End of Year Reflection

When I told my students yesterday that we would be reflecting on our experiences from the past year they collectively groaned. A few whined, "I don't want to reflect." Perhaps we "reflected" too much over the school year! But once we got into it, they couldn't stop thinking about our year together and all of the things they had experienced together. One thought led to another and to another and to another.

The last thing we did before they left for summer break was share one thing that they would never forget about third grade, something they will take with them. The two things that came up consistently for my students was going on field trips and using technology. Those experiences will stay with them and held the most meaning for them. I'm reflecting on that!

cross posted at: http://principianteglobal.blogspot.com/

Research Writing with Podcasts

At the end of the year my students have been growing a little too comfortable with each other, me, and everything we do regularly in the classroom. The best thing to do seems to spice things up and add a little more variety to our learning! That's why I decided to have my students publish their expository paragraphs in a new way. They wrote about a topic they researched on the internet and with books. They created podcasts to publish their work. This motivated them to complete their paragraphs in a timely fashion and to do a good job with them. They loved recording their voices, even if most of them were a bit nervous at first. We used iPods with iTalks to create some voice memos. I then posted them on my website. Next we are going to listen to each podcast and the students are going to help assess each others' work using a rubric from Write Source for expository writing. I found this was an easy and fun way for students to publish their writing. Check them out on our classroom website. Does anyone have any other ideas on fun ways for students to publish writing?

lesson plan

Confessions of a Digital Film-Maker

cross posted at~http://principianteglobal.blogspot.com/

I have been making films with my students for over three years. Last year, six films were submitted to the film fest (check them out on my class website). I've developed a process to use with the students that connects making films with the writing process and draws on their love of film and their background knowledge. I have the students learn how to use Photo Story 3 for windows and Windows Movie Maker. We use the Smart board to make a film with each of the programs before students are given the freedom to plan and make their own films.

Some confessions:

1. I enjoy making films as much as my students do (or more)
2. Film making is easy for students to learn how to do (even third graders)
3. I always have students make a plan for their film first (they don't like that part very much)
4. I'd like to focus more on digital storytelling (versus film making)
5. I'd like to know how other teachers are using digital film making and storytelling with their students (I need more ideas)
6. Sometimes I have technical difficulties (like taping over parts of a student's film before it has been downloaded...oops!)
7. I haven't started making films with my students yet this year (so there is a small tear in my heart slowly growing larger)

How have you used digital film making with your students? Who is making films for the film fest this year? I'd love to hear your ideas!

teachers using technology

~cross-posted at: http://principianteglobal.blogspot.com/~





I am honored to work not only with fellow Global Learners but many other teachers who make 21st century learning a priority in their classrooms. As teachers in my school get introduced to new forms of technology they are impressed, inspired, and motivated to incorporate it into their classrooms and professional practices.
At Alsup, my team of fellow third grade teachers uses many forms of technology on a regular basis; the laptop carts, Discovery Education Streaming, websites, clickers, and document cameras. They are curious about wikis and blogs and would love their own websites. They find out more about these on their own and even try them out.

Laurie Arnold has created a student blog called Third Grade Bloggers that her students used last year and she plans to use it again this year. Brianna Sealy is always using video clips to support her teaching and she utilizes clickers with ease. Katie Coggin has started using the laptop cart during Writing and utilizes many math web based activities with her class. These are just a few of the many ways these teachers and others at my school have been proactively teaching with techonolgy.

Do teachers you work with utilize technology in their classrooms?

a new year!!!

I can't believe a new school year has begun! I've been busy learning how to use new teaching materials, getting to know my students and getting back into the routine. It is challenging being able to balance all of the different tasks for the week. I now feel ready to add using technology into the framework. I have so many ideas:

• smart board use during writing and math
• using the document camera instead of the overhead projector
• using vokis to liven up student writing
• using the classroom blog for my reading group
• using voicethread to compel student to think more critically about many topics we're learning about
• using a classroom wiki to collaborate with others

This is just a start! I hope to start out slowly and keep doing more and more as the students and I are able to integrate technological tools into our everyday learning.

My goals for integrating technology into my teaching this year include working more to master some tools I am already familiar with (like digital storytelling) and challenging myself to be more of a risk-taker and to try some new things (like voicethread).

Well...I better get started!

Poetry Wiki

I've been having some technology blues lately-I start a project and then don't finish it, or encounter some issues that I didn't expect, and spend too much time on something ridiculous. Does this happen to anyone else?

One thing I am excited about is the poetry wiki I created. So far my students have published their acrostic name poems there. Soon they will comment on them on the wiki. Please visit and leave your comments if you are so inclined! I decided to use wet paint, which Kelly S. recommended to me. I like how it looks visually, but discovered it doesn't allow for Voki widgets. Oh well, I guess I will keep searching for my favorite wiki site. Any suggestions?

Poetry Unit

This post is cross-posted at the Global Learners Blog.

One subject I love to delve into with my students is poetry. I believe that poetry helps them love language and see more possibilities in what language has the power to do.

My students will become poets through a poetry unit that I have designed. Students will create many poems as they learn different styles of poetry and then they will bring them together by creating a podcast of their poems, or a Photo Story. Also students will post a poem they write on a classroom poetry blog. This blog will provide the structure for students and others to respond to their poems and offer feedback.

I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations in regards to this poetry unit. Have you tried anything with your students to teach poetry using 21st century learning strategies or technologies? What worked? What other ideas would you suggest that I incorporate into this unit of study? I would appreciate any suggestions or feedback!

Please take a look at the lesson plan and a film about poetry I made on my website.

Bringing Yourself Into the Classroom

Wow...Is it really October? What happened to August and September? I feel like the last two months have passed by as quickly as a hummingbird in flight. Now that the school year is off to a crazy and lovely start and my students are getting used to me and I am getting used to them, I feel ready for the real learning and fun to launch into the next level!

I believe all teachers bring themselves into the classroom. I know I do. I share the things I love and enjoy with my students! I love reading, writing, poetry, and filmmaking! I love when my students ask questions about the world around them in critical ways, and I love allowing them the freedom and structure to answer those questions, or at least attempt to. I hope to bring my interest in technology into my classroom much more, starting NOW!

As a Global Learner in Adams County School District 14, I am given many resources and the support I need to teach my students with technology and to allow them to learn through technology. I feel very lucky to have that opportunity. I also feel that I have been so busy with the start of the school year so I haven't taken extra time and effort to utilize technology in my classroom as much as I would have liked, to take advantage of that opportunity.

As I write this blog post, I am writing to reaffirm my commitment to 21st Century Learning and to being a Global Learner. I am writing to remind myself that it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but I need to take small steps as I grow in my comfort level in teaching with technology. As I try out teaching with technology in new ways with my students it is scary and exciting. But the more I do it, the easier it will be. Overtime my students and I will be able to do more as we learn about 21st Century Learning tools together.

21st Century Learning Tools

I am a second language learner. I am not studying a spoken language of the world, but the fascinating world of technology. This summer I have been becoming familiar with new vocabulary words and concepts. Web 3.o, voki, technorati, wikis, blogs, clustrmaps, and more! What is more, I have been joining in and participating in this technologically minded world. Three months ago I didn't know what a wiki or blog was and now I have both! My classroom website will be up and running within the month! Then the journey with my students will begin! I am excited to start the next school year with so many new 21st century learning tools at my disposal. What will happen? Will my teaching improve? Will student participation, motivation and achievement improve? I think so... What do you think?