Day in a Sentence

This week Jo Hawke is hosting the Day in a Sentence challenge at her blog, MrsHawke.com. Stop by and add your own or check out all the sentences on Sunday.









After about 4 hours, my classroom begins to look ready for students.

Setting up my Classroom

I am going into school to work on setting up my classroom. Why is it assumed that teachers will do this? Technically, we don't go back until Aug. 21 but then we will have professional development activities and there will not be much time to get the room ready. Okay...enough avoidance. At least it is not 100 degrees today, which leads to another debate/thread discussing air conditioning in public schools.

Things to Think About...

I was directed to Katie's list of things to think about for back-to-school (and throughout the school year!) by Mary Lee at A Year of Reading.

It reminds me to keep the students and their needs as my focus. It is not about how cute my room is (or isn't) or the new clothes and supplies or even the what we teach. It is all about WHO we teach and how we can make learning meaningful for THEM.

As my previous district superintendent used to say, "Happy New Year"!

Summer Homework?

What are your thoughts on summer homework? After reading this article in the Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/04/AR2008080402231.html?nav=rss_print/asection I will have to contemplate what I "assign" in the future.

This summer my second graders had math "vitamins" to do each weekday. They had 3 calendars (June, July, August) with one review math problem to complete each day. It is not required and they do not return it to me. We encourage parents to check over their child's work so they will not practice incorrectly. I hope that by practicing each day the students will maintain skills over the summer. We compare them to vitamins because we do not want the students to do all the problems in one day defeating the purpose of maintaining their skills.

I also encourage them to read, but there is no required reading list. I guess I hope to instill the love of reading during the year so they will want to read without being required to read. Is this wishful thinking?

I suggest that they continue to write in their writing notebooks and/or find someone to email/snail mail during the summer. This is also not required.

Many of my students are quite busy with a ton of activities during the summer, but I also know that some of them spend the summer at the babysitter. As always, balancing their needs and motivating them to "practice" without a requirement is an interesting challenge.

15 Words or Less Poem Challenge

Cooperation
Around and around
Intertwined
Yet separate
Working together
Creating
A team
Work of art

Check out this challenge at http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/84255.html

Almost There!

My grad committee approved my project. Yeah!! I just have to make some minor adjustments to the paper so it can be stored for posterity in the records department. I plan to print it off, have it bound thinly without using metal, and submit 2 copies on Thursday.

Image from http://www.morguefile.com

Beetles!

These pretty, but nasty little bugs are everywhere. My parents' apple tree is completely brown! When you look at the leaves, you can see 12 - 15 beetles on each leaf. This picture is from the ivy in the front of my house. There are two different kinds and they like one particularly well. I have been picking them off of the day lilies and spraying the burning bush. Hopefully, they will move on soon, but with no real predators I'm not sure what the future holds.

Cookies & Committee Meeting

I have distributed the paper and dvd to each committee member.
I have baked the required treat to distribute at the meeting.
I am wondering what else I need to be doing before my (hopefully) final grad school committee meeting.

At least the cookies are yummy! ...and I feel like it was a highly productive master's project for a degree in Educational Technology. I spent a lot of time evaluating software, developing screencasts and incorporating them into videos to offer short tutorials on topics of interest to beginning teachers. It touched on all my classes in my degree plan. Wish me luck tomorrow!

Reading Poetry

I found these 3 poetry books at Tuesday Morning proving you just never know where you can find a great book!



The Ocean Is... compares the ocean to other places familiar to children. For instance, a closeup picture of a shark compares the ocean to a dentist's office. This book has gorgeous photographs by Norbert Wu.






Hot Potato: mealtime rhymes was written by Neil Philip. This one has some tricky words such as placidly, persist and tureen, but they work into the known subjects visited in this book with poems about cake, jelly sandwiches, picnics and the cafeteria.




Swing around the Sun by Barbara Juster Esbensen contains poems that take you through the seasons of the year. These poems are accompanied by the artwork of Cheng-Khee Chee, Janice Lee Porter, Mary GrandPre and Stephen Gammel. The artists create a visual playground that is just as fun as reading the poetry.

Day in a Sentence

Check out Kevin's Meandering Mind to learn more about this challenge.

My entry this week:
The sun breaks though the clouds as my master's project nears completion.

