see in the world." I have seen it used in a many contexts, so I am using again here in a blog about being a teacher for change. I have to start off by saying that this blog is inspired by another great blog post from Jane Hart. You should probably go read her post, and then come back here.
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Your back! Okay, so you saw that awesome graphic right? You read that poem?

via janeknight.typepad.com

There is no question that there is much that stands between teachers and the changes that need to happen. What happens when that "Big Frickin' Wall" is other teachers (I hear it from a few veterans who resist change because they think things change too often)? What if it is your administration? What if it's lack of resources or a school district that doesn't budget well and holds hands with the incremental?

The truth behind it all is that we can't afford to be teachers that can't jump, climb, or barrel through walls. Our kids and society are counting us to be the best. We must be reshaping, improving, and adapting to be the best in our field. How many great inventions can you think of that have not changed for the better? We are all tools, always being reformed in the fire.

PLN: MUST BOOKMARK FOR TEACHERS

2010-07-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

If I haven't told you yet, I think Will Richardson is the man. I just took a class that used his book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. His book is what gave me the ultimate itch for technology. If you visit his page, you will see a tab for ED BLOGS at the top. It will lead you to this page. Get your Delicious and/or Diigo ready!

Again, go to here and bookmark away.

5 Sites For Frequent Class Use

2010-07-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

I have stumbled across a lot of great sites in the past couple of years. Some of them are really good, but the kids are bored with them in a few days. The best sites are updated often, and have various facets to be discovered. These five sites are ones that I found most useful with my second graders:

Cool Math Games
Spelling City (I have to say this site is a must if you teach spelling. You can save your lists and there are sections for spelling and vocabulary with tons of games).
Read Write Think (student interactives) You will need to direct the kids to the activities you want them to work with.
I Know That (create an account all the kids can log in with)
Storyline (streaming popular kid lit read by famous folks)

I hope you find these sites helpful.
Got a great one to share? Leave a comment and share your gems.

PLN BADGE: Grab and Share

2010-07-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of response to Build A PLN: A Newbie's Guide. Thanks everyone for your kind comments, your pledge to share the guide, and your willingness to give it a try. Below is a badge you can post on your site to direct your readers. You can save the image (right click and save image as) and you can link it to: http://tinyurl.com/22snsbk

Thanks again for spreading the word. If there is anyway I can help, please let me know.

Build A PLN: A Newbie's Guide

2010-07-23T03:38:00.001-07:00

Let me start by saying that I am not an expert in any way. The guide I am going to lay out is a simple way to start building a Personal Learning Network (PLN). I am very new at this (7-10-10 to be exact). I am going to give you my guide in doses, so only take as much as you can handle.

Day 1: Breakfast
Assignment: Create a gmail account.
Link: GMAIL
Why?: You do not need to switch to this email account. We will use it later for some Open ID places and for Google Reader.

Day 1: Lunch
Assignment: Create the following accounts: Twitter and Facebook.
Link: Twitter and Facebook
Why?: These are two of the biggest social network sites right now. You are not doing anything with these accounts yet. You are just signing up.

Day 1: Dinner
Assignment: Create a blog and add the following: About Me, 2 Gadgets (sometimes called Widgets), and One Small Post
Link: Blogger (people use other sites, I prefer this one)
Why?: A blog is where you will direct readers to your posted thoughts and opinions, the links you enjoy, and connect with you a lots of other ways.
How?: To start the blog, pick a simple design (you can change it later). Focus on being clear in the "About Me" part (Job, Family, Hobbies). The two gadgets can be any you pick on the design page (you can also get widgets from other sites and add them in). My favorites: Wibiya (the toolbar you see at the bottom), Revolver Maps (shows where visitors are from) or add a simple gadget on the design page by clicking on "Add gadget". Now for your small post, this can be an introduction of yourself, a welcome to visitors, or you can jump right in and post your thoughts. Make sure you hit save, and then admire your work (rule of thumb: save often!).

