Summer!!!

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
                                                   -Dr. Seuss

I am no longer a first-year first-grade teacher!  I'm not even a second-year first-grade teacher!  I am now a second-year second-grade teacher...for the first time!!  If this pattern continues (first grade is all about finding patterns), then next year, it will be third grade.  I kind of hope that doesn't happen, just because it would be kind of nice to have my feet planted in one spot long enough to feel like I know what in the heck I am doing!!  Plus, more than two years with the same group of kids, and they might just have to come and take me away....to the funny farm!!

All of my things (which wasn't that much) have all been moved into my new room, which is a portable classroom.  I have to say, I really lucked out with my room.  First of all, there is my OWN air conditioning.  Meaning, I just have to push a button, and my room can have the perfect climate. That is a huge change from last year where my room was always about 15 degrees hotter than the rest of the building (or so it felt).  Secondly, I inherited some really cool furniture for storage, which I DESPERATELY needed since the room is just a blank cube.  Thirdly, I have all the wall space in the world to hang things....the entire room is like a giant cork board!!

True, there isn't any running water, and you have to go out into the weather every time that you step out of your room, and there isn't a Smartboard or projector (YET), but I really think that I am going to like the room.

 Also, it is really sad to leave my first grade team.  We have become great friends, and they are such a wonderful group of teachers that I have learned so much from.  But now for the silver lining!  My new team also seems to be amazing!  There are a lot of really great teachers at my school. :)

During the last week of school, the cuteness factor for my kids shot up astronomically!  (Maybe this was partly because I knew that summer break was right around the corner, and so I had a better attitude, but I'd like to think that I am such a ROCK-STAR teacher that they finally started to behave) :)  Haha!

But really, it has only been a week since school got out, and I am already really missing my kiddos! I made a memory book for them, and also a video with pictures and things that we did throughout the year, and we watched it on the last day of school-- it made me see how fun these kids were, even though I wanted to run away from them sometimes(or most times).

Now that it's summer, I am STILL working in my room.  Hopefully this ends soon, and I can focus on my vacation!  Although, I still have no idea what I am doing this summer.  But I want to do something AMAZING!!!  And no, sleeping-in doesn't count!  I really am itching to go somewhere and do something!!

My progress on my room so far.  I know....it is so bare and blah!  Hopefully I can change this soon though.  I love my two locking cabinets and my double sided bookcases though!  They make me happy! :)  I am also lacking desks and student computers....just have to be patient!

Flying time.....

154 days....that's how long I've been a teacher.  In 24 days, the school year will be over, and it will no longer be my first-year!!!  Craziness!!  I have decided that I am really good at being really inconsistent with my blog.

Some room arrangements and such.....

This is how my classroom looked when I first walked into it.  all I remember saying, was that's a lot of chairs!! :)

After I set up my room....the first time.  I think that my room has had over 100 makeovers :)

Major set up change #2.  This was in November.  I wanted to have the rug closer to the Smartboard  for math and phonics. Like the hanging pumpkins? :)

Our fall bulletin board.  We wrote acrostic poems, and made falling leaves bags.

A couple more changes around Christmas time.  We had a Grinch, that students would do good deeds for each other, and write them on a heart, and we tried to cover up the Grinch with the hearts before Christmas Break.....we got pretty close!!  :)

After Valentines Day....can I say, sugar rush? :)

Our most recent addition....a student work board!  Their artwork is held up by clothespins with a crayon hot glued to them.  

This post has just turned into a collection of pictures, but pictures speak a thousand words, right?  I can honestly say that I have never been so challenged in my whole life, and teaching is definitely a way of life!!  Just like my room has evolved and changed over the year, I feel like I have as well.

I also recently found out that I will be moving with my group of kids next year to second grade!  I will be moving out into a relo, so I get to say goodbye to my classroom, and figure out some creative storage ideas :)  I will leave you with a picture of some silly grass heads we made for our growing unit!!

Time to catch-up!