15 Words or Less Poem Challenge

I found this weekly challenge at Laura Salas' blog: Writing the World for Kids. http://laurasalas.livejournal.com She provides the picture as inspiration for a quick poem. http://laurasalas.livejournal.com/83010.html



Radiance
Morning arrives
Slowly drifting in
As my eyes open
to the glory of the day.

Spell with Flickr

This is a fun tool! It takes the word or words given and finds letter pictures from Flickr creating your word in pictures. If you don't like a particular letter, click on it and it will change to another selection.

link to Spell with Flickr

Ideas are Poppin' in Second Grade

After a trip to the teacher store to look for thematic back-to-school stuff, the theme idea has changed. Now we are looking at a popcorn theme.

I bookmarked some webpages.

• del.icio.us popcorn bookmarks

Here are some stickers.

• Popcorn stickers

More ideas...
• Look Who Popped in to Second Grade!

Ideas from Melissa:

Estimation
Popcorn in a jar

Graphing
What kind of popcorn do you like best?
plain, butter, caramel, cheese

Glyph
stripes on bag a certain color, number of kernels, draw a picture in middle circle of bucket of hobby, sentence along the top lip of the popcorn bucket (see pdf)?

Read poem/song in hallway
www.canteach.ca/elementary/songspoems94.html

I think it's the 4th one I like--didn't know if happy little fellow could be changed to second grade someway

Different character for math, reading, etc
www.popcorn.org/kids/books/coloring.cfm


Popcorn boxes for homework
www.popcornpopper.com/16605.html

Possible Bulletin Board Titles

newsletter: What's Popping Up in Second Grade?

hallway: Ideas are Popping in Second Grade or
Let's Make Second Grade Pop!

possibilities:

Munch a Bunch of Math

Take a Bite out of _____________

Chew on Some __________ Strategies

Mouth Watering Work!
This Work Really POPS!
An Explosion of Poppin' Good Work!

Pop Open a Good Book! (from Upstart They have some bookmarks,stickers, etc...)

Image from webweaver.nu

More Lillies

Lillies

I love when the lillies bloom. They require a minimum of care for some brilliant flowers.

Websites with a Writing Correlation

This summer I am working on an independent study regarding how technology can be used to enhance writing in the classroom. I have found several websites. Check out the list here at http://writingsites.googlepages.com.

Image from Discovery Education's Clipart Gallery

2008 Olympics

Kathi Mitchell's Olympic Site has some great links for kids!

Writing & Technology

My de.icio.us bookmark tags have been changing in direct correlation to my INO 599: Independent Study - Writing and Technology. Interesting how writing has become a LARGE part of my thinking lately. Compared to the links on my school web page where writing workshop only has ONE link!

Science is still obviously a big part of my teaching. but I was surprised that math is such a major part. Although, it is relatively easy to find sites that drill math skills. I also use several of these sites for review and practice with my students.

Happy Fourth of July!

Day in a Sentence

Here is my entry for this week.

Graduate school projects consume my time!

Now you know why I haven't been blogging. :-)

This challenge comes from Kevin's Meandering Mind .

Day/Week in a Sentence

This week brings randomness due to no established summer schedule.

Remember: This challenge comes from Kevin's Meandering Mind .

Summer Goals

It's Summer Break time here in the midwest!

I have some goals in mind but find that I do better if I actually make lists. So here it goes...

1. Finish graduate school! (1 project left and 2 committee meetings)

2. Read professionally: Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor (Check out a recommendation here. )and the daily 5 by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser.

3. Start walking again (at least 4 days a week). I ran into a definite time crunch at the end of school and now I am having a terrible time starting again!

4. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Think healthy. :-)

5. Sand whiteboards for classroom. Dad and I cut the huge shower board from Menard's last fall. My old boards are showing a lot of wear.

Hopefully, actually writing them will help me stick to them.

Theme Thoughts

I needed a place to gather my thoughts & sites for next year's theme. Yes, it does seem early to be thinking about this, but I generally need to let the thoughts simmer for a while before they grow into real "do-able" ideas. So here is my spot to collect ideas...



Melissa thought about a sunglasses type theme last year with
• Our Future Looks So Bright, That We Have To Wear Shades
Here are some pictures and some other word thoughts.

