Padlet

One of the fun resources we are sharing at the 1:1 Jumpstart classes this week is called Padlet.  Padlet, formally known as wallwisher, is a very easy way to collaborate with your students.  All you need to do is create a wall, share it with your students, then start collaborating!  Teachers can easily create accounts by logging in with their Google accounts and start with a wall!   Below is a way that you can see how it can be integrated into your classroom.     What a cool thing to try with your students!  If you want help, let me know!

http://padlet.com/cynthia_treichl/ujdh2g0p2r

Check out the World's First Google Learning Space

How cool is this classroom?   Google is taking things to the next level by creating the first ever physical Google Learning Space, a collaborative learning center where students of all ages come to read, learn, and share using technology in a specially designed environment. The colorful space is equipped with two Chromecasts, which students use to project assignments, presentations and videos from their laptops and tablets; two Smart TVs; a sound system; and a high-performance wireless network. The room is set up to accommodate a variety of learning activities -- students can choose from beanbags for independent reading, stools for guided instruction, or mats for interactive group work.  

Would you want to learn in this classroom?   I would.   I would also LOVE to teach in this classroom!

Blendspace

Last week, Renee showed me a cool new resource that could be helpful for teachers wanting to try flipping their classrooms.  

Blendspace allows teachers to blend your classroom with digital content.   Check out the short tutorial below. 

Blendspace can help teachers do the following:

• Organize - collect web resources in one place and share with just one link
• Assess - measure student understanding with build-in quizzes
• Track - monitor student progress and adapt to student needs in real time

A great resource for...

• Flipping their Classroom
• Project Based Learning
• Differentiated Instruction

Does this sound intriguing to you?  Do you want to try it out?  Let me know and I'd be happy to help you figure it out!   Let me know!

Take Your Classroom to Work Day

As you may have noticed, today was Take Your Child to Work Day.  I recall going to one of the very first "Take Your Daughter to Work Days" when I was in school - and enjoyed spending the day seeing what my dad did.   Times have changed a bit - and with that, Google hosted a Take Your Classroom to Work Day today where they hosted a variety of virtual field trips to various fun and inspiring workplaces.  Check out some of the field trips below and see the recordings of the experiences.  

If you’re a student, parent or teacher, we encourage you to tune in to the topics that interest you. Most field trips are appropriate for all-ages, while a handful may be more interesting for high school students.

Take Your Classroom to Work:

• with a U.S. Senator
• at NASDAQ
• with the Ramen Burger entrepreneur
• at Forbes
• with a filmmaker
• with sports marketers
• with a YouTube celebrity chef
• at The Met
• in the world of fashion
• at the Huffington Post
• with the Chicago Bulls
• with a TV news anchor
• in Hollywood’s special effects
• at the Georgia Aquarium
• with nurses
• at Second City
• with a scientific investigator
• with one of our country’s heroes

#HAPPYDAY

Today I heard about the International Day of Happiness.  Who doesn't need a little happiness in their life?  Check out the video and information below. 

Join Pharrell + The UN Foundation on today for the International Day Of Happiness. Details here: http://24HoursOfHappiness.com

Take action to create a happier world for people everywhere. Click here to donate to the UN's humanitarian efforts athttp://bit.ly/HAPPYdonations

The entire world joins in on spreading HAPPINESS in this super cut of our favorite moments from fan submitted videos. Thank you to everyone who submitted a video and helped us have a #HAPPYDAY

Watch more HAPPY videos here: http://bit.ly/HAPPYDAY

Google Story Builder

I read about an awesome resource today called, Google Story Builder.  Watch the video to see how this teacher explains how to use it in your classroom.

Does this sound like something you would want to use?  I'd love to see you try in with your students.  Let me know how I can help!

Ask the first lady a question!

Exciting news: First Lady Michelle Obama is traveling to China, and she wants to hear questions from students throughout the United States! She'll pick a few to answer in a special video message. Here's how you can participate: on Monday (TODAY), have your students work together as a class to come up with ONE question for The First Lady about her trip to China.   Send them to Coach Caroline and I'll take care of the rest!  We have until after school on Tuesday, March 11th for your class to get me your questions, and I'll submit them by the midnight deadline.  