Shake and shake the ketchup bottle

 None'll come, and then a lot'll

-- Richard Armour

It has been far too long since I have done anything with my blog.  So now, it will all come splurting out like ketchup! (get it?  I am "catch-ing up"  J  haha!)

The rest of my adventure in Chile was AMAZING!!!  

I got to live with some of the most amazing and kind people I have ever known!  

¡¡¡Amo a mi familia Chilena!!!!

I was placed in a  4th grade class at a all-boys private school, which just by itself was definitely an adventure!

These boys had a gift for mischief, and I found myself in a situation where I had to really step up and implement some of my own classroom management techniques. The teacher that I worked with was GREAT, and really let me try some of my ideas, which I quickly found out that some were better than others.

But as the weeks went on, I quickly realized how much I was going to miss these crazy boys!  I can honestly say that I learned more about who I am as a teacher during this time more that anywhere else I have ever been.  I got to work along side some amazing teachers, and I learned a lot from each of them.  

Chile is such a beautiful country!  My only regret is that I got to spend so little time there.

While I was there, I got to try my hand at surfing (didn't go well J ), watch a rugby game, eat some amazing food (Pastel de Choclo and Pineapple Juice) and see some amazing sites!!

At the end of our trip, we decided to go down to Pucon (the lake district).  While there, I made some great friends, did some zip-lining through the treetops, horseback riding to a Mapuche villiage, 

and other amazing-ness.  

Since I opted for the cheapest flights, I ended up getting some amazing lay-over time!  On the trip home, we flew to Rio de Janeiro,  and waited for 6 hours for our flight to New York City, where we then had a 12 hour lay-over.  We decided to make the best of it, and enjoy our time in the Big Apple.

We rode the subway around, saw the Statue of Liberty (from a distance), strolled around in Central Park, and walked through Times Square, where I tasted true New York Pizza! We even saw a movie being shot close to Central Park!!! Then we had to race back to the airport to make our flight home, which we were an hour early for :)  Time well spent, I must say!!

My experience in Chile was one that I know that I will never forget.  I met some truly amazing people that made such a huge impact on me.  I felt my first "real" 6.5 earthquake.  I rode the Metro.  I rode up a REALLY steep hill in a ascensor.  All-in-all, I feel that this experience has been one of the most influential that I have had in my life.  

The day after I got home was graduation day.

Even though I had a serious case of jetlag, it was a wonderful day, and I got to spend it with many people that mean so much to me!  Plus, I loved how campus looked a little like Hogwarts ;)

On August 6, 2012, I got a call from a school where I had interviewed 3 days prior.....

I am now a real teacher!!!

I got the job just a few short weeks before school started, and so I have felt like I have been in a continuous WHIRLWIND.  Luckily, I am not the only one--there are two other first year teachers in the first grade, one in second, one in 3rd, and one in 4th. But, I still feel like I have been scrambling trying to get things all ready for my little first graders.  Every minute is a learning minute, and I am clearly seeing where I need to improve. 

Here we go!!!!

I have already been in Chile for 5 days, and I can't believe how much I love it! The people here are so kind, and very chill happy people.

The flight here was great, but really long. We left Monday at 9:45 and got to Santiago 1pm on Tuesday. But part of that is we lost 4hours in the time change.

For the most part, the trip here went without a hitch. The only thing that caused this poor girl some stress was that my checked luggage somehow got forgotten in Mexico City. But luckily, I had a change of clothes in my carry-on.

My first few days here have been great! I met my AMAZING Chilean family- my mom Gilda, and my two sisters Caro and Javi. Not to mention my new pets, Balto, Poli, Europea and Diego :) Pictures soon to follow!

I am living in Viña del Mar, which is right next to Valparaiso, which both are right next to the beach. We got to go around to the different schools where we will be teaching, and on the way, we did a little sightseeing.

The beautiful coast!

