New Years Resolution: Increasing Collaboration in 2014

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On Monday night when I was sick with the flu I decided to participate in #edtechchat on Twitter. The focus of the conversation was reflection on the past year, and goal setting for the upcoming year. During this discussion several participants voiced their desire to become better about reading and commenting on blogs in the new year. Jessica Worley contacted me after this chat about starting a TLC Group, Tweet, Like and Comment! Please check out her blog article, for steps on how to join us on this endeavor! I hope you will come on board and join our group!

True Confessions of my Webquest Blunders

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Lesson Background:

I had previously created a webquest on the life cycle of butterflies and frogs. I wanted to update these lessons, and I decided to give creating a webquest in PowerPoint a whirl. I thought PowerPoint would give me capabilities to meet criteria for creating a kid-friendly webquest for my primary students. I wanted to be able to insert hyperlinks obviously, but I wanted something that would be easy to navigate, and would allow me to embed video and insert photographs. I also wanted to be able to easily insert audio clips, because my students are emerging readers. Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. Continue reading →

Top Ten Things Teachers Should be Able to do in ActivInspire

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In my previous post Using ActivInspire to Create Cross-Curricular lessons, I introduced you to some basic ActivInspire skills when I created my Boots for Beth cross-curricular lesson. I wanted to advance my ActivInspire skills, so I viewed some different tutorials to learn how I could make my ActivInspire Flipcharts more engaging.
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Use an Exercise Ball to Relieve your Feet and Save your Back

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Teaching can be a physically demanding job! I have been suffering from plantar fasciitis in my right foot for a year and a half from being on my feet all day at work. I tried everything for it, but since I have been wearing Dansko clogs, my foot is feeling much better!

A creative way I rest my foot during the day is by using an exercise ball as a portable chair. I am able to pull right up to my students’ desks. I can work with them easily one on one, and I am on their level. It gives my tired feet a break, and I no longer get that shooting pain in my lower back from hunching over their desks! Plus, it is easy to maneuver! I can just roll it around the room, and the kids love when I use it! You definitely should give it a shot! Please let me know how it works out for you!

Introducing Students to Story Elements through Comics

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Lesson Background

We read a delightful story titled Space Pup, about a super hero dog who rescues a bus that is stuck in the mud. I thought it would be fun to challenge students to extend the story by creating their own Space Pup adventure. I thought I could introduce my students to story elements by having them create a comic strip. Continue reading →

Creating a Glog on the Life Cycle of a Chicken with Glogster EDU

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Lesson Background

In Reading we read the story, Dan’s Pet, about a boy who keeps a pet chick named Jen for pet. Throughout the story Jen grows into a hen. At the end of the story, Jen lays eggs. I thought this week would be a good opportunity to teach students more about the life cycle of chickens. I had used Glogster EDU during my graduate studies, and I always wanted to try to use it with my students. I set out to have my class make a Glog on the life cycle of a chicken. Continue reading →

Using ActivInspire to Create a Cross-Curricular Lesson

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Lesson Background

In class we read the story Boots for Beth about a pig named Beth. At the beginning of the story Beth can’t get her boots on because they are too small. Throughout the story Beth’s animal friends offer their boots, but none of them are right for Beth. At the end of the story the friends surprise Beth with a new pair boots. Our focus reading comprehension skill for the week was retelling. I knew I wanted to work this skill into the project if possible.

In math we have been working a lot with ten-frames. I thought it would be fun for students to drag boots onto the ten-frame instead of boring counters. I decided to use ActivInspire to create this presentation.

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Oh the Places You’ll Go- Hot Air Balloon Glyphs

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I love hanging things from my ceiling; it really brings a classroom to life! As you know, I have a Dr. Seuss theme in my classroom. At the beginning of the year I read my students the story Oh the Places You’ll Go. Then we made hot air balloon glyphs to get to know each student better!
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Using Hand Signals to Manage Student Needs

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I love using hand signals with my students. This way I always know what they need when they raise their hand. Continue reading →

Quiet Critters are a Teacher’s Bestfriend!

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I got the idea for these Quiet Critters from The Teaching Chick blog via Pinterest. They are a dream come true for bus dismissal time! I pass them out at the end of the day, and students bring me their Quiet Critters as their bus is called. If they are quiet during bus dismissal I give them a stamp or a sticker. Works like a charm! I found a Foamies brand kit that included the pom poms, googly eyes, feet and hats. I put them together using a hot glue gun, and I they have held up great! I highly recommend using these in your classroom!