•"Sun"sational Second Graders
• Our future is bright!
• So smart - we shine!
• School is for the Cool!
• Brilliant
• reflection

I've Got a Hunch
This is a Bright Bunch!
See Bulletin Board



More web sites with beginning of school stuff:
• Back to School
• Bulletin Boards
• Shades of Summer - Art Lesson
• Fall Bulletin Boards (Look 3 from bottom of page for sunglasses theme)
• Theme Ideas (Look at #5: Cool Cats)

Possible cubby hangers?
• sun w/ sunglasses

Words: Wonderful Words

I used my recipe poem to create a Wordle cloud. Fun! 
It might be an interesting way to practice spelling, word wall or vocabulary words.


(Click on the picture for a larger view.)

I try to read Donovan's Word Jar to get kids excited about words, but it has been difficult lately to squeeze in this chapter book even though it is short.  In the process of purging some educational magazines I found Max's Words as a suggested book.  A picture book may be exactly what I need.  I previewed Max's Words by Kate Bank at Amazon and that led to  The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter.  I have ordered them from the library for a better look before actual purchase.  

Day in a Sentence

This week's day in a sentence challenge is to try creating a comic. Kevin suggested using Make Beliefs Comix. It was quite easy to use. I'm not sure that I am a very good at writing for cartoons, though. Here is my attempt.

6 Words - Day/Week in a Sentence

Here is my 6 word week in a sentence:

A whirlwind of activities encompasses me!

It's been an extremely busy and non-routine week for me (...and it's only Wednesday). I hope it becomes calmer soon, but I don't really expect it. ;-)




If you want to learn more about Day/Week in a Sentence see Kevin's Meandering Mind blog for more details!

Color Poem - #8

It's hard to believe that this is my 8th poem. I am surprisingly happy to have written a poem every day. Thanks for allowing me to participate in this poetry challenge, as I am sure that it has helped me to grow as a writing teacher! (It has also required me to practice blogging again.)

Pink

Pink is the color of a newborn's soft, snuggly blanket.
Pink is a piece of juicy watermelon dripping on toes in the heat of summer.
Pink is the sugary sweet growing bubble blown until it pops covering a nose.
Pink is the color that rises across cheeks in a moment of embarrassment.
Pink are the aromatic roses in a wedding bouquet.
Pink is the brightly colored sweater that earns the wearer compliments.
Pink is the polish covering the long smooth fingernails.
Pink is the color of the warm flannel nightgown.
Pink is the color of memories.

5 Senses - 7th Poem

This 5 Sense Poem has a different format than the one that I have used with my students.

Here is my draft.





Excitement is orange!
It sounds like lightning striking.
It feels like school starting.
It tastes like circus popcorn
Eaten under a 3 ring circus tent!






Here is a shared 5 Sense Poem that my students and I wrote earlier this year.

First Day of School
Old friends from first grade
Teachers greeting new students
Cooks making the first meal to share
Tasting hot dogs at lunch
Glad to be learning again
First Day of School

Week in a Sentence

After writing all those poems for A One Week Poetry Challenge, here is my week in a sentence.

A week of poems
Recipes, couplets, senryus
Whirling in my mind

Thanks to all the kind comments and inspiration from everyone at Two Writing Teachers Blog! Thanks also to you Kevin for hosting Day in a Sentence. I appreciate the opportunities to inspire my writing.

I Remember... Sixth Poem

We have been working on personal narratives at school. This week we read Ghost's Hour, Spook's Hour by Eve Bunting. Then we brainstormed, planned and wrote about a time when we were scared. I love how Ms. Bunting uses sound words and great descriptive writing. My model was about the tornadoes experienced in our community a couple of years ago.


I Remember Poem

I remember the sky turning dark even though it was late afternoon.
I remember the sound of the powerful blowing wind.
I remember the brightly colored weather maps on t.v.
And then only black as all the power ceased.
I remember the screaming of the warning sirens.
I remember collecting the couch cushions and crawling into the space under the stairs.
I remember listening to the crashing, the banging and the howling
I remember the terrifying waiting
Even praying that it would all be over soon.
I remember the silence after the storm, the destruction and the fear.
I want to forget, but in the spring, I always remember.