Want more? Forgo sleep, and continue....

Day 2: Breakfast
Assignment: Join some Nings! (+Inter. Edu Bloggers)
Why?: Nings are a lot like Facebook, but they are often directed around a topic. Here are a few I am part of: Second Grade, Another Second Grade, Educator's PLN, or find your own. These sites will be places for you to join discussions, gather resources, network, and link back to your blog. You should also join the International Edubloggers Directory if you want to connect globally.

Day 2: Lunch
Assignment: Store sites and feeds with Diigo, Delicious, and Google Reader.
Why?: You do not need to sign up for all of these, and if you are going to pick just one, I like Diigo the best. They all have special features. Make sure you install the tool bar with Diigo, it will place some cool tools on your internet browser (I use Mozilla). If you are ambitious you can sign up for Delicious and Google Reader also. Now that you have one or all of these, spend some time and figure out how to bookmark a website with the tool you chose. The job now is to go back to all the sites you joined and bookmark them (facebook, twitter, your blog site, the Nings, etc.)

Day 2: Dinner
Assignment: Create an awesome blog post.
Why?: You have something to say right? Maybe it is about an article you read, or another blog you read (More Ideas Here). This is the time to really get your thoughts out. Be sure to include some links in your post, read through it once, and fill in a couple of labels at the end before you publish.

Day 3: Breakfast
Assignment: Connect with people using Twitter and TweepML.
Why?: If you are not following anyone on Twitter, most likely no one is following you. Time to change that.
How?: I am going to give you two lists that contain educators:
http://twitter.com/bonjour606/education-related and http://twitter.com/ImaginationSoup/education. You need to do this procedure twice. Copy one of the lists (highlight and control+c). Go here. Paste the list in the section that says "Follow a Twitter List" and click submit. It should load up a bunch of people. At the bottom you want to click "Sign in on Twitter Account." A window will open and you must allow the program to access your Twitter. Repeat process with second list. You should now have a bunch of people you follow on Twitter.
(You will get a bunch of direct automatic messages from people. This is a welcome note. You can set up your own at Socialoomph)

Day 3: Lunch
Assignment: Tell people about your blog.
Why?: Know that you are a bit more connected, you should share you awesome blog. To start, create a Tweet that says what your blog post was about and includes a link (you can make a Tinyurl or add a tool later that allows direct tweets from your posts). Next you should revisit all the nings you joined and kindly ask the people in the forum to read your blog and comment. You can also post it on Facebook as a status update or you can join some education groups on there and share.
It may be slow and take a few tries to get people to visit your blog. Don't get discouraged. It may also take some time for people to follow your Twitter. The more you post on your blog and twitter that is relevant to what people are interested in the more followers you will get. (Frequency and Relevancy are key).

Day 3: Dinner
Assignment: Build a network of connections.
Why?: If your PLN is small you may not be getting the best info. Start following other blogs, reading their posts, and leaving a comments (your comment can ask them to read your posts too). Here are a few favorite blogs: Principal's Reflections, Around the Corner, and Moving at the Speed of Creativity. On each of these sites you should see other blogs to follow on the side columns. Feel free build from here. You can add them to your Diigo, Delicious, or Google Reader. You can also follow them at the top if they are on Blogger. There may be other ways to connect (RSS great guide from Will Richardson) so look around the sites. These people are experts and have great things to read.

Day 4: Breakfast
Assignment: Blog again and Get Twittering
Why?: If you want to keep people coming to your site and connecting with you, you need to say more stuff. Blog about a great teaching idea you thought of that others can use. Now get sharing it, share your blog site on Twitter, Facebook, Nings, and other groups you joined.

Day 4: Lunch
Assignment: Explore the Features of Your Tools
Why?: Mostly likely there are more ways you can use Diigo, Delicious, Google Reader, Twitter, Facebook, etc. You would do some searches on some useful ways to use the tools. Will Richardson has a great blog to check out.