Me, Erin, Abbie, Kate, Lauren, Tom

Sand-dunes! They surf them :)

On Friday afternoon, we went to Valparaiso, and took the trolley around the city, and then walked around a bit. Then we took an Ascensor up a super steep hill to Concepción. It was so picturesque up there!

This was the trolley ride through Valparaiso, and some of the amazing buildings :)

The Ascensor....so fun! :)

Pictures from Concepción #1

Pictures from Concepción #2

Pictures #3

Pictures #4

As you can tell, I took a LOT of pictures....but I couldn't really help myself. The word that kept going through my mind over and over was "WOW!" I seriously couldn't believe how beautiful everything was up there. There was street art, everywhere, and I wish I could have taken more pictures..... :)

Well, tomorrow I will be beginning my teacher-iness.......I am super excited, but also kinda nervous, because who knows what it will bring!

A New Chapter

Well, I am finallystarting my actual blog, instead of just what I did in my Educational Technologies class :) I think that this blog will be all about my journeys in becoming a teacher, so here we go!

Right now, I am doing my student teaching in a fourth grade classroom. I love the kids and the teacher that I work with.....I've got to say, that I have been completely spoiled in that department! Everyday, I feel that I get just a little better, and I learn so much more! The kids in my class are really so great, and I am so lucky to get the opportunity to be around them.

And now I am getting ready to start another adventure......student teaching in Chile!! I know, crazy right? I really am so blessed! I get to do the second block of my student teaching in the beautiful city of Valparaiso in the wonderful country of Chile. I think that the best way to describe my emotions is NERVOUSLY excited!!!

So I will continue to post as I keep moving forward in this amazing adventure that I have found myself in the middle of.....

Webquest Success!!

In class we made a lesson plan on webquest. Here's my link:
Chunk Change.
I thought that this was a great way to write a lesson plan. I have seen WebQuest's used in different ways too. I have seen it where the students all go to it individually, and then follow the directions. I have also seen in my practicum, that the teacher used it to organize some different websites that she wanted to show her class on the projector. They were learning about the Olympics, and so she showed some footage from the torch relay, and some of the events. It was really great, because the teacher didn't have to waste time surfing, and looking for what she wanted.
I really liked using Instructional Architect too. I think that it is a great program. I really like how easy it is to use. It basically walks you through the entire project, and gives you lots of chances to go back and change what you've done if you don't like how it turned out.
If I had more time, energy, and money, I think that I would like to have my students practice with money on my webquest, and then have them come to a "store" in our classroom, where they would be able to buy some items (kind of like fish pond prizes, but they would "pay" money for them.) I would give them the money ahead of time, and each of the items would be like 70 cents, or 44 cents, or something like that. :)
I really liked the planning sheet that we used, because when I sat down to do my webquest, it was nice to reference it, to help me know what kind of information I needed to include on the webquest. The peer evaluation was also really nice, because it was helpful to get another person's point of view about how it worked for them.
I learned as I did this project, that it is important to plan out the things that you want your webquest to include, so that you can keep it focused, and not branch off in a million different directions.
Overall, I really like using WebQuest, and I liked how easy it makes it to incorporate technology into my classroom.

Fun with Fotos!!!

Today in class, we learned more about digital photography, and how to implement it into the classroom. We learned how to use Photoshop, and also a fun program called Comic Life. It is a program for Mac where you can do pretty much anything to a picture. You can do lots of cool effects to the pictures, and it is very user-friendly.
This is a project that we made in groups. We took pictures of different geometric shapes and angles in the real world, and put them in a little presentation. It was lots of fun to take the pictures and search for the different shapes, and it was ever more fun to put them them together in a presentation.
Now, I am seeing shapes everywhere.......

Web Applications

Today in class we explored different web applications that we can use in our classrooms. They all were lots of fun, and can be applied to many different parts of the curriculum. One that I liked a lot for science, is Phun (Algodoo). It is a very fun program that allows you to work with simple machines, and understanding about applying force to objects. This covers Science 3rd Grade Standard 3. It is also a very "phun" way about understanding physics and how thing respond when you change gravity, or other factors. If I used this in my class, I would explain a bit about the different things that we are going to use, such as pulley's, springs, and what gravity does to objects. Then we would explore using this web application.

