Spanish Books for Santa Matilda, Nicaragua Library

Thanks to some of my parents and co-workers we are sending 54 Spanish Children's books to the only library (including the school) in Santa Matilda, Nicaragua. My sister-in-law is flying down on Saturday to donate the books and help with needs. I'm hoping to send more in June. Thanks to all who donated!!!

Scaredy Squirrel at night

What are you scared of?

Table of Contents - Math Open Reference

Table of Contents - Math Open Reference

BrainNook, Virtual Learning Site

I've found a fun site for playing elementary educational games. Go to the site below and sign up to play. To use Brain Nook a parent must confirm the creation of a child's account. Parents also have access to a "parent report center" where they can see what their children have been doing in Brain Nook. Most of Brain Nook is free, but there are some premium features that you can elect to purchase. Enjoy! http://www.brainnook.com/

Great Writing Blog!!

I just found this..I'm so excited. I can't wait to sit down and go through previous posts. I'm going to try the 6 word memoir with my class.
http://www.teachingauthors.com/

Do you want to be a Writer?

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=194752
You have to get through about a 15 second ad at the beginning. An author shares her ideas about what to do when you have writer's block.

Words That are Speaking to Me......

Have you been there before? You read something and it jars a memory, gives you a warm feeling, reminds you of a sad time? You don't want to forget those words! I read the blog by Two Writing Sisters this morning about words that speak to you. I'm now adding 'Words That are Speaking to Me' as a mini lesson and sub-title for my student's Writer's Notebooks, and mine as well! I can't wait to see which words are speaking to my students. :)

Aimee Buckner chooses Mentor Text for Writing

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1260.cfm

Thanks School Box: A Learning Experience Blog

I introduced my teaching buddy, Ms. Hair, to a Learning Experience. She had a great comment and won a $20 gift card. You really need to check it out.

The School Box is Great!

I just received another $20.00 gift card in the mail. I was picked because of my comment on their Learning Blog. You really need to check it out. Hmmmm, what do I need for my classroom?

The Boy Who Loved Words

Great book for Writer's Workshop. We want all of our students to love words.

What if Everybody Did?

This is a great book to use the first week of school. We read and talked about classroom and school rules. Students then created their own "What if Everybody Did" page in their Reading Response Journals. We shared. They loved it!
Thank you Jane and Kim for sharing this book with me.

Online Site for Reading, Writing, Math

I have a student who is in and out of my classroom throughout the day. I'm looking for a great online site for reading, writing, and math games. I don't want to fill time...I want something that is worthwhile..any suggestions?

PLN and Reflections

My PLN would be twitter (@cdwiley). I signed up for my account last year and never really used it. Because of this course I have used my acct just about every day. I'm still playing around with it to get it where I want it. I have gotten good tips and information about teaching and using tech in the classroom. I can't live without my Google Reader/Blogs. I check this several times a day. I've also received lots of teaching/technology information from these accounts/posts. I'm still playing around with Wiki's. I really want to figure out how to use these in the classroom.

I have really enjoyed taking this course. I would have liked to have had at least one face to face session...maybe half way through. It has been exciting, interesting, challenging, and yes..frustrating at times. But, if something is easy..you haven't really learned anything...right? Please continue this class through the school year so that I can really get this technology into my classroom. I hate to take a class and then when school starts I have no time to implement.
Thanks to Kathy (our media specialist) for taking the time to put this together and for allowing me to participate.

Teacher Tube; You Tube

I think I'm addicted to Teacher Tube. I found two videos to use in the classroom. 1. Adding and Subtracting Fractions. 2. Cool Place Value. I also found a how to...how to make a bar graph. I will be using this in the next few weeks. For my fun video I found a cute rendition of "Poker Face" to use in the classroom. It is called "Test Taker Face". This would be cute to remake using students in our school.
I do think the digital storytelling would work in my classroom. I need to think about how to work it into my writer's workshop.
I'm still having a problem re-showing the videos. I'm not sure if my Zamzar account went through.

Google Docs

I love Google Docs. I really think I can use these many different ways. My classroom could write a community story. I could collaborate with my teaching partner so that we are not playing email tag. I also think I can use it in my personal life...putting together a holiday menu with my sister in laws...putting together a bridal, baby shower.
I just added another subscription to my Google Reader. theitclassroom, It is written by a 6th grade teacher using current technology in her classroom. There are some great ideas that can be tweaked for all classrooms. Check it out!

2010-2011 School Year!

I'm very excited. I met 23 out of 26 students on Thursday at open house. What a great day. I'm ready to get to know my new third graders.
Our school is reading The Daily 5. I've checked out the website and I'm ready to get started. Our school is also reading a math book for math workshop (the title has left me at the moment). I'm very interested because I am implementing math workshop this year. :) I will keep you posted.