You are now pretty well connected. You may want to relax a bit (but keep blogging and sharing).
To keep from going stale and getting out of the loop, you should always respond to messages sent to you. You should do something to your blog at least once a week.

If you are hungry for more, here a few things to explore:

Get to know some html code. It is useful for adding widgets, and other tools to your blog. A lot of code is copy and paste now, but it is still useful to understand how it works.
Explore some other cools: TweetDeck, Plurk, Glogster, Skype, and Digsby are just a few tools you may want to look into.
Message people through a variety of tools. Direct Message on Twitter. Email people. Post comments on forums, and blogs.
Build a network of people to follow on Diigo and Delicious. Share bookmarks.
Read, Blog, and Comment often. Stay relevant and connected.
Look for ways you can collaborate with other educators (Wikis, and other projects).

Again this is only a guide of some things I did to start building my PLN.
What things did I miss? What are some other useful ways to help newbies?

3 Useful Twitter Tools

2010-07-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Enough small talk, here are the tools:

1. Crowdeye (a twitter search engine) It is still in BETA.

2. TweepML (a quick way to connect with people on a Twitter List)

3. Flockoo (find Twitter followers by area) It is still in BETA also.

Enjoy. Got a great tool you use with Twitter? Leave a comment.

Writing with Picture Prompts

2010-07-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned before that I teach in a very rural area. By rural, I mean that students have driven tractors to the high school (no joke). Because my school is rural, we can sometimes be a bit behind on technology. As of last year these are my classroom tools:

3 Classroom Computers with one printer (no extra gadgets!)
1 Overhead Projector

As the year went on I realized that maybe I should try to incorporate some of my own technology into the the class. The best tool I had was an Ipod Classic. I also had an A/V cord that connected my Ipod to the TV.

Now I wanted to get my kids writing, and I was almost as bored as they were of cheesy sentence prompts. I wanted to give them something visual. I did a search for picture prompts, and the best thing I could find was a selection of mystery pictures by Chris Van Allsburg from his book, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.

I used the pictures and the kids loved it. (Here is a slideshow of pictures)

As I looked around a bit more, I realized there wasn't a whole lot that was labeled for pictures prompts (at least that would come up in a google search). Then by some luck, I stumbled upon MNBC's Week in Pictures. This is a great site, because they give you some amazing pictures every week. Here are a few I used with my students:

The site will give you captions and a little context, but you can also just have the kids make up what they think is happening or is going to happen.

All you have to do is save the pictures, and project them (I used my Ipod). The kids will have a blast. It is open ended so the creativity can explode.

Enjoy. Let me know your results.

Inspiring Movies for Teachers

2010-07-20T17:44:00.000-07:00

Last night my wife was watching one of my favorite movies, Pay it Forward. One of the most important dialogues takes place when 11 year old Trevor goes for his first day of school. He meets his new teacher, Mr. Simonet, who gives all the kids a challenge to change the world. The line I love is when Trevor shoots back a quick, "What have you ever done to change the world?" Mr. Simonet is taken aback and replies with mumbling reply about showing up. This is an all around great movie to inspire teachers because it shows how the words we speak can make a difference.
I love teacher movies, and I decided to give you a list of ones that inspire me. These are not listed in order of value, they are just numbered for my sense of order.

1. Dead Poets Society (great scene below)

2. Pay it Forward
3. Freedom Writers
4. Antwone Fisher (this is not directly a teacher, but a counselor role. ALWAYS CHOKES ME UP!)
5. Half Nelson
6. Good Will Hunting (also kind of a counselor role)
7. Finding Forrester
8. The Hurricane
9. The Man Without a Face
10. The Great Debaters

These are my favorites? Got something to add to the list, leave a comment below.

Those Who Can't Read, Write.

2010-07-20T03:31:00.000-07:00

I found this article and video quite interesting.

In my classroom it works out that those who read, stand out also as strong writers. The case shown above goes against this pattern of thought. It is amazing how the mind can adapt for deficiencies.

Blasted Maslow!