For math, I would use Masses and Springs. This application is really useful, because it is an accurate discription of the differences in weights, and how it affects how far the spring will stretch. In my class, they could measure and record how far each differnt weight goes, and also record what changes there are when you change a factor. This web application would cover Math 4th Grade Standard 4 Objective 1.

I really liked (and spent most of my time) on Colonial Williamsburg Kid's Zone. This web application is very helpful because you get to see all the details of what life was like in colonial times. There are lots of games, and they all were pretty fun. I know that it would be a place where kids would like to go to learn as they are having fun. This activity could cover the curriculum for 5th Grade social studies, standard 1 Objective 1. In my classroom, we would talk about the everyday life of early colonists, and then use this web application as an assesment, to determine how much they remember.

Website Evaluation

Today we learned about evaluating a website, because all websites are not created equal. Especially educational websites. Some educational websites look like the real thing, but in reality, it is just someones opinion, even someone trying to purposely misinform people, or something that was made just for fun, but it looks like it could be real. One website that I really like to use for students is the Smithsonian Education website for kids. This website was really amazing! There are lots of different activities and facts that are just about everything. I think that it would be a really good place for children to become more acquainted with the world around them. But sometimes it is really hard to know if a website is really what I want for my students, and so there are different evaluations that help teachers know if it really is a website that students should use. One is Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators. The evaluation that I used was for the elementary school. I really liked this evaluation, because it really broke it down, and you could see if it would work in your classroom. It asks you lots of specific questions, like "If you go to another page, is there a way to get back to the first page?" This is really important, because if a website isn't organized and easy to use for children, they may become confused, and really not know what to do. But using this evaluation, I it proved that the Smithsonian website really would be a great resource for students to use, because it is very clear, and there is a wide variety of things that students can learn and do. Another evaluation that I used was from Purdue University. This was a chart that you could use as a checklist, to see if a website that you are interested in really has what you are looking for. The main points that are brought about in this evaluation are "Authority, Reliability, Credibility", "Perspective", and "Purpose". I thought that these topics were really helpful, because it helped you to know really what's going on. The only downside to the Smithsonian website, is that there really weren't accommodations for students with disabilities. There are amazing activities, where you have to invent,and create, but if you can't see it, or hear what it's telling you, those activities really are useless. But overall, if the Smithsonian would fix this problem, this website is amazing!!

Spreadsheets

Today, we learned how to use spreadsheets both in Word, and on Google Docs. What was hard for me was using a Mac...everything is different. But I really like learning how to do it. I also really like GoogleDocs, because sometimes you get to a computer that doesn't have any kind of word processor, or spreadsheet program. So it is great to be able to use, and save it to edit later. We also learned how to create a survey and post it to a blog, which is why there is one. :) I would use this in my classroom for them to learn how to record data for different class projects or other activities we are doing. I really liked the activity that we did with the pennies, because it teaches probability, and it is a pretty easy assignment that they can do.

Word, Webs, and GoogleDocs

Today we learned about some ways to use Microsoft Word and GoogleDocs in the classroom. First, we learned how to use Word on Macs, for those of us who aren't very Mac-savvy. Then we learned how do do concept mapping online using bubbl.us, which is a great online program for anyone to brainstorm, a lot like x-mind, only you don't have to download it. It was great, because it helped organize some information about Olympic sports. I am a very visual person, so it helped me remember what it was about.

Then we did an activity where we wrote a "day in the life of an Olympic Athlete". We each started by writing a topic sentence, stating who the Olympian was, and what event they are in. Then we moved around the classroom, adding on a sentence to other peoples stories. The results were really funny! We also learned about GoogleDocs, and how it is a great way to write a paper and edit it from anywhere. The layout is a lot like Microsoft Word, but with a few differences. We did the same activity that we did before, but this time, we actually didn't have to leave our seats to see and edit someone else's story.