Fifth Poem - Senryu

The challenge to write 8 poems in 8 days continues. See the Two Writing Teachers blog for more details! Here are my Senryu attempts. This was a new one for me. I had never heard of them.





Standardized testing
Colored bubbles on a page
Change lives forever







And one more!

A moment in life
Flowing across the blue lines
Telling a story




Images provided by school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart

Fourth Poem - Couplet

The poetry challenge for today is a rhyming couplet. I have really enjoyed reading other posts with pictures, so here is my attempt to add a picture to my poem.





Beautiful flowers in a vase.
Secret admirer - mystery case!

Third Poem - Acrostic

I loved today's example poem, Did I Miss Anything?, by Tom Wayman. I can definitely relate to it!

I am borrowing a short acrostic poem from my writing journal for today.

Snuggle in
Lights off
Eyes close
Even breathing
Peaceful slumber

Second Poem

The second poem challenge was to write an "I used to be... But now I am..." poem. I had some trouble brainstorming one of these, so my poem turned into a different comparison poem of winter and spring. Here is a draft.

In Winter, In Spring

In winter, I shovel snow.
In spring, my umbrella keeps me dry.

In winter, flakes dance in the wind
In spring, the sky begins to cry.

In winter, I wear mittens.
In spring, my hands are free.

In winter, I build snowmen.
In spring, the flowers I see.

In winter, all is quiet.
In spring, the birds begin to sing.

In winter, I am freezing cold.
In spring, I feel the warmth of the sun

In winter, the poem began.
In spring, the poem is done.

Recipe Poem

This week Stacey from Two Writing Teachers  has proposed an 8 day poetry challenge in honor of Poetry Month. Today's suggested poem is a "recipe poem". I began by brainstorming "recipe words" while I used a machine of torture at the Fitness Center this morning. I came home and drafted one poem. I wrote another shorter poem in the Blood Bank waiting room before spending the next few hours in a series of bizarre events as my body protested losing its pint of blood. I am feeling better now, so here is my short poem which I prefer at this point in time.

Recipe for A Successful Classroom

Mix a variety of kids
With 1 great teacher.
Add a plethora of books,
A sprinkling of paper,
A dash of manipulatives,
And a handful of pencils.
Bring to a boil with inspired instruction.
Fold in a dash of technology.
Simmer for about 9 months.
Yields approximately 1 year of engaged learning.

Happy Poem Writing!

Another Ed/Tech Video

Pay Attention Video

This video is helpful in demonstrating the usefulness of a degree in Educational Technology

I'm still Learning!

I have been taking classes that don't require me to blog, so I have been absent for awhile. I am getting closer to completing my grad degree, making time more and more valuable.

Recently, I have been exploring Web 2.0 applications, including blogging and other interesting programs. I discovered Shelfari, a website that allows one to add books read to a bookshelf, creating a visual representation of books read. Adding a bookshelf to a blog is possible, so I have added a bookshelf containing the books that I am currently reading.

Sleep is important too so I will blog more later!

Reflection on Technology & Me

My best advice on using technology in the classroom is to start small and keep learning and adding technology to the curriculum based on your needs and your learners’ needs. Technology is such a vast field that one can quickly become overwhelmed if one tries to do everything possible all at once.
Technology will be part of my students future as well as my own. It is certainly in all of our best interests to keep pursuing new knowledge in this area. My students rarely are intimidated by the use of technology and usually find the use motivational and engaging. Using technology to teach all subject areas usually is a beneficial adventure.
I completed the Teacher’s Survey “Rubric for Advanced Computer Use (http:www.ed.gov/pubs/EdTechGuide/appc-7.html) and generally scored threes. I am comfortable using technology with my students and helping my coworkers with technology problems and projects. I still have room to grow to become a true “techno geek”.
I plan to continue my personal and professional growth in the field of technology in several ways. First, I just received a new iPod for my birthday. =) Now, I can experiment with podcasts more easily. Subscribing to a technology podcast will help to keep me aware of current advances in technology. I will also continue to read my RSS feeds involving technology: T.H.E Journal (http://thejournal.com ), Technology and Learning (http://www.techlearning.com )and Wired (http://www.wired.com/technology.html ), as they arrive as daily reminders on my computer. I will continue with classes focusing on technology at UIS. These classes have been very helpful with current technologies and applying them to my classroom. My district is also helpful in maintaining my tech awareness. I receive an online newsletter and attend tech facilitator meetings and SpICE (Springfield Illinois Computing Educators) (http://chapters.iceberg.org/spice ) meetings. Finally, Jason’s presentation reminded me that my school has a “Jeopardy type” response system in the wire closet. (Yes, the closet!) My goal is to get it out over winter break and see if it could be used with my students.
I will continue to add technology to my class curriculum and to enhance my personal life as a learn about new technologies and grow as a technology user.

