Goal Setting

Setting goals is an important life skill that I think is lacking in the classrooms. Most goals that are set in the classroom are set by the teacher. I think we need to give kids more ownership of their goals. If the students have a say in their goal, aren't they more likely to work to achieve it? Won't the making the goal be all the more meaningful to them if they had a say in the goal and how they achieve it. I think that one of my goals for this year is to give my students more of a say in setting their goals and how they will achieve them. I also want to set some goals of my own in the classroom and model for my students how I meet the goals I set for myself.

Me...for a Change

I decided to focus on me a bit more for the month of June. I want to ensure that I am continuing to grow and change as a teacher. This blog is a part of that growth and change. I have decided that I am going to blog every day. The posts don't have to be long or deep. I just need to get in the practice of daily writing. I advocate it with my students. I need to walk the walk myself. I have also decided that I am going to walk around my neighborhood on a daily basis...in sunshine, rain, or even snow (but as warm and muggy as it was today...I'm pretty sure that I don't need to worry about that snow keeping me from the computer.  In addition, I am participating in the #edugood project again. My goal is to take and post a photo every day for the month of June. For this project, I am posting my photos on Instagram (you can find them through the #edugood or on my Instagram (@jhox1). Those are all daily activities and so far, so good. I am 2 for 2! For the next 4 weeks, I also plan to learn a new skill or concept that I can use in my classroom. This can be through a book, a video, or online webinar. The point is the month of June is all about me...changing my mind, body, and soul... for good.

Summer School

Tomorrow I start four weeks of teaching an enrichment class for summer school called "Computers Don't Byte". I always look forward to this time of year because we (my summer students and I) can just be learners and have fun doing it. It is not just 4 hours a day of just playing computer games. That would be boring for both me and the kids! Even though it is summer, I am still a teacher and I want these 26 first and second grade kids to learn some things about using computers while we do projects. Even though these kids are young, they always amaze me with what they absorb, create, and what they end up teaching me.

**If you have an idea for a project we can create with computers, please feel free to share. I am always looking for new ideas!

This Is Why I Teach...

I don't teach because...

• it's a respected profession. -It may still be for some, but just look at the way teachers are treated in the press or by some legislators.  We are getting blamed for so many problems that are more societal issues than they are educational issues.
• I only work from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. -Seriously? I'd like to meet the teacher who has this work schedule!
• I have off during June, July, and August. -I have never had all three months off.
• of the huge salary I receive for my work. -If anyone believes that, well, let's meet for tea and...you're buying.
• I have an endless supply of red pens and post it notes. -So many of us buy our own supplies and some of us buy supplies for our students who cannot afford school supplies.
• I receive quality professional development. -Don't get me wrong...I have had some really good professional development, but most of what I have been to has not been helpful at all.  As many of my PLN on Twitter have said over and over, I have learned more from the people I have connected with on Twitter and reading blogs than I have in any workshop I have attended since I started teaching.
• I enjoy endless lesson planning, grading, meetings, and paperwork. -Uh...right.
• I have my evenings free and I never take work home. -I think my son would be able to argue this one for me.

I teach because...

• I like to learn.
• I can make learning fun.
• I want kids to question and think.
• I like sharing my knowledge, experiences, and interests with others.
• I like watching kids think and process information and I get joy out of them making connections.
• I like to listen to kids conversations and help push them farther.
• I can be a mentor.
• I do genuinely like working with kids!

The biggest reason why I teach??? I know that if I can make a difference in ONE child's life, it will make it all worth it. I teach because I want every child to be a success.

What I Did on my Spring Break

My spring break did not involve travels to a sunny, warm climate or to a fabulous ski resort, but I did have an opportunity to go to camp... an EdCamp that is. I had attended the EdCampKC in Kansas City last November and it struck such a chord with me that I knew I wanted to do it again. EdCamps are about connecting and conversations (if you have never heard of an EdCamp, then you should read this Edutopia article). I had my car loaded up so that when we finished our district professional development meetings on Friday at noon, I was ready to hit the road for EdCamp Omaha. The drive to Nebraska took about 6-1/2 hours, but I arrived just in time for the Tweet-Up at Jimi D's. There I got to meet some of my fellow "campers"....some I already knew from conversations Twitter, but many I was meeting for the first time. If you go to an EdCamp, I would definitely recommend trying to attend a Tweet-Up as a way to network with your fellow educators before the conference the next day. I was not able to do this at EdCampKC and I feel that I was more connected the next day during the sessions.

