School Survey!

Remarkable Readers

My class has agreed to help me teach others the strategies we use everyday in our reading room. Although this is a rough, rough draft, I feel as though these guys are really getting their point across already! :) Please let me know what I can do to make this more effective for my future classes and school!

...after reviewing this on Blogger, I realized that half of the digital story is missing! That will be the first thing I fix.

Simply Making a Difference

As my South American Adventure gets closer and closer, I am so lucky to have the love and support from not only my family and friends, but also my colleagues. Fellow teachers have supplied me with a plethora of resources, strategies, and tips. One teacher has shared with me what her daughter is currently changing in Costa Rica. Her daughter's school is part of the World Leadership Schools. This week, she is taking a group of students to Costa Rica to help change lives! How inspiring. I am definitely going to enroll my future school in this program when I return home. What is better than traveling with kids ;)! Here is her daughter's blog, if you'd like to check it out for yourself!

Living a Life I Love

This weekend I attended the Landmark Forum. Due to the fact that my school (Breakthrough Magnet School) was created through this course, my principal offers this course to all new teachers. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I found out that it was from 9am-10pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I realized I really really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Little did I know, this long, long course ended up changing my life. According to Wikipedia, the Landmark Forum offers educational programs in personal development. Talk about not giving credit where credit is due. The Landmark Forum coaches you through concurring your past, understanding your present, and creating "problems" that you actually want. The Landmark Forum creates an entire new way of seeing and living life. For anyone who is "stuck" where they are right now, I HIGHLY recommend you check out Landmark.And for those who aren't? I PROMISE you, you'll become a better person in 3 short days. :)

Hicks the Hero

Troy Hicks' text, The Digital Writing Workshop, reconfirmed everything I thought and loved about integrating technology into the classroom. In addition to helping me organize my classroom blog, Hicks has also exposed me to new ways of using technology in the classroom. One use of technology that I had not previously thought of is to use Google Docs for rough drafts of major assignments and projects. By having a working Google Doc with each student, as a teacher, you can explicitly coach students into writing exceptional pieces of work. Saving trees doesn't hurt either. :) Another use of technology I hadn't previously thought of is to have students use their blog as a portfolio. By having students add lengthier, major projects, viewers will not only be able to see the student's blog work, but also what is occurring within the classroom. All in all, Hicks truly helped me envision what is possible within my classroom. Above are my students working on their own blogs!

Wonderopolis

One website that I've recently become obsessed with is Wonderopolis. This website posts a new "wonder" each day. I've already made plans to replace my daily "Do Now" journal entree with one of these wonders at least once a week. Although some are rather silly, such as "Do Rabbits Have Good Eyesight?", others really get kids thinking! When you click on the wonder, you come to a page with information regarding the wonder, suggestions of projects you can implement, and even wonder words! Wonder words are words related to the subject at hand; so for the rabbit wonder, words include eyesight, vitamin, essential, pigment, balanced, placement, predator. These words could even serve as vocabulary words for the day. One other aspect of this site that I love is that other classrooms post on the wonder as well. Through this feature, you can see what other classrooms are doing associated to the wonder. I HIGHLY recommend you all check it out!

Tablets vs. Textbooks

I feel as though this course has exposed me to so many resources that I've been on technology overload. Not only have I created a diigo, twitter, and blog, but I've also created a classroom blog and am currently creating a digital story! I love the idea of creating foundation pieces for the classroom through technology instead of traditional posters and text books. After reading The Future of Education: Tablets vs. Textbooks, I'm still torn. Although I am still somewhat hesitant regarding letting RSS run my literacy centers, I have to admit, it's a change I'd rather be making sooner than later. What's your opinion regarding turning your classroom into technology headquarters? Do you think your students will advance their learning as much as technology tells us it will?

Photo courtesy of  zowchow.com

Dig Deeper!

What I've found when researching/reading anything is that an amazing author often has numerous mediums to share his information. After reading Troy Hicks' "The Digital Writing Workshop", I went surfing the web for more information about him. Not only did I find his amazing blog, but I also found his wiki, and twitter too! Check out his other resources for additional information about everything technology.

Google Docs as an Instructional Tool

After reading from Hicks' text, I really began to get excited about the actual act of teaching abroad. He brings up and discusses many integrative ways to include technology within the (ESL) classroom. Google Docs would be an AMAZING tool to use to monitor my students' writing and comprehension skills. I would be able to give each English Language Learner undivided attention after each class in regards to their progress. This new realization has made me so eager to get started! My only concern is that there may be a lack of technology where I am teaching. Does anyone have suggestions for getting technology into the classroom? Do you think a site like Donors Choose would sponsor me to get iPads for my classroom? Help!