Mrs. Fishatar Teaches Preparing for Dismissal

Mrs. Fishatar Teaches Tardy Procedures

Mrs. Fishatar Teaches Attentive Listening Position

Mrs. Fishatar Teaches About Clipboards

Organizational Tool #5

For my last tool, I chose to begin playing around with a rubric maker from rubistar.com. This site allows you to use ready made rubrics and choose whatever criteria you would like. The first one I did was from what is called a customizable rubric.  I did one for "read to self" time.  It was easy and took only about 3-4 minutes.  Then I decided to try one of the create your own from scratch rubrics.  Louise had told me that it was fairly easy, and so I began.  I had a few snaffu's along the way but then started to get the hang of it.  Sadly when I went to save all of my hard work, and I do mean time consuming in terms of coming up with criteria, it all disappeared. UGH!!!
 Well, I will try again, but a word of caution....  You may want to create your criteria on a word document  and then paste it into the rubric before you have happen to you what I had happen to me.  All in all, I see this as a relatively simple tool to use and I feel rubrics are essential in the classroom.

Meet My New Avatar-Ms. Fishatar! Organizational Tool #4

Hello cool kids and kidlets! Meet my new avatar.  She is my alter ego; my cooler and more dignified self. I have decided that Ms. Fishatar is going to be a leader in teaching my students some very important routines and procedures.  Not only will I have total and undivided attention when she speaks, I won't have to worry about what I am saying and whether or not it makes sense because I can preplan it.  I am planning on having Ms. Fishitar teach the children how to line up, file papers, sharpen pencils, come to the carpet, and many other useful and important routines! How do you teach procedures and routines? If you want to make your own avatar, go here for a fun and satisfying experience! voki.com

Standards Post #3

InTASK Standard 6(m) The teacher knows when and how to engage learners in analyzing their own assessment results and in helping to set goals for their own learning.

For the past several years, my colleagues and I have worked hard to develop summative assessments around units we have created to meet unit goals and state standards. Due to the strong push for differentiated curriculum and the desire to meet the needs of all learners, especially ELL and TAG, it has been important to give pre and post assessments, as well as formative assessments along the way. One thing we have done is to give students the opportunity to do self directed projects related to the units we are studying, if their pretests show that they have 85% of the unit goals met. This allows students to set a goal for their own learning and be responsible for presenting their newly gained knowledge to the class. Another opportunity for the children to analyze their own understanding of content is giving the children who need it, more scaffolded support.  After giving the class instructions and guided practice in a skill, I will ask any students who feel they need more support to meet me in a group, or I will continue to work in front of the class, on the document camera for those who need more support while I  let other students move ahead. I ask students to be willing to risk in order to learn. Setting goals as small as being willing to admit when they need help, will allow students to set goals for their own learning.

Standards Post #2

InTASC Standard 9(b) The teacher engages in meaningful and appropriate professional learning experiences aligned with his/her own needs and the needs of the learners, school, and system.

While reading this standard, I was reminded of the professional development I have always chosen for myself. I have been stubborn about taking classes where I actually "learn something" as my husband likes to say, teasingly. While he took classes as quickly as he could, I went a totally different route. I chose summer workshops based on the areas I felt I needed to know more. For several years it was math, then reading, writing, science and social studies. Finally, I knew there was a world of technology going on out there, that I was basically burying my head in the sand to avoid. But in this day, children are coming to me with a lot of technology smarts. I feel that it is a natural enticer for children and tool for learning and presenting what is learned. Taking this class is helping me to meet my own needs and the needs of the learners, school and system. I am excited to be putting into practice what I am learning, and sharing it with my students.