Social Bookmarking

I do like this idea of social bookmarking. I want to explore more. I've added a few of my favorite bookmarks. I need a little more help with the organization of the bookmarks. I'm having a hard time finding the tag icon to add to my toolbar. This tech language can get a little confusing. I plan on adding this to my school website and blog for parents and students to use.
My delicious account is http://delicious.com/conniedwiley

Podcast B

I was so excited about this activity. I wanted to create a video/audio podcast. So, I made a powerpoint and added audio. I tried many, many, many times to upload and I could not figure out how to do this. So, I found Windows Movie Maker on my laptop. I love this program. I will use this again and again. I made a movie about 10 Ways to Fill a Bucket using the pictures from my original powerpoint. I still could not figure out how to upload into a podcast. I then went back and used the basic Windows Sound Recorder. I do like this program too, I do think I will use this with my class. I would also like to learn how to create a podcast with video/audio. I think that I'm going to need my own podbean account. I would love for my students and parents to be able to go to this site to hear their child and other students in the class read. OK Kathy! Get ready! I have a lot of 'How To' questions! Thanks Kathy for introducing me to all these wonderful teaching tools.

I Won Again! A $20 Gift Card to School Box

You need to check out their blog..A Learning Experience. Comment on the articles. You could win!

StoryKit for Ipod Touch; Students can make their own digital story!

FREE books from Amazon.com

Download the free app for your reading device, I'm using my ipod touch, then download the free book. You do need to set up an account...but nothing is charged to you because it is free. Check it out.

Podcasts Lesson A

Podcasts....wow! I have really enjoyed checking out the various podcasts. I have found so much information.
I checked out Math Dude and I loved his voice! (The website...not the acutal dude..although..I might like to after hearing his voice.) I know that I could sit and listen to him but I'm not sure if my third graders would be able to sit through the podcast without drifting away. I feel that I, and my third graders, need video and audio podcasts.
Reading Rockets was out of this world...hehe. I know that I will use the Meet the Author podcasts when I am teaching writing and author studies. There are many authors to choose from...Megan McDonald, Seymour Simon, Tomie dePaola, Mary Pope Osborne, Jane Yolen and many more. The authors talk about how they started writing and how they get ideas. I also found that the Writing and Reading podcasts were helpful. I would love to use these on my teacher website for parents. I just need to figure out how to get them on the website. Kathy???? Anyone?????
Storynory was cute. I could use the stories and poems when I'm teaching Reader's Theater, Dramatic Reading, and Poetry.
Now, onto the SCARY part..Part B...My own podcast. I'm working on it..Hope to have it soon.

My Best Friend is As Sharp As a Pencil by Hanoch Piven

I found this cute picture book to use in my classroom. The faces are great and are made with materials found within your home, classroom, etc. I can use this book to teach similies, writing about a friend, writing about yourself, and much more. My students will love making the faces to go along with their writing. Check out his blog at http://drawger.com/piven/?

I won a $10.00 gift card from School Box!

I mentioned in an earlier post about the School Box blog. If you post a comment you may win a gift card. I did! Check it out!

Using Slideshow.com

I created a short slide show of Denae swimming with the dolphins. It was so easy to do with Slideshow.com. I will be using this program in my classroom. It will be a great way to show parents in class activities, field trips, in school field trips, and anything we do in school. I can also use this program in writing. I can have students email me pictures from home and then we can go to the lab and write about them. I'm going to checkout Slideshare.com and try to use it next year.

Slideshow of Denae swimming with the dolphins.

The School Box

I just found a new blog that has great articles, tips, and ideas written by teachers. You can also submit your ideas and earn a School Box gift card. Comments on current articles can also earn you a gift card. Hmmm...this might be a good way to get started publishing....Just a thought.
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/ALearningExperience

Beth Newingham's Math Workshop

I have implemented Beth Newingham's Reading and Writing Workshop in my third grade classroom. I love it and the students do too! I just read Beth's blog about using a Math Workshop. I'm planning on using this during the 2010-2011 school year. Let me know if you use a Math Workshop. I would love to hear about what works and does not work.Take a look if you are interested.
http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/05/math-workshop.html

The Book Whisperer

I found a great blog. It is from the author of The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1970104.Donalyn_Miller/blog.

Wikis

I checked out several Wiki sights. Wikieducator and Eduwikis were the most interesting to me. There were several helpful articles that I would be able to refer back to. They could be confusing at times. I think the more that I use these sights the less confusing they will be. I seem to spend a lot of time looking for things and then getting redirected to another place. I then have to find my way back home. I do hope that I can use a Wiki in my classroom. I like the idea of using a Wiki for vocabulary. I'm just not sure of how many students would use it. Any ideas?

The Red and Black Blog

For all those UGA fans. I remember picking up the Red and Black newspaper each week to keep up with current news when I was at UGA. Well, I can actually get information from the Blog. Maybe this will help me 'communicate' with my son who is at UGA for another year.

Assessing Teacher Performance

From the Teaching Now Blog: Interesting article on How to Assess Teachers Performance in the classroom. Check it out.

iGoogle Page

I set up my iGoogle page. It is great. You can add widgets that give you different information, games, quotes, etc. Check it out!

Google Calendar

Kyle, Denae, and I are now connected with Google Calendar. They can access this from their laptops at college and we can all keep our events and appointments organized! I love it! I now have to teach Phil how to use it. I never knew it would be so easy. Thanks Kathy! This class has helped me look, find, and use new things. I'm hooked.

Web 2.0

June 14, 2010. Wow! I read the acticles and was overwhelmed with everything a teacher can do using the web. I'm very interested in using a variety of sites to help teach my lessons. I really think my students will be on board. I hope to be able to improve my online skills with this mini-class. I also think that I will need to continue to educate myself with this information.