I can't wait to see what your students come up with!  If you want to see more information, check out Scholastic Teacher's Facebook Page. 

Tech Talk Week

Have you been keeping up with all of the tech talk week emails?   This was a unique way to educate parents on a daily basis about how we are using technology in District 64.   You may notice that Roosevelt has some awesome representation.  Here are the videos just in case you wanted to catch up. :)

See how our students are using technology as they communicate, collaborate, apply critical thinking skills, and share their creativity through 21st Century Learning.

Explore how “Differentiation” using technology is helping us better meet the needs of every child. Hear how teachers use tech tools to gather real-time feedback from students about their learning, and adjust instruction to better meet their needs. Listen to students explain how technology tools let them work at their own pace and skill level.

Technology is more than just fun; it supports students working together to do work that matters. Hear a teacher describe how technology can motivate, bring meaning to learning and spark curiosity to help students grow. 

Hapara is here for 4th and 5th grade teachers

If you are a 4th or 5th grade teacher - you now have Hapara - which is only going to enhance your Chrome and Chromebook experience.   Check out the video below. 

To access your teacher dashboard, click here.   I'll will be working with 4th and 5th grade teachers (specials included, if you are interested) on what Hapara can do for you and useful tips.  Stay tuned for training information!

Keeping the Balance

Today's students, especially in District 64, have access to a variety of different resources that enhance their learning.   To name a few that we all know and love, SMART Boards, iPads, Chromebooks, etc.   With such an increase in technology for our students, comes an increase in screen time.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, children today are spending an average of seven hours a day on entertainment media including T.V., computers, phones, and other entertainment media. As educators, it is important for us to find a good balance and make conscious choices about when technology is appropriate and how it can be used to engage students in meaningful learning.   Click here to read a great article about the balance of screen time.  The article cites some great examples or choosing when to use technology, however, I like the three questions the author thinks about when choosing technology to use in the classroom:

• Is it appropriate?
• Is it meaningful?
• Is it empowering?

These are great things to keep in mind when looking at the ultimate goal of what goals you are trying to achieve with your students.  If you would like help planning in this matter, I'd be happy to help make sure we are using technology in appropriate, meaningful, and empowering ways - just let me know!

Connected Classroom Hangout: Danny the Champion the World with Lucy Dahl

Today, Mrs. Filipiak's 3rd grade classroom had a very unique opportunity.   Before Thanksgiving, they were sent copies of the book, Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl.  Over Thanksgiving Break the third grade students read the book and when they returned, submitted questions in preparation for today's Connected Classroom Hangout with Lucy Dahl, Roald Dahl's daughter, and with Elizabeth Findley who works with Matilda, the Musical, on Broadway.  It was a BEYOND amazing experience for the students who personally got to interact with both Lucy in Los Angeles and Elizabeth in New York.   Lucy had some amazing information to share about her father and the kids and adults involved learned a lot!    Some students even were able to make some very unique and interesting connections with Roald Dahl.  As a big surprise at the end, the students received the book, Matilda, as a thanks for participating gift.  They were beyond thrilled.   Check out the video of the entire experience in the YouTube Video below.  Thank you to +Matilda The Musical Broadway and +Connor Swenson for such an amazing opportunity!   

Room 312's Survival Handbook

Currently, Mr. Mulvihill's 5th grade class is in the middle of their rotation of using the Chromebooks as well as just finished reading the novel, My Side of the Mountain.   Mr. Mulvihill has traditionally read this novel with his 5th grade class and has had the students keep track of different plants and animals that are used as a means of survival, while reading the novel.   This year, with the Chromebooks at Room 312's fingertips, they were were able to take this survival study a bit further.  In collaborating with myself, the Instructional Technology Coach, and Ms. Diekman, we were able to come up with an awesome project ot take their findings a step further.  Ms. Diekman, our wonderful Library Information Specialist, worked with Room 312 showing them how to research and take notes on the different survival items that were in the novel they read. After completing the research with Ms. D, then I went into his classroom to teach the kids how to use Google Sites.  As a class, collaborating on research and collaborating on creating a website, you can see how their hard work has transformed into a wonderful working website.  Please click here to view the website.