Saturday was snowy, but I was ready to connect with educators from around the mid-west. Most of the educators seemed to be from the Omaha area, but there were people there from Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Texas (Hi, Matt!). Some of the educators I had seen at EdCampKC. Many were new to the EdCamp experience (and even new to teaching-Hi, Alee!). I have to applaud all those who came to discuss and learn. In EdCamp fashion, the sessions were created on site after the EdCamp Omaha organizer, Josh Allen, gave a few opening remarks and explained the process for the day. I decided to join the discussion on what is a PLN for my first session. It was led by Michelle B. and Kristina P., but it was truly a discussion with everyone participating, sharing, and questioning. My second session was the Web 2.0 Smackdown with several people sharing the tools they love to use in their classroom (and personal life). I was able to share about Edmodo which is a social networking site for classrooms. My favorite suggestion during this session, however, was to put your iPad (which I don't have...yet) in a gallon-sized ziploc baggie and then you can use it in the kitchen and store your favorite recipes on it. Genius!!! After lunch, we resumed the conversation and I participated in a fantastic discussion about defining what authentic learning experiences are in our classrooms and schools. The last session of the day, for me, was spent discussing ideas for providing tech staff development. It was interesting to see how different districts provide staff development for their teachers.

I had a great time at EdCamp Omaha! I enjoyed all the conversations and connections that I made. I definitely grew my PLN through this experience and found some new people to follow on Twitter. I would have liked to have stayed longer and attended the after camp dinner, but I was trying to get ahead of some dicey weather in Missouri for my drive home (which I ended up taking a detour to my hometown of Lawrence, KS, anyway because of the weather and road conditions). I reluctantly said good-bye to my fellow campers and new friends and headed toward home with thoughts of all the conversations and ideas just swirling in my head! The idea that I kept going back to was that we need to have an EdCamp in St. Louis. I would love to organize this, but I feel that I need some help from some people who actually live there (my district is about 100 miles away). I think that St. Louis would be an ideal area to have an EdCamp. It would be able to enable educators in eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, Tennessee, and northeastern Arkansas to be able to come and start a conversation about education in this area.

Coming home on Sunday from Kansas was not the end of my professional development activities on my Spring Break. No, on Wednesday, I headed to a friend's house in rural southern Illinois (about 35 minutes from downtown St. Louis) to work on a three day workshop that we are presenting this summer. Carol and Pat both work as education consultants for the Missouri Department of Conservation. We worked late into the night Wednesday and were up early on Thursday to finish up our planning for the workshop. It is a unique take on using technology with students combining technology with nature. I am so excited about it! If you are an educator in Missouri, you need to think about signing up for Take Technology Outside (scroll down for more information and contact info).

So now my Spring Break is over and even though I didn't travel to any exotic locales, I feel rested and refreshed and ready for the rest of this school year. My "break" was full of connecting and conversations and this helped to revive my spirit. Thanks, fellow EdCampers! I hope to see you next year!

A New Beginning

I started this blog two years ago as part of a class assignment for my Master's Degree in Computer Education from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. I used it for several classes for different assignments. When I created the blog, even though it was for a class, I had always intended for it to be used as a tool to share ideas with others, to reflect, and to continue to help me grow as an educator. I finished my degree and graduated on December 18, 2010. I think it's about time to get busy before this year passes me by!

Currently, I have 21 third graders who are very excited about anything that is a project or that uses technology. These kids are hungry to use technology. They constantly amaze me how much, at age 9, they already know about using many different tools of technology and how quickly they learn how to use the new tools that I share with them. I enjoy using technology and I enjoy using it with my students. It is not the only way to teach, but it sure helps.

I take my inspiration for this blog from my students and my fellow teachers...both where I work and around the world.

