A few things

1. In the new edition of The Reading Teacher it has an article about creating Wiki's within the classroom. I thought it sounded like a cool thing to do when researching and studying science topics like animals or history time periods. Does anyone have any prior experience with these or does anyone know anything about how this would work?

2. The comic strip maker web site that Heartland AEA had in their newsletter was www.makebeliefscomix.com. I am going to check it out since we do not have Comic Life and I love Chad's idea that he posted on this blogg.

3. We are doing a fun project in my class right now with Kid Pixs. We are studying communities and how a school is a lot like a community. We got into pairs or triads and chose a community worker within our school to interview regarding the job they do for our school. Examples would be the principal, custodian, lunch ladies, secretary, counselor and the nurse. We also had a group interview a teacher's associate. They they used Kid Pixs to make a slide presenting the information they learned about the job that their person does. We added pictures too. Next, we are going to invite the people we interviewed to view our slide show either by putting it on a drive that is available to the whole school to use or have them join us in our classroom. We are also going to share it with the other 2nd grade classrooms. It has turned out to be a really cool thing and I thought I would share it with all of you!

Social Networking in the Education Domain

I love the idea of Social Networking within the educational setting. I read all three articles this week end and I think it would be so awesome to have a networking system within my school district. I do not know that much about how it would work, but I think the idea sounds so awesome. As an educator, there are times when our work is so isolated and contained within our classroom. We don't have time to go out and share what we are doing with our colleagues. It seems like if we could network with other teachers within our district via a blogg or some other platform we would communicate and support on another so much more. Excellent articles!!

Activities Reflection

The three activities we did last week in class were incredibly fun to participate in. But even more importantly, they applied to many of the Educational Technology Standards for teachers and students. And in the day and age of No Child Left Behind, we only have time for classroom activities that are going to move our students forward in their learning.


For the student standards, I feel all three activities fit into Standard 1 Creativity and Innovation. Specifically, I believe that all three activities guided us to apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas and products and we also created original works as a means of personal and group expression. In all three activities, we started out with a piece of literature, and then applied what we experienced with that book to a project we created on our own. It also was an activity that was high on Blooms Taxonomy - Synthesis - which is so excellent for students to participate in. I also believe that the I Spy project and Rosie's Walk project fit into Standard 2 Communication and Collaboration. Specifically substandard a "interact, collaborate, and publish with peers a variety of digital environments and media. We worked in a group to complete the power point and digital image page. We also planned and managed these projects which fits in Standard 4, substandard b. Finally, Standard 6 applied to all three projects as well.


It was also not difficult to find the Educational Technology Standards for teachers that applied to these projects. Standard 1a definitely applied to all three projects. By reading the book, modeling the programs we were to use and then explaining the project, you were promoting, supporting and modeling creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness to your students. Standard 2a also applied in that we were using digital tools and resources to learn and create(synthesize) our own version of the project. Standard 3a&b were also demonstrated in that we worked together to create the I Spy and Rosie's Walk project using new technology applications.


I am sure there are other standards that apply. But to me, the activities we did seem to apply to the standards mentioned above the most.

I want to know if Chad is feeling any better. I called another friend that is teaching and she is sick too. Something must be going around.

Its a Friday night and my focus now shifts to my class at ISU. I really need to get my kids into the computer lab and onto the computers but I struggle with what to have them do. Too bad I dont have a blog set up and they could post a message to their pen pals. I continue to think about ways I could use it in the classroom. I would love to hook them up with a classroom abroad. I know of an Ankeny HS science class that has their students working with a class in Norway or Finland. I wonder if I could set one up with my web page.

If anyone knows of any good on line programs that would be good for my kids to practice any of their academic skills, let me know. Any fun math programs, besides FunBrain.com, would be very much appreciated.

As I read the article on blogging in Teddy Bears go blogging, I struggle with my own 2nd graders being able to use this as a tool without the keyboarding issues slowing them down. I do something like that only with pen pals in Alabama. We learn about the south and ask them questions, make them gifts, and eventually would like to do a live link with them. The kids get so frustrated with the mail being so slow and having to wait so long to get a response to their letters. Blogging may be the answer if the keyboarding issue can be addressed. To be continued......