This project was a great way to meet many of our National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) while deepening the student's understanding of how different plants and animals can be used for survival.   In addition to meeting the NETS standards for students, this activity also met a variety of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4–5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.6 With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

Mr. Mulvihill's class did an amazing job on this assignment, and their website looks amazing!   I hope you enjoy reading their hard work and seeing an excellent sample of success from our 5th graders!   If you think this is an activity that you'd like to try in your classroom, please let me know!

Today is my 200th post!   It's hard to believe that a year ago I started this goal of blogging daily (on work days, that is) as a way to continue to share resources with staff.   I hope that you have found this blog to be a valuable resource.  If there is something that you'd like to see more of, or a certain topic you'd like me to cover, please let me know!  I hope you enjoy the Wordle above showing what my blog feed's most popular words are... and that STUDENT LEARNING is used the most!

Speaking of student learning, Mike Johnson, ITC at Field, had a great picture on his blog today about Transforming Education.  Please enjoy the picture below and the powerful words below.

Hour of Code

We live in a world surrounded by technology. But only a tiny fraction of students learn how computers work, or how to create software technology. Computer Science provides a foundation for virtually any career and all our students can benefit from learning the basics. 

This year, for Computer Science Education Week, a massive campaign called the Hour of Code is introducing 10 million students to try one hour of introductory computer science.

Watch the video below to find out more or check out the Hour of Code website by clicking here.  Are you interested in your class participating?   Let me know and I'd be happy to help set it up for you!

Check out the new Google Maps

Google has been working on updating their maps.  Check out the video above to see how they've improved their Maps product.   Google Maps would awesome for teaching kids about certain places, or if your students have their own Google accounts, they can create their own maps!   Of course, Google Maps is also awesome for finding your way somewhere.   Enjoy the updates!

Have you ever wondered about using KidBlog?

Many teachers use Kidblog to blog with their students.  Do you know how easy it can be?  

What is Kidblog?

Kidblog is built by teachers, for teachers, so students can get the most out of the writing process. Our mission is to empower teachers to embrace the benefits of the coming digital revolution in education. As students become creators - not just consumers - of information, we recognize the crucial role of teachers as discussion moderators and content curators in the classroom. With Kidblog, teachers monitor and control all activity within their classroom blogging community.  

Kidblog is designed for K-12 teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog. Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts. 

Use Kidblog to:

• create classroom discussions

• learn digital citizenship

• practicing writing skills

• create an e-portfolio

• reflect on learning

• formatively assess writing

 - from Kidblog

Kidblog is also a safe way for students to share information with you, each other, or the world!  As the teacher you can set up the privacy settings however you wish as well as have control about the comments and posts in your classroom.  On Google +, I read about a 2nd grade teacher who was sharing her student's Arctic Habitat's with the world.   Click here to see her student's work - along with how she uses the blog on a daily basis to get students writing about a topic.   Click here to see her student's entries and awesome work.   Feel free to comment on their reports as well!  Imagine how cool it would be to be getting comments on your published work from people around the country - or the world!

Panda Cam

Breaking News

Do you want to see some super cute baby pandas?   Check out Zoo Atlanta's Panda Cam, currently streaming video of their two baby pandas that were born on Monday, July 15th.   This link will show you their journey from their mom's pregnancy with the pandas, to them being born and their development.  Click here to see a slideshow of their development - this is so cool.   In keeping with the Chinese tradition followed with the naming of the three previous cubs born at Zoo Atlanta, the twins will be named when they are 100 days old.   That traditional ceremony will be happening shortly - and if you want you and/or your students can actually take part in the voting!  Let me know if you are interested and as soon as the link is published, I'll let you know!

Check out what the proposed names mean:

1. Mei Lun and Mei Hua
(Pronounced May Loon and May Hwaa)
In English, the names mean Lun Lun's twin cubs born in the USA.

2. Mei Lun and Mei Huan
(Pronounced May Loon and May Hwaan)
These names stem from an ancient Chinese idiom, "Mei Lun Mei Huan," which was used to describe constructed buildings that are tall and magnificent. It has come to mean something indescribably beautiful and magnificent.

