Animal Classification

My students are really excited to create their animal classification game boxes. We will start creating them tomorrow or Friday. I did this activity last year and it worked out perfectly. I got the idea from the time capsule project we did last year. The students are going to make a mini box containing 3-D characteristics of their animal classification group. Then the groups will get to mix up their pieces and then sort them to play the game. I always find it interesting to see who takes the leader role in each group.

Famous American Museum

My class is finally having our Famous American Museum next Friday. The kids are really excited. We are presenting 6 Famous Americans and are inviting the parents, grandarents etc. to come in. The students are dressing up and memorizing the facts they learned about their Famous Americans. Although the project took way longer than planned - I'm still proud and excited!

Blogging... From Caterpillars to Butterflies

I think I know what I'm going to do for my blogging lesson. In a couple of weeks we are going to get monarch and painted lady caterpillars in our classroom. Therefore, I'm going to set up a blog for my students (for in class with me and for at home with their parents) to comment on the progress of the caterpillars to butterflies. As a class, we will post pictures daily and explain what our caterpillars are going through. I might post on the blog from the viewpoint of a caterpillar. I think the students and parents will both be excited about the blog!

Finishing Famous American Unit

I'm finally coming to an end on my Famous American Unit. We are in the final steps. For the finale of the project my students are putting together a museum of Famous Americans for their parents to come see. The museum will contain 6 Famous Americans. For each Famous American studied, there is a display board and two artifacts. It's amazing to see how much the students learned from this project but more importantly how excited they were to learn about the next Famous American! This project took a lot of prepping but now that I did it this year, next year will be a breeze! I actually can't wait until the parents come to the museum! It excites me as much as it excites the kids :)

Thoughts on Web 2.0

Web 1.0 was good for me when first learning web design (how to create a webpage). I liked being able to post information on the internet without anyone telling me that I was doing it wrong. It allowed me as the user to feel more confident.

However Web 2.0 is much more exciting as a user. I feel students will be more excited to use it as well because it allows for collaboration. It allows for more than one person to participate and reflect/comment through activities such as blogs and wikis.

Web 2.0 activities allow students to continue to edit, learn, and comment even after a project is over. It allows them to blog about current topics they are learning about as well as go back and comment on other people's blogs. Web 2.0 allows users to be continual learners to information they've read or posted/commented about.

COUNTDOWN :)

MySpace-Countdowns

By the way... this countdown is for the 2:00 Graduation Ceremony! Oh, and today is my half-birthday :)

Podcasts..Hmmmmm...

Yeah, I'm definitely a visual person so podcasts don't exactly hit my sweet spot.  I think I would enjoy podcasts though if I found a "show" that caught my ear.  I'd most likely be looking for comedy.  I also think I have to do more experimenting with Podcasts.  I might not be giving them a fair chance.  Maybe it's because I don't think I'm that great at making them.

I think students would have a fun time creating them.  I could see myself using podcasts in an interview manner for studying Famous Americans.  One student could pretend they are a Famous American we are studying and the other student could be the reporter.  I think the students would have so much fun with it.

Students might need help adding humor, but overall I think they'll enjoy sharing the interviews with their parents and classmates.

Wikis!

Honestly, this semester is the first time I've had to begin understanding what a wiki really is and how to use one.  It has also been the first time I've participated in a wiki by contributing to one.  Obviously, I have used wikis before (Wikipedia), but never knew what really went behind making one.  Also, I didn't know anyone could make one.

As a teacher I can definitely see myself using a wiki in my classroom.  I think like all new things it will be challenging to start with a second grade class, but once we get it rolling it will be easy and interesting for the students.  Again, just like the blogging, I would first introduce it as a whole class, then let them work in groups, and finally allow the students to try it on their own. 

Through class, I've learned how wikis are a great tool to use because students don't have to be at the same place or be online at the same time to edit the information.  They can give their imput and then always go back and change it as well.

One thing I do not like about wikis is that anybody can edit your information without your permission.  Also, because of this edit opition, wikis are not always accurate.  However, showing students how to work throught these issues and be aware of them too will allow students to become good users of information.  Students will have to learn how to decipher between what is accurate and inaccurate.  Through wikis students will learn how to collaborate through another online medium.

Personally I think students would have a fun time using wikis in the classroom and they might be more excited to share information because I was excited to be introduced to it!

BLOGS...

Blogs...Wow, where to start... 

At first, this puts me back to when I was in college and blogged a few times a week.  I also used to follow a lot of my friends' blogs in college...

However, now I'm in a different mind set and have to think about how I could use blogging in my classroom.  I think it would be fun to blog with my students as a whole class to start.  After they understand how it works, then I could give them an opportunity to blog in small groups and finally let them try to blog individually. 

Some ways I thought about how I can use blogging in my classroom:

• in reading: I could let them blog about how they can relate/connect themselves to characters in the story or relate to the author's message.
• in Soc. St. and Science we could use blogging to review what we've learned or what we want to learn more about

I think students would enjoy blogging. They will find it interesting to read and write blogs from their classmates.  It would be a good way for them to learn from each other.  This could also be a more effective way for engage students who don't enjoy reading or writing.

Wow! The Final Semester is Here :)

I can't believe it's the final semester!  This semester has been off to an interesting start for me.  As always, I feel overwhelmed, but hopefully that will begin to ease back as it has in the past few semesters.  On another note, I really like my online group and I'm also excited about my group in-class project.  After thinking about  the readings and learning about being a teacher leader, I know my school needs help. We just hired a new principal this year and she is wondering what we should do in our "Team Leaders'" meetings.  There is a part of me that wants to step in and give ideas about what we're doing in class, but there is the other part of me that isn't quite sure if my principal would be onboard with something new.