Blogs to Follow

Scholastic - Top Teaching Blog

I found 5 awesome blogs that everybody should check out! Shelly Terrell joined my ECMP 355 class last night to share about PLN's (Personal Learning Networks) and I enjoyed listening to her! Shelly Terrell really stressed to "share it!!" She says to share lesson plans, resources, information. I agree with her! That's how we learn - from others. 
Imagine if we all had one or two really fantastic lessons that we thought really connected with the kids, then we all shared them! Imagine all the information and resources we could acquire!

1) Teacher Reboot Camp Click Here

This is Shelly Terrell's website and I find it very helpful! She helped me learn about PLN's (Personal Learning Network) in my ECMP 355 class last night. She explained that teachers really need to learn from each other and share ideas - and this can all be done online!! Check out her "PLN Tips for Teachers" under her Categories section.

2) Scholastic - Top Teaching Click Here

Wow! This site is incredible for teaching ideas. They have 10 teachers and their blogs available to access. When you hover your mouse over their photo and name it pops up with what grade they teach and other cool information! When you click on a person, you can scroll down and see all of their recent posts! Definitely check this site out! (See picture of site at top of blog post)

3) Peeking Into Division 19 Click Here

This website is about Ms. Lirenman's Class. Ms. Lirenman is the teacher I was paired up with for my mentoring assignment. I really like her website. It has useful ideas on it to use in my own classroom! I believe that all the kids are paired up 1:1 with an ipad. You will see this when you look at her blogging site. From her pictures, her teaching looks hands on and very inquiry based!

4) Ms. Cassidy's Classroom Blog Click Here

I really like this blogging site for a few reasons! First of all, it's a very easy site to navigate and follow. Second, Ms. Cassidy and her class live in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan! They are our neighbours! While I was checking out her site, I noticed that she has a section labelled "Classes We Learn With" and she has listed Ms. Lirenman's Class - they are the class I am paired up with for my mentoring!!! So neat! On the right side of her blog you will notice that all the kids in her class have their own blogs and she has links to them! Those are so cool to check out because they are written right from the kids. 

5) Teaching Village Click Here

This is a website focusing mainly on ESL (English as a Second Language) learners specifically (or as they call it on their site, EFL - English as a Foreign Language). On Teaching Village, they list countless blogs about ESL help for your students if you click on "blogs" at the top! People also post something if they need help and then other people can comment to offer advice or help that teacher! The author of this blog is Barbara Sakamoto and she says, "I’m hoping that Teaching Village will help me connect with EFL teachers I’ve met in workshops around the world, and to make new friends, too!"

Enjoy looking at all my favourite blogs!

Pro YouTube!!

Should YouTube be permitted for use in schools? Definitely YES!

YouTube is such a valuable resource to help kids learn. It's so useful when you are teaching a lesson or explaining a concept (even in math) and you want to show the kids a cute jingle or video explaining the concept that really helps kids understand. Even just a change of teaching style to a YouTube video helps engage students. I'm not saying to use YouTube for every lesson, but I think it's definitely a valuable resource to assist children in their learning. I've used YouTube for spelling lessons, math lessons, social, and even music during class time.

YouTube is fantastic for Brain Breaks!! Ever heard of Just Dance? The grade 3's just loved it!! If you're unsure of what Just Dance is, it's a game for wii that involves holding the wii remote and following the dance moves of the person on the screen. For brain breaks during class, the kids all follow the dancer on the screen for about 2-3 minutes. If you don't know what Just Dance is, google "Just Dance brain break" and you'll see what it is!! Not even for Just Dance, but also just regular brain breaks are easily accessible on YouTube. See some examples of Just Dance links and other brain break links at the bottom!

What are your thoughts? Allow or ban YouTube in schools?

Just Dance Brain Breaks on YouTube:

The Gummy Bear Song

Call Me Maybe

Nintendo

Despicable Me

Santa Clones

Regular Brain Breaks on Youtube: 

If You're a Kid

The Continental Drift

Chicken Dance

The Banana Song

asdf jkl; - Typing!

asdf - the four keys you type with your left hand
jkl; - the four keys you type with your right hand

Who used typing programs in their elementary school computer class? I did! I HATED it at the time. We had these orange skins that you couldn't see through and we had to put the skins over our keyboard so we couldn't see any keys. I really struggled and was so frustrated and would sometimes peek and get caught! After practice and practice, I finally started to get better at it and I am so happy I pushed on. I feel like I am a very fast typer right now, thanks to my school program "All the Right Type."

I took a typing test the other day and I can type at approximately 96 WPM! Try taking the test and see what you type at! It's cool because on this test it tells you afterwards how much time you save on average compared to the average typer! I found this so neat to see. It's amazing how much time you can save from typing fast! It's a good practice to take this test and practice your typing skills! Good Luck!

Click Here to Take Typing Test

Let's Ban the Binder

Hello! I came across this article titled "Let's Ban the Binder" which talks about the new modern age of schooling. It's about a 7 paragraph article and doesn't take very long to read! It talks about not using a binder but instead using digital tools. I liked how it progressed by talking about how in the 60's and 70's they used chalkboards to copy down notes, in the 80's and 90's it was an overhead projector, and lately it's been notes copied from slideshows. To add to this, I think even more recent now would be all of the smart board technology. 

Check out this quote from the article I found. Let me know your thoughts. Agree? Or Disagree??

"Modern learning cannot be captured on a page, between the covers of a binder, or within the walls of a classroom. If teaching and learning are to reflect the shared, open, hyper-connected nature of learning, then the retirement of the binder could be the first brave step towards modernizing our practice." 

Click here for link to entire article. 

New Discoveries

Hello all! If you have been to my blog before, you might notice that now it's different! I had some time this afternoon (finally!) and I changed my layout and fonts. It takes a while - that's for sure! It really just takes time to figure out neat little things on Blogger and I feel like now I have a much better understanding of how to work Blogger. It can definitely be frustrating when you want to change or add something but don't know how! I've been starting to use labels (and now see how cool they are!) and adding lots of gadgets (check out the right side) to my blog! I LOVE IT! 

My advice... set aside a couple hours and click and push buttons to figure it out! I learn best by "doing" so by really working with Blogger by finding out some new things I seem to like it so much more now!! Yay! If you're a Google Blogger and you have questions, feel free to ask! I feel like I know a little more about Blogger than I used to!!

Positive OR Hmm...I'm not sure...

Check out my responses from my survey! 

I had a survey on my blog (see below) about BYOD (Bringing Your Own Device - like ipads or tablets). 

I think this is still a new concept in classrooms and sometimes teachers can be unsure of how to incorporate technology, especially if they are not 100% confident with technology themselves. 

B.Y.O.D. Responses

B.Y.O.D.