2010-07-19T05:20:00.001-07:00

"Why aren't you paying attention? This stuff is important, and you are going to need to know it!" This is the same speech I seem to give my students. The list of excuses is always growing, but two of the most common are:

"I'm hungry. How long until lunch?" (If we covered elapsed time already, I make them figure it out)
"I'm just too tired. ___x_____ kept me up last night. (x=little sister or brother, dog or cat, thunderstorm, or the popular belly ache)

As I was thinking about it, I realized that the kids are the living and breathing example of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Their excuses for not paying attention fall into the Physiological category, which is the first tier of needs. No wonder they aren't excited about the shortcut to find the area of a rectangle. Who cares about a topic sentence when your belly is growling and your eyelids are heavy!As I started to look over the whole pyramid I started to think maybe some of the categories are not so cut and dry anymore. With the rise of divorce, there is a blatant war against family stability. For many kids they have no framework for what family life looks like. They know every other weekends, ever other holidays, and birthday cards from far away parents with peace offering money. As this tier breaks down, it is only natural for everything else above to fall. Now more then ever kids are looking for love and belonging, and they desire connections. Look at the rise of social networking, along with the masses of text messages being sent. Kids want to be liked and known by others, and these two needs are becoming more and more prevalent. These are just a few changes I am seeing when I teach kids. I am sure there is more insight out there, and I would love to hear your thoughts.

What shifts or blurred lines of division do you see with kids today?

A Perfect Reflection...

2010-07-17T08:53:00.000-07:00

I was caught over guard this year by an amazing book. "32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny" by Phillip Done.

When our school librarian recommended it, I thought I should at least give it a shot. Little did I know that the book would send me into a weekend of page turning frenzy. I laughed in bed as my wife asked, "What did he say now?" I found myself crying as Mr. Done made connections with kids on the deepest of levels. As my year was coming to an end, I found myself connecting with his own end of the year thoughts. The book is so real, and jam packed with funny stories and reflections.

You will enjoy stories about "Miss America", "Rabbit Teeth" and his labeling of classroom styles. You can pick it up online for a few dollars. If you have read the book, please comment on your favorite part. If you have not read it, get off my blog and go get it.

Before We Got Lost.....

2010-07-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

I am a greenhorn.
I have only written about 80 weeks of lesson plans.
I have only written up two kids so far.
I am still shocked to be called, "Mom" or "Dad" by a student.
I am a novice.
I get sad when the last day of school is over.
I can get choked up teaching something I love.
I didn't know how much I was getting paid my first year.
I am such a beginner.
My time estimation for a lesson is still sub par.
My desk is sometime covered in kid art I feel bad about chucking.
I still think it would be pretty cool to teach year round.
I forget a kid is getting picked up and send him to the bus.
I check my mailbox and then spend half my planning talking to a colleague.
I am an infant in teacher years.

As I reflect on all the stuff that makes me so inexperienced, I realize that many of those things can and probably will change in a few years. Some of these things I hate to think about them changing. I fear I will lose some of my passion and become that robot teacher (regurgitating the same lessons and jokes year after year). I am afraid I will let it just become a job.

A Song is A Song is A Song....

2010-07-16T04:31:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you love music. I jam on the way to school and I play music in the background when the kids are working. Rarely does my music taste connect with their music taste. I wanted to change that, so I ventured to explore out some radio friendly (all they listen to) music and evaluate it for teaching content. I was surprise at what I found. Their music was full of similes, analogies, figurative language, adjectives, idioms, and so on. Then it hit me that I could using their music to reinforce the topics I needed to teach.

Here is an example of what I did:

Artist: Owl City
Song: Rugs from Me to You

We talked about similes for two days (read the book "Crazy Like a Fox") and did some partner work with filling in the blanks of a story.

