I have made it this far, what's a couple more months?

I did not think I would get the chance to say this but...
 I AM 3/4 OF THE WAY THROUGH THE SCHOOL YEAR!  
I has been a long and crazy journey but I have quickly found out how important it is to collaborate with fellow educators and always be on top of new strategies to keep students attention and learning constant.  One resource I have found the my students seem to enjoy is Wikispaces.  We have complete two seperate projects where we have shared with the world what we have learned.  This is a bit tidious to set up but the end results are certainly worth it.  
On another note... Just before Christmas I found out that our school district is going to standards based grading (SBG).  Our goal is to have the entire district implemented by school year 2016/2017.  Definitley a tough goal but I believe we can do it.  Our building is currently completing a booik study and it is teachingus the do's and don'ts of SBG.  We had the priveldge of meeting teachers from other districts that have already implented SBG and I am certainly looking forward to this grading system.  This new grading allows students, parents, and teachers to see what information the student is really learning (not a grade for participation or extra credit but a grade on the knowledge gained).  Although this is going to require a complete overhaul on grading and lesson planning I am excited, nervous, overwhelmed, and looking forward to yet another new journey.  
HERE WE GO!!!

2014-2015 6th grade Social Studies Teacher. YAHOOOO!!!!

I am super excited to announce that I will be teaching 6th grade social studies this upcoming school year.  Not sure what it will all entail but I am sure it will be full of many ups and downs.  Now I am on the quest to find many resources to use in my classroom and curriculum.  So far Pinterest and twitter have been my best bet.  My search will continue as I jump into this year full speed.  I'm anxious, excited, and a little overwhelmed all at the same time (especially since I have to move to the other side of the state....yikes!).  I know that it will all be worth it in the end.  Follow me on Pinterest and take a look at my educational board. Let me know if you have any ideas on what would be resourceful in a 6th grade classroom. 

Class is over but the learning has just begun!!!

This was the final week for my Professional development class towards my masters.  I have to say that I learned a lot from this course, much more than I had anticipated at the beginning.  Here is the reflection I posted for this class. Hopefully some of the resources I found will benefit you as well.  Let me know what you think! Enjoy!!

https://sites.google.com/site/carriedawaycs/nets_5/reflection_5

Happy Easter!!

     

 First of all I would like to say, Happy Easter!!! Jesus is alive!!!  I have had an interesting weekend to say the least but with the weekend nearly over I realized I have not blogged once this week!! So I thought it best to do so now while I have my thoughts in the front of my mind (it's truly bothersome when I have a thought and then it floats to the back of my head and then I just can't seem to retrieve it). 

Over the past several weeks I have come across several new PLN resources.  One that I recently found this past week is sharemylesson.com.  This site has thousands of lessons, activities, handouts, movies, webinars, and a forum.  I searched google for more information on this site before I signed up and I found nothing but positive remarks about its resourcefulness.  I found a video that sums up what the site is all about. Check it out!  

Once I signed up I was able to log in in and view all of the available resources and webinars.  I was surprised to see there are webinars available with ideas on how to meet different parts of the commoncore standards.  A lot of these are about one hour long and I have not had a chance to sit down and watch one full out yet, but I certainly plan to do so soon.  I recently completed a simile and metaphor unit with my students and I was hoping my students would have had a better understanding of how these enhance the way people read poems and stories. I have been on the lookout for different lessons or activities to do just that and I was able to find a couple of activities that I want to try next time on this site. Here is a link to one of the resources I am going to use next time.  You will have to sign up in order to view the page but it is worth it the couple of minutes of singing up. 

I think having several PLN's available is definitely beneficial. Having just a few sites really limits the resources that you have available at your fingertips.  I keep my list of tools and resources on diigo and my PLN list has grown from 4 sites to 15 just over the past 7 weeks. That's not to say that I access every single site every day.  However, if I check on a couple of sites and I just can't find a lesson or activity for what I am needing then I have plenty of other options to choose from.  I think I will be using this site as one of my top 5 sites to got to for ideas.  Hopefully you will have a few minutes to check it out. If so let me know if you think this is a resourceful site for your needs.  Also if you have any other sites that I have not mentioned throughout my blog, please post a comment letting me know what you use. As you can see I am in the processing of building my PLN and I will take any help I can get. Hope to hear from you soon!! 