My Topic - Trying, Reflecting, Refining
Technology Integration

On page 118, Coppola makes a statement about technology integration. She says, “The key to the elusive process we call technology integration is to evolve the technological uses at the same time as, and intertwined with, curriculum and instruction.” I was impressed with the talent that the teachers from Woodland School exhibited in their content area and with technology. I believe that when the teacher truly understands the content knowledge that he/she wants to share with the students then he/she can see the possibilities available with technology. I also believe in the “trying, reflecting, refining” method (p. 119-122). I have tried some projects with the technology that I have loved and continued using and I have attempted some projects that I abandoned for a different method.
For example, we are currently studying the phases of the moon. Many teaching guides suggest that the students observe the moon each night and make a calendar to demonstrate the changing look of the moon. I decided to check the Internet for pictures of the moon and found some great sites! This provided an option for those cloudy nights. It also made it possible for students to catch up. Even though this began as a “home project”, we have begun to check the moon phases each day during our calendar time. (http://imagiware.com/astro/moon.cgi ) This way the students without Internet access are included and the entire class has a daily reminder of their moon homework. This was a tiny simple integration that really raised the students’ interest and aided in their understanding.
We tried another project where we graphed temperature data. As part of our calendar math, the class checked the temperature of three cities and compared them by making a line graph. The students used a webpage that I created using “stickers” from www.wunderground.com to check the temperatures and we recorded the temperatures on a graph. When I learned about Pages and how it could make a line graph by typing in the temperatures, we tried it. It did not work as effectively as our paper and pencil created graph. We no longer had the daily opportunity to “round” numbers as we placed the temperatures on the graph. We didn’t have the actual graph hanging in the front of the room for ongoing observation. We could still compare the data, but were not gaining the actual graphing skills that were learned with the paper and pencil graph. I abandoned the line graph for this project in favor of the “old-fashioned” method.
According to Coppola, “It (trying, reflecting, and refining) is at the center of the developmental process by which the teachers created uses for classroom technology.” (p. 122) I think that most teachers informally complete this process all the time, for every lesson and project whether it involves technology or not. Taking time to reflect on teaching practices improves teaching methods. I plan to continue to learn about technology practices through my district’s technology facilitator meetings and through classes at UIS. As I learn more about technology, I plan to continue trying, reflecting and refining to meet the needs of my students.



Coppola, E. M. (2004). Powering up: Learning to teach well with technology. New York: Teachers College Press.

Resource Pages

My resource page (http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/teachers/apyle/links) is constantly growing and changing as we explore new curriculum. I think as more families obtain home access to the Internet a resource page will become even more valuable. I use it as a parent reference, a student reference and as an organizational tool for myself.
Student reference: My students are seven and eight years old and can not type accurately. I definitely do not want them typing addresses into the computer. It is too easy to make an error and open an unwanted website. I bookmark the sites that they are to use and then they just need to click on the bookmark. Each morning when they use the computers, they check the direction sheet and click on the appropriate bookmark.
When we complete beginning research projects, I also bookmark appropriate sites for the students to use. This not only keeps them from visiting unwanted sites, but also helps to focus them and saves them from hours of searching through unhelpful material.
Parent reference: I add links to our class web page for parents to explore with their children. These links help with reviewing concepts or extend activities that we complete in class. For example, the students need to be able to complete 100 addition problems in five minutes. This is very difficult for some students. The web page has several links for practicing math facts. We are also studying the moon currently. I added a link to the web page that explains the phases of the moon and another link that shows pictures of how the moon should appear each night in the sky.
Teacher reference: This resource page also helps me to organize the useful sites that I have found. I don’t have to find that scrap of paper or search through my bookmarks for the great website address that I remember from last year. It also helps other teachers in my building to find good websites without spending the search time. I also look at other second grade teachers’ resource pages to “borrow” great sites from them!
I can’t imagine using the Internet effectively without some sort of resource page. I could continue to bookmark sites, but I find the resource page more friendly and easy to use. When the resource page is a web page, it is convenient to share with other teachers saving some time searching for appropriate sites. It also becomes accessible by my students’ families at home. This helps to build that home-school connection that is a great asset to student success.