Second Life in Education

As an elementary educator, I do not see much usefulness in this technology for my students. For one thing, it is definitely blocked in our school district. In looking at the different videos and links provided to learn more about Second Life, as well as doing research on my own, I have learned that Second Life is really for adults and those under 18 are not allowed (I am not sure how they "police" this since I know 8 year olds with Facebook accounts and they are not supposed to be able to do that either!). I also learned that there is a Teen Second Life that is for students from 13-17 years old and that adults have to have special permission given by the SL team to have access to certain areas of Teen Second Life.
That said, I do see some benefits of SL for students at the college level in terms of distant learning and virtual learning in some disciplines. Many colleges already offer some programs utilizing SL. The students can participate in symposiums or take "field trips" without leaving campus. Second Life can allow students to work collaboratively on projects. This would be especially helpful in collaborating on a project between different universities around the world.
To step aside and be a proud mom, for a bit... Last summer, my son who will be a senior in Biomedical Engineering at Saint Louis University this fall, was working at an internship at Virginia Tech University last summer. Part of his project was to build a training module in SL that would allow students to learn how to use a particular type of CT scanner in a virtual manner. He then made a video to describe the SAM-CT facility to explain about the training center. So, while I do not see me as ever needing to use this Web 2.0 application, it does have it's purpose in our world and in education.

K12 Online Conference Sessions

Okay, so I have been totally engrossed in this conference and attending different sessions and I really just need to get down to business and reflect on what I have seen. This was AWESOME! I checked out many sessions, but my two favorite were "Options for Building Your Teacher Website and Why YOU Should" presented byCyndi Danner-Kuhn, and "Little Kids, Big Possibilities" by Kelly Hines. Cyndi is an instructor at Kansas State University. Her presentation was about the different free tools that you can use to build a website. Most of them I had heard about, but Cyndi had some really good examples of classroom websites that were created with each of these tools. I think that I am going to try Weebly because it can allow your students to create their own websites. I already have a school hosted website, but there is no way for the students to create their own. I know they would be very motivated to use this tool. Kelly is a 4th grade teacher who uses a lot of Web 2.0 tools with her students. This was a good presentation of not only those tools (most of which I had already heard about or used myself), but also her ideas of how she used those tools with her students. Some of the tools that she used that I had not seen before were the comic creator tools. Again, I think that her ideas were good and will be very motivating for the students to use.
This conference was a very useful professional development tool (which I plan on sharing with my fellow teachers and a friend who provides professional development to teachers for the state). I could attend on my schedule, listen to the presentation multiple times, and even pause the presentation so that I could go get a bowl of ice cream (hey, it's hot out there!). The presentations were fairly short (most of the ones I looked at were about 20 minutes). I found it interesting that the teachers used different methods to create their videos. The topics were timely and the presenters all seemed very knowledgeable about there content. They even provided a link to their handouts and links that were presented in the presentation. I am presenting 3 sessions at the MOREnet Instructional Technology Conference this fall and my mind is now spinning about the possibilities of spreading my message for at least one of them for this K-12 Online Conference. Hmmm....
Well, I really should go...I need to get to Twitter and add some new teachers to follow (who I found in this conference). The learning continues!

Tappedin

As far as professional development and using Tappedin, I decided after a week of exploration that it doesn't work well for my needs. For one thing, many of the discussions seemed old (2005, 2007). I also never encountered a whole lot of people to engage in discussion with. I also found it not to be a very intuitive environment to move about in. It reminded me a lot of Second Life (perhaps a precursor to SL or a lower tech educationally focused version?), which I also have not been a huge fan of. It may have its benefits for college level instruction, but I have not found uses for it at the elementary level. I feel that I spent a lot of time wandering around, but not really learning anything. I did not like that I was identified by name and could not choose a screen name for the application. I did join a couple of groups. One that I joined that had about 30 members was classroom management. As this is always a hot topic in education, I figured that there would be a lot of posts in the discussion. There really wasn't. I was disappointed to find people had posted questions and nobody had ever answered them. There were posts that were years old. Frankly, I get more out of my listserve (http://teachers.net/) that I belong to for third grade teachers. The teachers are supportive and active on the listserve. To me it is a better place for teachers (especially at the elementary level).

