African Penguin Chick Google Hangout

Do you want to take your class to visit some African Penguin Chicks?   The Minnesota Zoo hosted an up close and personal visit with their African Penguin Chicks.   Feel free to check it out below... they are super cute and the hangout is loaded with awesome facts.   Enjoy!

SMART Board Assignment Notebook File

Are you interested in using your SMART Board with the new assignment notebook?   Please visit the Roosevelt Staff Portal's new SMART Board file page to download two pages per month (you can add in your own dates at the top) making a complete assignment notebook.  Click here to visit the page and download the file. 

I'm hoping that we can continue to share files that many grade levels can use, let me know if there is something that you may want to see on the SMART Board file page and I can work to make it happen.

Also, please check the Daily Bulletin for information about Roosevelt Substitute SMART Board Training.   You can access the flyer to share with your favorite subs by clicking here.

TEACH Documentary

I know I've posted about Khan Academy before, however, today this video was shared with me as a sneak peak of a new documentary, TEACH. This new documentary from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim will air on Friday, September 6th at 7pm CST.  This 2 hour special follows the journey of Shelby Harris, an exceptional teacher from Idaho, as she uses Khan Academy in her classroom.  From this sneak peak - it looks like an awesome example of the way technology is transforming classrooms around the country.  I also think it's a great example of Khan Academy in the classroom.  Check it out!

If you want to try using Khan Academy in the classroom or have any questions about implementing, just ask!

Do you want to a SMART Board Smartie?

I know that with the new school year, we added over 20 new SMART Boards at Roosevelt School.  That's a lot of SMART Boards!    Of course, I'm here to support you while you are learning the SMART Board, however, I thought I'd share a great resource to make using the SMART Board a bit easier!

The SMART Exchange is a great place to find ready to go resources created by teachers!  It's free to join the SMART Exchange, and the best part is, when you download the files, you can edit them to fit your needs!   I know that some people find that not every file works perfectly, so it is important to double check and review their content before using them.    Let me know if you'd like help using the SMART Exchange!

CNN Student News

One resource I loved using when I taught 5th grade was CNN Student News.  CNN student news is a ten-minute, commercial-free, daily news program for students produced by the journalists and educators at CNN.   This award winning show and its companion website are available free of charge throughout the school year.   This was always a great way to incorporate current events as well as keep students informed about what's happening in the Nation and the World.   There are also materials available to use with the show, free of charge!   There are daily discussion questions, Media Literacy Question of the Day, Daily Discussion Questions, etc.      If you are looking for an engaging, student friendly way of incorporating current events, please check it out by clicking here. There is a new episode every morning, Monday-Friday.

Here is today's episode:

The Kid Should See This

The Kid Should See This is an awesome collection of videos to that a friend just shared with me.

There’s just so much science, nature, music, art,technology, storytelling and assorted good stuff out there that my kids (and maybe your kids) haven’t seen. It’s most likely not stuff that was made for them…

But we don’t underestimate kids around here.

Not-made-for-kids videos for kids. Watched & collected by Rion Nakaya with her 2 & 5 year olds.

I watched a few of these videos and was totally hooked.  Check out this video below.  It it a variety of 6 second science experiments that are beyond awesome.

There are a ton of videos on this site.  If you are interested in using some in your classroom, let me know and I'd be happy to comb through them!   This would also be a great to show on your SMART Board!

Welcome Back!

Welcome Back!  I hope that everyone had a wonderful summer and you had time to reflect, relax, and recharge to start this new school year!  As a reminder, I'm here for all our your personal staff development needs!   As an instructional technology coach, it's my job to help you enhance your curriculum with technology - so please don't hesitate to ask!  I know that there is a lot of new technology around Roosevelt from SMART Boards, Chromebooks, and iPads in primary classrooms.  Please don't hesitate to ask for help integrating it seamlessly into your curriculum. 

I know many people were interested in "Flipping" their instruction at the end of last year.  I'm here to help you with that too!   My old principal sent me the video today of an EXTREMELY creative "Flipper".   Check it out if you need a good chuckle.   

Have a fabulous first day with kiddos and I look forward to working with everyone this year!

Oh... and if you missed it... I did have some big news to share over the summer.   We are expecting a baby girl in late December!  We couldn't be more thrilled for a new bundle of joy to be joining our family!