Organizational Tool Post #3

For my second tool, I chose to try using an audio file.  I looked over the chapter on audio tools a few times, and it listed garage band as a choice for Mac users. But upon reflecting about the use of tools and choosing something appropriate for the job (why use a jack hammer when a drill will do?) I decided to try using the voice memo app on my iphone.  I wrote out a little welcome message for my soon to be class of third graders and then recorded it on my phone.  Of course it took a few tries to get it without a bunch of pauses and stumbles, but eventually I was satisfied enough.  I then emailed it to myself and downloaded it to my desk top.  I thought about the way I might use audio files in the classroom.  One idea is simply to use it as a fun way to communicate with my class and their parents.  I would send them a link to my website where they could play it.  I could also send it as an attachment in a group email. They could click on it and listen. For now, I just want to play with ideas which will allow me share audio files with my students and their parents.  When we do a readers theater, sing a song, or even read our written work during author share, I could record these and send them out to the parents or have a place where parents can go to listen to them. If you want to listen to my audio file, I posted it on edmodo.

Group Project Tool Post #2

I'm a Skyper! I'm a blogger! What next? Who knows what mad skizzles I will acquire by the end of this class.  Today I learned some basics of Skyping.  I was able (with the gracious help of my partner James) to download the application and make two video calls! Ok, one of the calls was by accident, but it worked! Yay me :)
I have wanted to try this application since last year, when I had a student from China leave my classroom.  I thought it would be awesome if the kids and I were able to make video calls to him. This would help him continue with his English skills and also allow him to share his American class with his Chinese one, and visa versa.  I was nervous about trying it because of my limited knowledge of technology. I wasn't sure whether I would be able to manage it.  However, it is very simple!!! Yay me! (AND James!)  I would love to use this with my friends in Hawaii, my relatives in Japan and any other willing victims.  Welcome to the world of technology.

Standards Post #1

2.  Communication and Collaboration

Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, across the global community, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.  Students:

C. Engage with learners from other cultures to develop cultural understanding and global awareness.

This past school year, my students and I were lucky to have a student from China in our class.  Yichi was a rascally little boy who was as smart as a whip.  I spent as much time trying to tame him as I did trying to teach him.  Whenever I turned my back he would pull shades and snap them up to the ceiling, 

draw pictures endlessly, cut paper or make tapping noises on his desk with his ruler. At recess he would kick children when they didn't do what he wanted. As the year progressed, I realized that he was learning rapidly.  He was soon able to share his mathematical thinking.  He wrote phenomenal stories! He created amazing artwork! Then one day it was time for him to go back to China.  My students and I were devastated! This little whippersnapper, whom we had all grown to love, was leaving us!

My first inclination was to have every student get a gmail account so that we could all email him.  I realized the amount of work that would be and the problems with parent permission, etc.  Then I wanted to use some sort of skye or digital camera to communicate with him.  I was frustrated with my limited skills.  What a valuable experience it would have been to have our class and his class be able to share in our school, classroom and home life.  This experience would have been life changing.  I still think about Yichi, and continue to communicate with him.  I have not given up hope that my class of students, both past and present, will be able to engage with Yichi, his friends, family and community to develop cultural understanding and awareness.

Organizational Tools Post #1

The tool I chose to try first, was a social bookmarking tool called DELICIOUS. Basically, it is a way to save and organize website resources.  I wanted to try this tool because I thought it would be an easy way to provide some safe web based resources to my students when they begin researching information for some of our curriculum projects.  I also thought it was a way to provide practice and informative websites for parents who wished to have their child find new reading opportunities or math practice. The website is free and relatively simple to set up. After you have your resources added, you are able to send people to it using a web address that takes them right to your collection. My plan is to add it to my blog, website or newsletter as a resource for parents. If you are interested, you can check it out here: delicious.com

Response to Preface, Ch. 1-2

Reading the first chapter of the book served to remind me that educational technology is not a new science. For years, tools such as the printing press, typewriter or even the pen were considered "new inventions" and in their own right technological advances.  Today we have tools such as email, social networks and youtube.  All of these tools are capable of being used to deliver and share new ideas and information.  As teachers, it is our job to be up to date with many of these tools. How we utilize these technologies in our profession can be a challenge, but with the growing use of available tools, teachers and students both will be better equipped to teach and to learn by using them in our classrooms. The future will bring more advances and "inventions." Why not use them to our advantage?

Woot, Woot! I am a blogger!