Twitter and my PLN

I joined Twitter about one year ago and what a year it has been. I never dreamed how beneficial this tool could be for me. It started out slow. I was just following about 10 people for a long time. I now follow 77 people and have 17 people follow me. I don't tweet much, but I sure benefit from the people I follow!
Most of the 77 people I follow are fellow teachers like me who have a great interest in integrating technology in their classrooms. These people are my PLN (Personal Learning Network) and boy do they live up to their acronym! I feel like I go through a professional development session on a daily basis. So many ideas, websites, news links, and blog links are shared by these people. When I started using Twitter, I had to remember to go to the website and sign in every day. As a busy teacher and taking classes, I wasn't making the most of my Twitter experience. Many nights, I was too busy to check my Twitter feed. Then I download Twitterrific. This feed reader has changed my life! As I work on my laptop, this application runs in the background and every few minutes, it automatically pops up with the new tweets in my feed. This has simplified my life. As I work, I can learn. During the past year, I have been finding myself quoting my Twitter buddies to my colleagues at school. I have found some terrific ideas and websites through my Twitter buddies. I also share these with the teachers that I work with. They wonder how I have time to scour the internet for all these terrific resources, but I always give credit to my PLN.
I built my PLN slowly over time following more and more people (and an occasional organization...I would highly recommend following one of the MODOT highways, as I follow MODOT I-44 and I get updates on Twitter when there are traffic issues on that highway). Some people tweet a lot...(@ktenkely, @amandadykes, @budtheteacher) and some just occasionally. The best thing that I have become involved in with Twitter in this past year is the weekly #edchat that I have been following. This is a weekly synchronous discussion on a topic that is chosen by a survey of Twitter followers of creator @tomwhitby. This discussion takes place every Tuesday and when it is going on, the tweets flow fast and furious. The comments are thought-provoking. It is like going to a weekly conference...and it's all free!
If you are new to Twitter, I would recommend doing the following to get yourself started:

1. Make sure you include that you are a teacher and things that you are interested in Bio on your profile. This will help others find and follow you.
2. Start following just a few people. How do you find them? Start with the people whose blogs you read. Most of them also Twitter.
3. Pay attention to the people who are being retweeted by the people you follow. If you like what they are tweeting, then start following them also!
4. Use hashtags (#) to tag your tweets so that your tweets are included in a search of tweets on a particular topic. Hashtags can also be used by you to find what people are saying on a particular topic in a search.
5. Follow a couple of non-education people (entertainer, business, sports figure, etc.) just to provide you with a little R&R.
6. Just relax and have fun with it!

If you like what you've read here, feel free to follow me on Twitter. I am @jhox1.

Online Media in the Classroom

Video
I use a lot of online media with my students. Unfortunately, YouTube is blocked in our district so I primarily rely on using videos from Discovery Streaming (if you have not seen the Pendamonium series and accompanying games, you are missing out...and so are your students!).
The YouTube video that I found is one I have used in the past with my students. It's a catchy song from Rockin' the Standards about Perimeter and Area.



I think using videos with our students is an extremely useful tool. It engages them in the topic more than just straight lecture. It can also help reinforce the concept that you want the students to learn. Teachers can create their own video lessons that the students could watch (or download) to reinforce what they have learned in the classroom, to help them study for a test, or to watch when they have been absent. Teachers can also work with their students to create a video that shows the understanding of a concept.

Slide Show
The slide show that I found on Slideshare (which is also, unfortunately, blocked in our district) to share was kind of a cool idea. It is a set of first grade addition flash cards (so I am not first grade anymore, but this idea could definitely be adapted to 3rd grade). The problem was created by the student using word art in PowerPoint on the first slide and then the answer is on the next slide. This gives the students ownership of those facts. This would be a very easy group project to do. The only thing that I disagreed with was the fact that the teacher had each of the student's pictures and names on their slides. I would either do their name or their picture, but not both. That is a safety issue for me.

1st Grade Flash Cards

View more presentations from lgifford.

I have not thought of using Slideshare with my students (even if it wasn't blocked) before because I have primarily used it to watch presentations for professional development. This example shows a great way that this can be used with the students. One thing that we do use in our district which would have the same effect is iSpring Free. This is a free download that can convert your PowerPoint into a flash video. This video can then be embedded into your class website or blog. The only difference between this and Slideshare is that I wouldn't have to have my slide show hosted on the Slideshare website (although I still wouldn't post my students' pictures with their names).