Next we listened to the song twice (it is short).
Then the kids worked with a partner to underline any line that had to do with hair.
They also put a star by any simile.
Here are the lyrics:
Toupee or not toupee
That is the question
It refused to stay as it all turned grey;
William Shakespeare's receding hair
Please excuse the pun,
'It's hair today, gone tomorrow'
So be thankful
For what precious locks you have

Toupee or not toupee
That is the question
And by the way
I just gotta say
Thank the Lord I'm not going bald
And if I may quip
My curls and I
Are just like heaven
'Cause rest assured
There'll be no parting there

But should my head get bare like Friar Tuck
(Our chase to swallow)
It makes me smile
'Cause I know just what I'd do

Yeah if I had more wigs than I knew what to do with
I'd open a secondhand store
And if you ever went bald
You'd recall it
'Cause I'd cleverly call it
'Rugs From Me To You

Then we discussed as a whole group their findings. The kids loved the song because it was catchy and Owl City is on the radio. They found similes and worked with figurative language without realizing it.

Has anyone else had success teaching with a song? Post your ideas!

You Can't! (Will Richardson Video)

2010-07-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

I love and agree with what Will Richardson has to say in this video. I fully believe that this new paradigm shift in connectedness and networking is here to stay. I think it is changing the classroom whether we accept it or not. Here is where you respond. You are passionate and ready to roll out a plan of action using blogs, twitter, social bookmarking, and online video. When you get to school with your outline for the year, you realize everything you want to use is blocked. You have to make a request for approval. What do you say to the principal whose technology baths have only included email?

Glogster (edu) amazing!

2010-07-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

Glogster (edu version)

I am extremely excited about the possibility of using this tool in my second grade class this year. I say possibly, because there is a high chance this amazing tool is blocked.

What do I love about it?
Kids can:

Create an amazing looking page with completely customizable backgrounds. Here is an example of one I created to introduce myself to my students.
Link almost anything you place on the page, including pictures, text, and graphics.
Easily embed their project on just about any page.
Place tags with their project to connect them with other similar glogs.
Easily incorporate animated graphics because they are include with the tool without using any code.
Do there project online (it's web-based) so there is nothing to download.
Access all their glogs through an easy to use dashboard (which include messaging, connections to classmates, comments, and simple data tracking).

Teachers can:

Create an entire class through their dashboard,
Subscribe to RSS feeds to track changes and updates.
Try the premium features free for a month and sign up to get loads of extra features.
Hit on Multiple Intelligences, Key in on Differentiated Instruction, Give freedom to Learning Styles, and Let Assessment lead the way.

Try it out and let me know what you think. I think you will be amazed at how much you can do.

Super Brain Yoga

2010-07-14T20:13:00.001-07:00

Can you really believe this stuff?

Super Brain Yoga

This lady at the Autism camp I work at swears that it is helpful for the kids. So far she has gotten 1 kid out of 10 to do it correctly.

It seems like a bunch of rituals and craziness to me!

What are your thoughts?

A New Way of Motivating

2010-07-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

I have only two years under my belt in this teaching world, so my opinion is warped and narrow (remember that!), but what if our whole system of motivation of wacky?! Check out Daniel Pink's video.

This is certainly not the perfect prescription of what needs to change, but it does point out thoughts for change. The first major change, and it is audacious for many to conceive, is that more money does not create better results. Think about how this works inside the teaching career. We get pay raises based on time and a few bumps for masters and doctors degree (that we have to get anyhow). Does that mean all the old experienced (greatly paid) and highly qualified teachers are not doing their best? Not at all, in fact many of them are doing amazing jobs because they work well in this style of work. The problem I see, and as the video shows, is that we could get even more results from our teachers if we would allow them to make creative decisions and products that benefit the whole. This leads me to the second major change. In our current model, there much space for a teacher to be creative in their class, but little space given to those teachers for making decisions that could effect and benefit the whole staff. We have too long depended on a top down leadership that selects the tools and modalities to be used and there is little input from the little man (like me). Are we getting a mere fraction from our teaching staff because we only motivate with dollars? What can be changed about the current system that would make this new motivation work?