Web 2.0 Applications

Wow! I certainly had no idea of the many Web 2.0 applications that are available for use on the Internet. I began by reading Ben Hunt’s article, The future web2.0 social experience. (http://www.webdesignfrom scratch.com/future-social-web-experience.cfm) Instead of giving me answers, I think it actually made me more confused. I read the article, Ajax: A New Approach to Web Applications and then skipped down to Dion Hinchcliffe’s Web 2.0 Blog. (http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2005.htm ) This article was very easy to read and offered many applications to try.
I began with Writely.com and soon discovered that it has been obtained by Google and is now called Google: Docs & Spreadsheets (http://docs.google.com ) It also doesn’t work yet with Safari, but I switched to FireFox and it worked fine. I am interested in this application because any person with access to the Internet could use this program and have a common word processor. It would make editing and collaboration easier, especially when the document is also stored on the Internet. I learned that documents that I create can be sent directly to my blog which could be handy. I don’t plan to use this particular application with my second graders, but I do see great uses for it with the teachers in my building. It would make sharing documents and spreadsheets much easier. If I had older students and several computers with access to the Internet, I could teach one word processor instead of several versions used by different computers in my room. I like the options that this program offers.
I also experimented with Doodle, an online polling application. (http://www.doodle.ch ) This program allows the user to create polls with a title, description, date and times. It could be really useful for scheduling meetings. The following is a screenshot of the example poll.

Each participant can log in and mark times that they are available to meet. I thought that this would be great for voting in the classroom and set up a poll for voting for the Illinois Governor on election day. The only drawback is that every participant can see the other results. This is great if you are setting up a meeting, but not so good if you want an anonymous poll. If they would add the option to see results or hide results, I could easily set up one computer station and rotate students through to collect data.
Hipcal (http://www.hipcal.com ) was my next adventure. This application allows the user to create an online calendar that can be shared with others. It also uses the calendar events to create a to - do list and can send alerts so you will not forget anything. It seemed very similar to iCal, a calendar program on my iBook. It allows you to view the calendar by day, week or month. Settings will allow you to add categories and subcategories and to color code each. All categories can be viewed or hidden as desired. For example, I listed school, church and work activities but could easily hide any of the three. There is a memo option for notes and an alert option for reminders. This calendar might be good for posting a school calendar or creating a printable calendar with due dates for a project.
Finally, I examined a movie site and a restaurant site. The movie site (http://www.criteo.com) allows the user to critique movies and find other users that enjoy the same movies thus creating suggestions for new movies. The restaurant guide (http://www.toeat.com ) is in the process of being created. Like Ben Hunt’s vision for Web 2.0, it requires users to participate by adding favorite restaurants and offering reviews of the food. Many people need to become involved in adding restaurants and reviewing them and then soon the site will include a plethora of restaurant information.
Although, I have not found many applications to use directly with my second graders. I have learned about some applications that could be useful to the organization of my classroom and the collaboration and sharing of information with peers which will affect the way I teach and how my students learn. Gaining this knowledge also made me more aware of using the Internet in new ways.

Problem-Solving

Click on the title to hear the audiofile.

Many times the second grade curriculum needs to be demonstrated or practiced in a concrete way so the students can understand the concept. Our current science unit is The Sun and Family. While the students can see the sun, most students assume that the sun is moving around the Earth because we see the sun rise in the east and set in the west. I demonstrate how the Earth rotates by setting up an overhead projecter to act as the sun and we use the globe for the Earth. Then the students can see the light from the projector/sun lighting one half of the globe/Earth at a time. They can see how the Earth’s rotation causes day and night.

To aid in this understanding, I have also found a site on the Internet to show this concept. (http://www.cne-siar.gov.uk/school/tolstaprimary/dayandnight/) Sometimes the students need to practice the concept multiple times before the understanding is complete. I will quickly tire of spinning the globe around the overhead projector, but the computer will continue to play the same sequence over and over tirelessly. (I guess if I would find someone to videotape me spinning the globe I could become tireless too!)