Twitter Chat

After completing my first twitter chat I have to say that I am completely invigorated. It was wicked fast but definitely worth participating in.  I participated in #edtechchat tonight from 7-8 Central time.  I made sure to use tweetdeck on my laptop.  I was going to try to do it on my phone but thought otherwise since this was my first chat and I was not familiar with the layout of the chat.  In the future I can use my phone if I am not at home but otherwise I will stick to my laptop. It took me a little bit to get the hang of how to use twitter deck in such a way that was not overwhelming. I ended up creating three seperate lists; Notifications, #edtechchat, and edtechchat moderator. The notifications allowed me to see certian tweets including just me and my tweets, #edtechchat allowed me to see the responses of everyone else in the chat, and edtechchat moderator allowed me to see the questions for the chat from the moderators (sometimes I would loose the questions in the #edtechchat since tweets were flying in). Once I did this it was much easier to follow along. 

The topic tonight was on Innovation.  A bunch of the information I new from classes with Missouri Baptist University however, I was able to pick up a couple of things I want to give a try.  One of the questions was "What is something innovative you are doing in your classroom/school?"  In my class I have begun using twiducate and the students love it!  I was amazed at the vast array of responses and ways other educators are innovating their rooms. I would like to experiement with the idea of teaching sutdents website/blog creation.  Instead of just having them participate in one I have created I would allow them to create it and then use it in the classroom.  This will take much supervision, especially with my 4th graders but I can certianly see them pulling this off and learning in a whole new way that I would not have thought of before this chat.  I have not had a chance to look into this but one of the resources for this type of thing is Kidblog. I'm going to take a look into it and see how useful it would be for my class. Once I have had a chance to do so I will share my thoughts and/or implementation of this resource.  Have you tried this in your classroom? If so please share what you use and/or how you have done so. 

I can certianly say that I will be participating in twitter chats in the future. Maybe not on a weekly basis but every couple of weeks or so.  It was exciting and refreshing to see other educators who are wanting and willing to change their teaching habits in order to better teach their students.  Too often I see educators who are stuck in the traditional teaching style and the students are bored out of their mind and not learning the important facts and skills. I did end up following a couple of people from this chat. They included the moderators and a couple of others whos tweets I found interesting. You should certianly give this twitter chat a shot if you have not done so yet. It is well worth it. Let me know what you think once you have done so. 

Social Networking

This week in my graduate class we have been discussing social networking.  I have to say that I am already familiar with social networking but it was definitley interesting to get into in a educational approach.  I use Facebook and recently have begun Twitter. Actually to follow up with a previous post I have researched a few different Twitter like tools available and my most favorite for the classroom is Twiducate. I am going to test this is a class lesson for earth day.  We will see how it goes and I will let you know. Take a look at it and see if you could benefit from this tool. http://www.twiducate.com/login.php

 But enough of that, for todays subject: Social Networking......This week I was introduced to edWeb.net.

 This is an excellent social network for educators.  I was able to join several communities including Amazing resources for Educators, Digital Citizenship, Game based learning, Implementing the Common Core Standards, New Teacher help, and Tech tools for the classroom.  What I love the most about this social network tool is that educators are able to communicate and share ideas that have or have not worked in the classroom.  Also there are tons of free webinars that are archived to view.  You can also participate in live webinars for free once you sign up.  This is along with twitter are definitley going to be two networking tools that I keep and use for a long time.  I even followed edWeb on twitter and have found some very useful resources for the classroom.  It is my hope that with these two social networking tools I will be able to implement not only more technology into my classroom but also change up and revamp classroom activities.  Take a look at edWeb and tell me what you think. Would you use this social networking tool and if you have for awhile is there anything that I have not found yet that you think I could benefit from using or looking at?  Let me know. I'm always open and willing to learn new things.  For my own personal use I love to use Pinterest but every once in a while I do find that I am looking up educational tools and resources using this social network tool as well.  I know there are tons of networking sites out there. If you have one you use that I have not mentioned in my blog let me kknow so I can check it out.
Thanks for reading!