3. Tian Lun and Tian Le
(Pronounced Tee-an loon and Tee-an luh)
These names come from the Chinese idiom, "Tian Lun Zhi Le," which means the joy of family life or family happiness. In this context, the cubs' names would mean, "Lun Lun and her twin cubs are enjoying heavenly gifted family happiness," according to the staff at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

4. Lan Tian and Bi Shui
(Pronounced Lan tee-an and Bee Shway)
The names, meaning blue sky and clear water, are derived from another the Chinese idiom, "Lan Tian Bi Shui," which is used to describe beautiful scenery.

5. Da Lan and Xiao Lan
(Pronounced Dah Lan and Sheow Lan)
The literal meaning of these names is bigger one ("Cub B") and smaller one ("Cub A") of the Atlanta-born twins. 

Goals & LoTi Survey

As you recall, a few weeks ago at our staff meeting, we took the Levels of Teaching Intervention (LoTi) survey.   I know that it being the beginning of the year, and parent night being on a lot of teacher's mind, it was a stressful survey, especially with all of the log in issues and it being 4:00 p.m.   That aside, this survey was meant to help give you some areas to improve on in your teaching.  I know I have a few goal areas to work on in my coaching as well!  These could be used in an evaluation setting, or in an informal setting, working with me, as your coach.  


Now that we're a solid month into school, and hopefully in the "routine" of things, I was hoping that you would consider goal setting with me in one of the areas of the LoTi survey.   Just as a background,

• the LoTi® Digital-Age Survey is based on Moersch’s LoTi® Framework (1994)—is an empirically-validated tool that creates a personalized digital-age professional development profile for participants aligned to the NETS for Teachers (NETS-T). Since its inception in 1994, the LoTi® Framework has been used as the basis for (1) statewide technology use surveys, (2) LoTi’s®Digital-Age School improvement model, and (3) a classroom walkthrough tool impacting thousands of schools nationally.  For more information, click here. 

I would love to set up a meeting (or series of meetings) with you to help you set a goal based on your results.   No worries if you didn't print it out the first time we did it, I can always log back in with you and we can read them (and maybe translate some of the language to be more teacher friendly), and then come up with a goal area to work on.   In the spring we'll be taking this survey again, and I'd love it if the growth that's occurring in the building would translate to the survey!    I consider myself a life long learner, who is always looking for ways to improve.  This LoTi survey has given me a lot to think about - and I'm hoping that it can do the same for you!

If this has sparked some curiosity with you, and your forgot how to log in, just click here to be taken to the log in information!

Math Rocks!

Today I received an email from the W.B. Goodwin Community Center's mentoring program.  They stumbled upon an old web page that I had created my first year at Roosevelt to share some math resources.  The students in the program really liked some of the games and resources that I had shared, and they wanted to share a fun one with me!   Upon looking at it, I thought is was an awesome resource to share on my blog here!

Now for the new site from my new friends at the W.B. Goodwin Community Center...  Online Math Calculators!  This site upon first glance doesn't look too flashy or engaging, however, once you scroll down and start looking at all of the awesome calculator links that they have, you'll be hooked!  With almost 30 different calculators, it's a great tool to explore with your students.   Some of my favorites include:

• Use a Simple Basic Online Calculator for Math
• Healthy Eating Meal Planner Calculator
• The Kids’ Talking Calculator
• Calculate Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
• The Piggy Bank Allowance Savings Calculator
• Figure Out How Many Coins are in a Jar
• How Much Do You Have to Save to Buy Something?
• Which Day Were You Born On?
• Calculate Your Age in Dog Years
• How Many Days Have You Been Alive?
• How Tall Will You Be As An Adult?
• The Decimal to Binary Calculator Tool
• The Map Scale Conversion Calculator

There's so many more where those came from too!  Be sure to check out the Online Math Calculators with your students!   Thanks again to the students at the W.B. Goodwin Community Center for sharing this awesome resource with me!

Oh, and if you are looking for a refresher on the resources I shared a few years ago, check them out below!

• Khan Academy - modeling of math algorithms & practice exercises
• Study Island - differentiated practice & reteaching
• IXL - Subscription Required - however, sign up for a 30 day free trial!   Great site to practice math skills.  
• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - collection of manipulatives by grade level to help illustrate math concepts.
• CCC SMART Math - a collection of interactive lessons to help students understand math concepts.
• SMART Exchange - Look for teacher created interactive lessons for use with your SMART Board.  The best part is, if you don't have a SMART Board you can still use them!

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!