VoiceThread
I found a presentation by a group of 3rd graders who had written their poems and then recorded them reading the poems on VoiceThread. I liked this presentation because the kids were reading in loud, clear voices. Their poems were very good for third graders. The only thing that I would have changed was to have the students use their own illustrations for the project.



I have never used VoiceThread before (I'm not sure if this one is blocked in our district), but this example and some of the others I looked at gave me some ideas for how to use this with my students. In particular, I want to team up with one of our Title Reading teachers who pushes into our classrooms once a week. We can work a writing project together and then I could use the VoiceThread with my students to record them reading their writing. What a powerful tool to motivate students to write!

Just for Fun
I came upon this video on YouTube this past spring and it is one of my favorites! I shared it with my students and they wanted to (a) watch it again, and again, and again; (b) sing along; and (c) they wanted to know if our school could do this! What a great message for kids. The power of media!

Online Organizational Tools

There are many tools online that can help teachers and their students organize information. One of the tools that I looked at was Netvibes. This is a personal dashboard where you can keep different pages on topics that you are interested in. Netvibes pulls information on your topic(s) from the web. You can chose to add or delete widgets on the page. I had heard of Netvibes before, but had never actually tried it. While I could see some uses for it, it seemed to pull a lot of information that I wouldn't use (I understand that it scours the web for the information). It was almost too much information and it kind of overwhelmed the senses. The user can add their own RSS feeds. One of the benefits is that you can have multiple pages on different topics. When I first started looking at Netvibes, it reminded me of iGoogle. I have had my iGoogle page for over a year now. I find that it is a very good way for me to organize all of my RSS feeds. It also allows me a quick way to access a particular website that I may use a lot without having to type in the URL. I have my homepage set to my iGoogle page on the computers that I use at home an at work. If a colleague asked me which one they should use, I think I would tell them that between the two formats, I would choose iGoogle. First of all, it starts you off with more of a blank slate so that you can put the information on your page that is truly relevant for you. Both pages allow you to customize your page and have multiple pages. It would be less work to have the iGoogle page than the Netvibes page because you build from the bottom up instead of trying to figure out what you need and what you need to remove. Another reason to choose iGoogle over Netvibes is that iGoogle integrates with all the other Google products that a teacher may be (or need to be) using such as Picasa, gmail, Google Docs, etc.
Another tool that I looked at was the Bubbl.us graphic organizer tool. This tool was very cool, but probably not one that I would have my students use. It was FREE! That is always a plus, however, it was not as user friendly as Kidspiration (which is also a graphic organizer, but it can cost a district a bit of money). I felt that Bubbl.us was a tool that I could use with my class, as long as I was doing the typing. It allows you to customize the colors of the bubbles and to drag and drop the bubbles to connect them (this could be useful on an interactive whiteboard if I had the bubbles already created and then had the students move them to connect the ideas). You can print your graphic organizer or post it on your website. You can also set up "sharing" for your organizer so that multiple people can add to it from different computers. It was fairly easy for me to type and add in new bubbles, but I am not a third grader. I know that some of my more tech savvy third graders would be able to use this tool with some support from me. I also know that Kidspiration, while it can be pricey, is more child friendly for my students and while free is great, sometimes it is better to fork over the money to pay for a tool that would be more child friendly and less frustrating for my young students. If the technology is getting in the way of my students learning the concept, then I would not be using the technology. I could see Bubbl.us being a fantastic tool for high school students to use.
I know we were only supposed to look at 2 tools, but I did want to say something about Classmarker website. This looks like a wonderful tool to use in class. It is a free, online test creator where your students can take their tests online and then they are "graded" by the website. It is a tool that I would like to try out with my students. I have used the spreadsheet in Google Docs to administer a self-grading online quiz with my students before and this seemed very similar, but perhaps a bit more polished. My big question that would be answered by using it with my students is "What are the advantages of the paid version of Classmarker?". I read through the site and looked at the comparison of the features in the table, but I really couldn't see how paying money was going to get me many more features that I would need except for perhaps emailing me the results. It's something to think about.