I know that I will use all of these programs in my classroom, because it includes a lot of things that students will need for their entire lives. And what better place to teach it than in the classroom? Bubble.us is a great resource because it can help students sort out data, and see what would be really relevant in a story, or research project. Microsoft Word is definitely a great tool for students, because they need a place where they can write stories, poems, research papers, or other written projects. I also really like GoogleDocs, because they could be writing something at school, open in on a computer at home, show their parents, and work on it from home too. It would also be a great way to do a group project where each has to write a part. I think that each of these programs will be very useful in my classroom, and I know that I will implement them into my lesson plans.

© Copyright ©

Today we talked about the dreaded topic of copyright. Copyright is quite a nuisance to many people because they find it restrictive from doing what they want. But my professor explained that in reality, it actually helps people to be more creative.

I actually learned a lot more about what is okay to use, and what you need to receive permission for. Basically a good rule of thumb is if you are in doubt, ask for permission. If there is no way to ask for permission (like if you want to use Shakespeare) then it should be ok. After 50 years that a person dies, their work is no longer copyrighted.

I found this class really informative because I really didn't know what were the rules and guidelines, and now I do thanks to this. (haha, yeah, I know it's funny) :)

So the moral for today is don't steal other people's stuff!!

FIELDTRIP!!!!

Today, in class, we went to the YETC. I have been there before, but I think that I got a lot more out of it this time. We learned about all of the books and materials that we can check out, and all the resources that are available. We also learned about many amazing resources for teachers, or really anyone!!! Some of these, were Storyline Online, Xmind, Spelling City, Stellarium, and Zotero, for Mozilla Firefox. Storyline Online is a website that has many children's books, and movie stars read to you.....great fun!! X mind is a really cool program that you can map out ideas, and help children brainstorm with words and pictures. Spelling City is a great website that children can use to put in their spelling words in, and their are games and different practices to help them learn the words, and have fun while doing it. Stellarium is awesome!!! It is a program that allows you to see the constellations and different galaxies from where you live. It's especially cool that you can make it so your screen isn't very bright, take it outside, and actually see in the sky what you see on the screen. Zotero is program that helps you organize different websites and it automatically does bibliographies for you, and it saves a lot of information.

I am so excited to use these, and many other educational things that are out there!!! I know that it is definitely something that I'm going to use in the classroom, and most likely just for fun!!!

UEN

Today I learned about the UEN....I am so excited to use it. UEN is a great place where educators can go to get ideas, and set up their lesson plans. I haven't had a huge chance yet to explore because I was having some technical difficulties, but from what I have seen so far, I love it!!!

I think that it's great that you can use it to organize all of the ideas that you have for teaching, and put them together, so that all can understand. I love how you can get video all ready to show your students. I also think that Wimba is a great program. How cool would it be if you were learning about someone, or some organization, and they agreed to be on a video conference with you and your class? It would be amazing!!! In general, I feel that UEN is a great resource that I know that I will use in my classroom, and I am excited to create a lesson plan that I will be able to use in my practicum.

Classroom Blogging

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford

I am so excited to use blogging in my classroom!! I think that it is a great way to integrate real life learning into the students' lives. In my classroom, I plan to have a classroom blog that the students can post some of their best work for their parents to see. I also think that it would be fun to post pictures of the different projects that we have done together in class. It would be a great place for the children to really be able to express themselves, and for me to keep in contact with the parents. Of course, it is very important to have it be a safe experience for the students, so I would have to recieve permission to post any pictures of the students from their parents. It would also be a great place for the parents to ask questions, and to post links to great parent and student resources. It would also be a great place for the students to publish any stories that they have written, and for them to feel a greater sense of accomplishment. I think that blogging in a classroom brings a variety of opportunities to the students and their families.