I also search the Internet for graphics, video clips or short movies to demonstrate concepts of space. Unitedstreaming.com is a great source of videos and videoclips. Brainpop.com also offers great cartoon mini movies on many topics for a range of learners. Unfortunately, these sites are not free.

I believe that hands-on projects and simulations do help the students to learn more effectively. They become active participants in their own learning by performing the steps of the process. Hands-on experiments, computer simulations and videos can all aid in the students’ learning.

Video in the Classroom

Click on the title to view my mini-movie made using Jumpcut at Jumpcut.com.

In my second grade classroom, we have done some beginning steps leading up to video production but have not actually made any videos.

The class went on a field trip last week to Adams’ Wildlife Sanctuary. On this trip, each adult leader carried a digital camera. When the group stopped at a station, they were required to prove that they had completed the station by posing for a picture. These pictures were downloaded into iPhoto on a stationary iMac. A slideshow will be produced for the parents to watch while waiting for Parent/Teacher conferences this week. I will also use these pictures in our newsletter, upload some to our class web page and some will be used for writing workshop. Each child receives a picture and writes about it using complete sentences and details. Sometimes these are printed for a book. They could also be used in the storyboard for a movie retelling our field trip.

I used Jumpcut to practice making a very short movie with pictures from our trip, clipart and an audiofile. The clips and audio uploaded easily. It was simple to add titles and audio. I also changed the style. The only difficulty I experienced was impatience. I kept trying to change things while things were rendering or uploading. I was using my quick connection at school and not my modem at home! I have used iMovie in the past. Jumpcut seemed to work similarly.

My students would require quite a bit of supervision during a project like this. I have thought about trying some short videos showing the students completing an action. For example, some could hop and some could jump and some could swing. These could be put together into a short video about verbs. Hopefully, this would help them to understand a verb as an action word.

It is good to know that these movies can be saved and displayed on a web page. I would need to know how to condense the movie to make it open more easily using slower connections. Jeff had good suggestions regarding shooting video that I would need to consider during the preproduction, production and postproduction stages of video-making.

PDA Articles

Click the title to hear the audiofile.

In the recent past, I thought that Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were only used by business people to keep track of appointments through a calendar and to organize the addresses and phone numbers of contacts. As I began reading this week, I learned about using PDAs on field trips to collect data using probes and taking notes with a writing program. I began to see uses for older students in classrooms.

PDAs can provide portability that is not as easily available with laptop computers. For several years we have taken a field trip to Adams’ Wildlife Sanctuary. Each group brings a digital camera to record their findings. Each child takes a pencil and “spy book” to record their data. Recording their thoughts on the trip makes it much easier for them to remember the trip when we return to the classroom. Taking PDAs on field trips would provide a similar option that could be downloaded into a computer or printed upon our return.

When I found the examples from elementary schools, I began to rethink my views on PDAs. On page 59 in the article, Palm Education Pioneers Program Final Report (www.palmgrants.sri.com/PEP_Final_Report.pdf), some ESL teachers began to use the word wall on PDAs. This provided a portable word wall. (A word wall is actually a place on the wall where words are placed that are highly used and difficult to spell or words that will aid in the spelling of other words.) It no longer matters where the student is sitting in the room or even if they want to write in the library or in a special teachers classroom. They can have the word wall with them.

I could also relate to the student from Arlington Public Schools that couldn’t write more than a few sentences but can finish a rough draft in one sitting using a PDA. (http://www.palm.com/us/education/studies/index.html) These students are using a program called FreeWrite to work through the steps of the writing process. The article said that editing and revising with peers became more popular when the writing could be “beamed” to a peer or traded on the PDA. The students also wrote more because they were interested in using the technology. I have a few students that probably would be affected in the same way.

Finally, reading some of the suggestions from the 101 Uses for Handhelds found at www.k12handhelds.com made me wonder why I had never purchased a PDA for myself. A PDA can also be a valuable resource for a teacher in the areas of grading, organization and web use. Learning about PDAs opened a new area of technology in the classroom for me.

Simulations, Gaming and Virtual Reality

Click on the title to hear the audiofile.