Technology in Education

I believe that technology should be an essential part of education in the 21st century. The students who come to us are using these technologies at home and to ignore them (or disallow their use) at school is doing our students a disservice. In a blog post that I just read today, Sylvia Tolisano was talking about "connecting your classroom to the world" in terms of using a blog with your class. In her post, she described a podcast by Wes Fryer where he described the difference between technology that is accommodating and that which is transformative. She said that he described technology being accommodating when you use it to replace non-digital learning. I believe that this in itself is not a bad thing. I think that this is where we need to start in our classrooms. Where we need to move towards, however, is using the technology in a transformative way...where what the students are learning would not exist without the technology.
Students are very adept at learning new technologies (as illustrated by my summer school class students who are 6, 7, and 8 years old). It's time for us as teachers to think outside the box and look at the projects that we already do with our students and ask ourselves, "how can I do this project with technology?". If I create a graph with my students, why can't I do it using Excel or some other graphing program? If my goal is to have my students learn how to collect data, create a graph, and then interpret the data, then what's to say that we can't do it electronically? Why do we have to use paper, pencil, and crayons? Using technology, and more specifically Web 2.0 tools, can open your students to a world that exists beyond the four walls of your classroom. This is important for our students today as they grow up in a global society. Technology can help prepare them for their future in our society, but it can also link them to people all over the world. Their world has expanded beyond the town that they live in! When I first started blogging with my students two years ago, they were so excited about the fact that their writing could be read by people all over the world, including in China (where a classmate had just moved back to). This gives their words power. It connects them to others. It helps make them more aware. I think by using more technology in our classrooms, our students will become more motivated and focused on the lessons we are teaching. They are seeing it as "fun"...I look at it as the vehicle that I am using to engage them in their learning and motivate them to learn more. Being focused, motivated, and engaged, this is what technology in education can do for our students.

CED580 Assignment

Jo Ann Mattson said to be creative so I hope you enjoy learning a bit about me.

Video Assignment (You Tube)

I found this silly video in my quest to teach my students the concept of slides, flips, and turns. It is so silly, but it might just, because it is so silly, really work to, not teach the kids the concept, but give them a fun way to remember it. (GLE: Math Geometric and Spatial Relationships 3.A.)

Video Assignment (Teacher Tube)

I really liked this video that I found on Teacher Tube to use in my classroom as an overview of the Underground Railroad. There is a lot of great information, the visuals are good, and the creator even used the music of the times in the video. (GLE: Missouri, United States, and World History 3.a.I )

Tagroll from Delicious

Some of My Favorite Blogs Explained

So I am sitting here in Panera after church enjoying a quick breakfast before facing this day (PT Conf. start tomorrow!) and I thought that I need to explain the sidebar on this page that lists some of my favorite blogs. This is just a small, but representative, list of some of my favorites.
The first blog on the list belongs to my son who is studying in Madrid, Spain this semester. Matthew is a sophomore at St. Louis University. He is using this blog as a way to keep in touch with all the friends and family who were emailing him and wanting to know what he's been up to (besides studying) while he is in Spain. My students love following this blog (though I do have to be creative with how they get to see it since it is blocked from use in our district). You can tell that Matthew is having a good time in Spain and traveling around Europe and Africa. Some entries of note: his trip to Morocco to visit a high school friend and going to the Madrid Real basketball game (he is a huge college hoops fan).
The next blog that I love to visit often is the Teachers Love SmartBoards site. Oh, my goodness! There is so much here. If you have a SmartBoard, you have to add this to your RSS feed! As a classroom teacher and a SmartBoard trainer, this site has provided me with so many ideas and websites that I can use. If you don't have a SmartBoard, Jim Hollis has links to games that you can use with or without a SmartBoard. Many of his ideas can work with all types of interactive whiteboards. Check it out...but make sure you have time on your hands because you will be there for awhile!
I have enjoyed Kathy Schrock's websites for a long time now. If you are new to the area of integrating technology in the classroom, you need to visit all of her sites and sign up for her weekly email, Sites of the School Days, from her Discovery Education page. She has so many ideas. I discovered her blog after attending a conference in the fall. I enjoy reading it because it's informative, but it is kind of like sitting down with an old friend and just discussing things that relate to our profession: education.
I had visited Will Richardson's Webblog Ed blog several times before, but it was after I saw him speak at a conference in January that I revisited the site. He is a wonderful speaker, but his ideas about technology in education were in-line with the way that my thinking has evolved over the past couple of years. So of course...when I got back home, I added him to my Google Reader.
Scrap Girls is something that I stumbled upon recently. I have recently become interested in digital scrapbooking when I was looking for information about how to use Adobe Photoshop (one of the least intuitive programs I have ever encountered). I found some great sites, lots of freebies, and this blog, which I just enjoy reading. With all the work (and school) and family activities and responsibilities sometimes we forget that we just need to take time for something ourselves. This one of those things that I will turn to when I need some "me time".