Networked Classroom

While taking this class for creating a PLN for myself I can't help but think that there is so much new stuff that I am almost overwhelmed by it all!!!  I LOVE the idea of having a networked classroom. This is mainly because it allows students the opportunity to actually learn by their own creations and connections made through the use of blogs, videos, chats, skype, etc.  I have to say the in addition to the reading that was assigned for this week I also read chapter 3 from Personal Learning Network by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli and I believe networked classrooms are upon us.  Richarson/Mancabelli gave 7 reasons or benefits of a networked classroom and they included: Transparent, Collaborative, Learning centered, Accessible, Communication based, Supportive of problem- or inquiry-based learning, and Drvien by authentic assessment.  I agree that all of these are benefits and I found two quotes that I highlighted in the text that stood out to me.  In speaking about the Collaborative aspect of a networked classroom Richardson/Mancabelli says, 'If we remember that 'none of us is as smart as all of us,' we can begin to tap into the expertise of both those around us and those outside the school."  The fact that the students and teachers are not limited by the walls of the classroom is such a great opportunity for everyone to learn and expand their knowledge. This is a good enough reason for me to create a networked classroom.  I do however, think about how my generation would be today had we had the same opportunity of a networked classroom. The chance to reach outside the four walls of the classroom.  Would we be smarter or just better connected with others throughout the world. Would there be any skills not learned such as good scripting/handwriting, proper use of english (especially with all the cuts that are made in blogs, posts, and tweets to trim down what people of trying to say), or even public speaking in front of a live audience (I know its a totally different feeling when there are actual bodies in the room while speaking as opposed to you making a video or skyping. Its just not the same feelling.)  I guess I'm trying to figure out how to balance keeping these skills as well as learning the skills gained from a networked classroom.  Afterall, they are just as important as connecting with others from around the world. The other quote I found interesting talks about the assessment portion of a networked classroom. I would think it is difficult to actually grade or measure ones understanding of a concept if they are only chatting or blogging. However, I guess it depends on what kind of criteria is given to students. In supporting the networked classroom Richardson/Mancabelli argue that "Students are doing real work for real purposes for real audiences, and the products they create are measured accoudingly through self-reflection on the creation process, performces, portfolios, and a host of other ways."  This is certainly so that is depending on the criteria of the assignment.  I believe a networked classroom would be much easier to implement into higher grades.  Younger students such as 1st or 2nd graders are just learning how to spell words let alone write a blog about something they are learning.  Although, I can see where one could argue that this blogging could actually help students in learning how to spell since what they type is often more legible than what they physically write. LOL. This I know is true!  If you have never tried to read and grade the writing of a 1st grader you should give it a try sometime. It's interesting sometimes. At any rate, implementing a networked classroom is definitely something that can be done in any grade and any classroom. It's just a matter of figuring out how and when to do so.         

I certianly could see how a networked classroom would benefit diverse students such as esol or gifted students.  Having a live chat or blog gives all students a chance to be heard where in a class discussion typically not every student is heard.  It can also cause students to think from a different point of view.  As one student explains where or how they came to their answer or explanation the other students in the class can be taken to a whole new approach that they never would have thought of before.  I know this has happened to be before so I am certian that this happens with students as well. I would need to do some more research to better understand effective ways to help these students in particular. One thing that does come to mind is my rewording or rephrasing questions or explanations for esol students, possibly using a free web translator if necessary. 

I would love to begin transforming my classroom into a networked classroom.  This will have to wait for me until I have my own classroom.  Since I am only an assistant I only teach select lessons. As I create new lessons I am definitley going to keep this in mind and try to begin or test different ways to create my own future networked classroom.  I know I will be teaching on earth day so I am going to see how I can get my students involved somehow.  This will take some thinking but I'm confident I can do it.  If you have any thoughts please let me know!