According to Ellen Wagner in the article, Enabling Mobile Learning, mobile learning will respond to the on-demand learning interests of connected citizens in an informationcentric world. (p. 44) My students are learning to multitask. It is part of their world. The television is usually on while a conversation is happening and everyone is eating dinner. Many students do their homework while listening to the television, radio or iPod and talking on the phone. This is our students’ life.

The Wikipedia article that contains information about the Croquet Project paraphases Papert in saying that children growing up in France naturally learn French. In the past, I had students in my classroom from other countries that did not speak English. The total immersion in an English speaking atmosphere helped them to quickly learn many Engish words. Therefore, if students could virtually visit other countries or time periods or even a land of math it seems that they could learn more quickly and easily through the experience.

At first, I thought there was no possible way to incorporate gaming into my classroom in the next six months. We don’t have enough updated equipment. I don’t know enough about creating or finding appropriate sites to correlate with the curriculum. But then I started to break the concept down into smaller more appropriate pieces.

Mimi Ito and Angela MacFarlane from the conference presentation last week stated that gaming is a social event. It is a good way for students to combine their talents and work together toward a common goal. Tom Snyder has developed some software based on simulations and a gaming concept. It divides the students into groups and provides a math or science problem that must be solved. The teams work together to solve the problem. The problem is presented through a computer or DVD interface. Many of the problems are geared toward older students, but I can check into this software and see if any is appropriate for second graders.

Staying with the theme of working together and multitasking, I can continue to provide some group projects. We usually do one or two a quarter and try to add more each year. Learning to work together with others is an important concept that can be built on in the future.

Finally, I know that there are some panoramic views already created on the Internet for use in the classroom. I will look for some that correlate with our curriculum and try to use them during instruction.

Article Review

Brain-Based Learning: Possible Implications for Online Instruction

URL - http://www.bucks.edu/IDlab/onlinetips_brainbased.htm

Author - This article was written by Stephanie A. Clemons, Associate Professor, Department of Design & Merchandising, Colorado State University. This article was published in the International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning.

Thesis - The author provides a correlation between brain-based learning and online learning. She also provides tips for online instruction based on ways the brain retains information.

Content -Clemons begins the article by reviewing the parts of the brain and how it functions. She also summarizes brain-based learning with websites provided for additional information. Then, she furnishes tips to enhance classroom instruction based on brain-based learning information.

Conclusions - Clemons believes that brain-based learning can aid in the memorization of information. All participants need to be actively involved in the learning process. The class needs to be structured to make meaningful connections for each learner and delivered in a learner centered environment. She also cautions instructors to carefully think about the brain, how students learn and their program of instruction considering the benefits of altering the current program.

I found Clemons’ tips worth considering for any class. For instance, I believe that establishing a safe environment is important in all learning situations and providing experiences based on different learning styles can reach more learners. These tips helped to relate the brain information to daily classroom instruction.

Article Review

How All Students Can Participate in Internet Research and Distance Education

URL - http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=164302301

Authors - This article was written by Christine Y. Mason, Ph.D. Educational Consultant and President, Mason & Associates, Senior Research Scientist, New Editions, Inc., McLean, VA and Richard Dodds, Director of Instructional Technology, Lasell College, Newton, MA. Another article written by Mason and Dodds: Bridge the Digital Divide
for Educational Equity. Education Digest, 70, 25. 

Thesis - Even though some students are limited by physical or learning disabilities, there are ways to provide adaptations which make the same Internet resources available to all students.

Content -The authors discuss the importance of the Internet in the classroom and the barriers that may be presented to some students. They provide some hardware and software solutions. A list of principles to consider to facilitate accessibility is included and several resources to aid in the provision of assistive technology.

Conclusions - Mason and Dodds state that it is possible to provide adaptations to technology to make Internet research and distance learning possible for all learners.
This article offered many suggestions that covered a wide range of factors that can affect a student’s ability to learn. The principles to consider that facilitate accessibility were helpful to me in my “regular education” classroom. Last year, one of my students was in a wheelchair with both legs in an a-frame brace. Since he could not pull up under most of our tables, it was much easier for him to use the laptop computer. Next year, there is a student that has limited physical ability. She has an adapted keyboard and scanner. Becoming familiar with resources and knowing that many adaptations are possible are beneficial for me and my students.