I Can't Resist Sharing One More...

I just have to share one of my favorite classroom blogs (it wasn't on the list of blogs to review for our assignment). Actually, it is a school library blog and I think that it is clever. I just love it!
The site is called Children's Choice Chats. This librarian has taken the books that are nominated for their state's (Washington) award this year and creates a post about each of the nominees. As students or classes read the books, they can leave a comment about the book. It is a great example of using a blog to encourage the children to read and reflect. The format she uses makes very little work for the librarian. I would like to try this next year as I loop back down to 3rd grade. I could follow Mrs. Berthelson's model and set up a blog for the Mark Twain Award nominees and as my students read those books, they could then comment on the blog. I could also invite our Kindergarten buddy class to comment as a class on books that were read to them in their classroom. Mrs. Berthelson actually has another blog for older students' and their books called the Young Reader's Choice Reviews. It works pretty much the same way as the Children's Choice Chats. It's just for older readers. She also has a blog called Blogging with Mrs. Berthelson that I thought was also clever. Here the students comments were actually recommendations for books they read in different genres. Again, the format of the page was very simple. Unfortunately, this blog seems to be no longer active (the posts are old). I do a lot with genres in my class. I bet I could create something similar to this. Hmmm.....

Check out Mrs. Berthelson's blogs:
http://schools.shorelineschools.org/briarcrest/blogs/berthelson_cc/
http://schools.shorelineschools.org/briarcrest/blogs/berthelson_yrc/
http://schools.shorelineschools.org/briarcrest/blogs/berthelson/
http://schools.shorelineschools.org/briarcrest/blogs/berthelson_ss/ (Another inactive blog similar to the Young Reader's Choice Reviews.)

One Crazy Teacher to Another

I went to the page that our instructor, Rebecca Lopanec, suggested that we view: 50 Must-Read Up and Coming Blogs by Teachers. I viewed several until I got down to #36: One Crazy Teacher to Another . First of all, you just have to love the name for this blog. As I say to my students...if you want somebody to read what you've written you have to have an introduction that is going to grab your reader! Well, Joseph Alvarado (a.k.a., UltimateTeacher) has done that! Once inside the blog, you realize that it's not just a good title. He reflects on many different aspects of teaching (and even throws in a joke to bring levity to our lives). He uses videos and images on his blogs and even has links to blogs that he reads. I think that everyone's blog should have that. I have found so many cool blogs (and websites) in this way. I'll visit a blog, enjoy it, and then see what that author is reading. I never would have found them just perusing the internet! I have so many blogs that I read now all I have to say is thank heavens for Google Reader and my iGoogle page! I would NEVER be able to keep up with it all!
I think that everyone should have a blog site like this in their blog library. He talks about the teaching profession, parents in the classroom, cool tools or websites that he's found on the internet that he is excited about, and other reflections. I like these kinds of sites because I learn things from them and, through commenting, have even shared ideas with the blogger and his/her followers. These kinds of sites are kind of like a newsletter for teachers. My favorite part of these sites are reading the comments that other leave. It's interesting and thought-provoking. Joseph didn't have a whole lot of comments on his blog so I am assuming that he doesn't have a huge following...yet. I plan on continuing to read this blog because I am interested in what this blogger has to say.

Visit Joseph Alvarado's One Crazy Teacher to Another here: http://onecrazyteachertoanother.blogspot.com/