Collaboration

That is a big word. It is a word that as a student and new teacher I hated to hear. It meant I had to talk to people and share my thoughts. I might even have to stand up and share with an entire group. I know you can’t tell from how much I ramble on this blog, but I always hated it. I didn’t even like hearing the word. As I began teaching, it became easier. I liked talking to my new colleagues and I liked getting and sometimes sharing ideas. In graduate school, I was forced to collaborate more. I found that I not only had opinions I wanted to share but I learned so much from collaborating with my fellow students and teachers.

I began to realize that if I (a quiet person) can really learn something from collaboration so can my students. I don’t know about you, but my students LOVE to talk. They LOVE to be with their friends and even share their ideas. So I started having math conversations with my students. After learning how to share appropriately, they began giving their ideas, talking through math problems and even helping their neighbors when they didn’t understand. This collaboration between my students and me was so beneficial. I found that many of my students could teach those struggling students better than I could! That is hard for a teacher to admit...but sometimes they can explain a concept in a way I never thought about. To top it off, I began hearing these same collaborative conversations during centers as well. I was thrilled! Now, don’t get me wrong. I have a class of “bossy bosses” and they do get into arguments from time to time. It is not always wonderful...but any progress helps. Right?!

So I was very excited when I came across this article in the eSchool News journal. The article focuses on collaboration as a learning tool. They are mostly focusing on social media like Twitter and Facebook. At first, I was thinking...bad idea. But then I began to reflect on my past few semesters at Montevallo. A few of my classes (including those this semester) have been incorporating the use of Facebook and Twitter. It does help me collaborate and communicate with my fellow classmates that I do not ever get a chance to see. Most of us our already using these social media sites on a daily basis. So I started thinking about ways we could use it in the classroom. Students collaborating with other students all over the world would be spectacular. And if they were using a site like Facebook...would they even realize they were learning?!

So I thought I would throw some questions your way. I am interested in your ideas. What would it be like if we could use these sites to increase student learning? Do you think it could benefit the students and/or the teachers? Do you think it will ever be possible to use these social media sites to our educational advantage?

Can you believe that we have like 20 something days of school left?! It seems like yesterday, was October and we were thinking we would never see the end of the year. Now, it seems like it has gone by so fast. As another year ends comes a lot of busy days, paperwork, and planning for the new school year. With every summer, I try to challenge myself or to set a goal for myself for the next year. Last summer, my goal was to get more organized. I followed a classroom organization blog and learned the best ways to organize my newest classroom. Today, I thought I would share with you my new goal for this summer. I want to become a grant writer! It fits perfectly for this blog about surviving and thriving with less. With our budget being cut more and more each year, I think it would be great for every teacher to learn to tap in to the free money set aside for us. It’s just waiting on us to take it.

So, this summer I am going to learn to be a good grant writer. AND here’s the kicker, I do not think I am a very good writer! I have never enjoyed writing and I struggled with it through high school and college.  So this task is not only going to be enriching but also challenging for me. I went to a conference a few weeks back. It was one of those conferences where you got to choose your “breakout sessions.” One of the class choices was on grant writing. So I thought today I would share some resources that I got in that class as well as some resources I found online.  First, here is a video on how to properly write a grant:

The great things about grants are that there is money out there for everyone. You just need to decide what kind of grant you are interested in applying for.  There are grants available if you need technology, supplies, music, field trips, to encourage literacy, and many more. In the session I attended, I was given a great resource for finding the grant you need. It is A Guide to Alabama Grantmakers. It’s a CD-ROM with a plethora of grant resources from people and places in Alabama.

Next, you need some pointers and ideas for making your grant perfect. I found this article on Education World. This article gives you the things you need to get started. I also am planning on researching and reading up more on being a successful grant writer. I will not only get the technology I would like for my classroom but I will also become a great commodity for my school.

Getting a little help with math facts

In 3^rd grade, it seems like we focus a lot of time and energy on math facts. It is important that my student learn their multiplication and division facts so that they can successfully learn other concepts that are taught throughout the year. It is April and I still have students who are not completely successful in addition and subtraction and thus they are not doing well with multiplication and division. This is where XtraMath comes in. I blogged about this a couple of weeks ago. If you missed the blog entry and would like to see these resources, click here. This site was introduced to me by my Math AMSTI rep. She is awesome and always seems to have wonderful ideas. She offered it as a *free* (always great!) way to help my students learn their math facts.

When you register, your classroom as well as each one of your students receive a username and password. I took the usernames and passwords for each child and put them on a note card so that they are easily accessible. Then I am able to set the assignments for each student based on their math fact needs. I am able to choose from addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or any combination of those. My students are using this website occasionally during our computer time (2 times a week) and daily during math centers in the regular classroom.

The students work on their problem areas. As the students meet goals and finish assignments, they will be assessed and a report will be sent to my email. This is greatest part! I can keep up with each student’s progress individually. They are being pushed and challenged but at a pace and rate that is best for them. When they’ve finished an assignment, if they did well they are pushed on to the next level. If the students do not do well on an assignment, it continues to review and help them improve. On my emailed report, I also receive a report on those students who need intervention lessons with me that focus on certain concepts.

So far, I am really enjoying the use of XtraMath. My students like it because they get to use a computer. My struggling students get to feel successful and my high students get a challenge that they might not always get in math class. In many ways, the students get to control what they learn and how much they learn. I cannot wait until next year to start this program in August. It will be exciting to see how my students grow. Here is a video from the XtraMath website that gives an overview.

If you go to the site (link above) you can see videos that review everything from progress reports to how to use it in the classroom. Please try this site in your room and let me know what you think!

Social Bookmarking

When given the social bookmarking assignment, I chose to use delicious. Click here to view my Delicious page. I chose delicious because it was one that I had heard of before but never use. I really did not have a set purpose or desire for my site. Just like with the Twitter assignment, I did it because it was required for class. I was not sure that I would ever really use it. Delicious has a button you can add to your toolbar. When you want to bookmark a webpage, you do not have to copy and paste. You can simply click the button, add your details and click okay. It makes it super easy! So, I added the button to my toolbar figuring I would use it more often if it was right there in front of me. As we read our text for class, I was introduced to things I had never heard of before (i.e. Moodle). I began to look up more information on these subject areas that interested me. I noticed that when I bookmark the sites, I actually go back and read them. I am always busy when checking mail so I never go back and read those things emailed to me. Having this site helps motivate me to read and collect new information to better my teacher practices. I bookmark anything that will better me professionally. I also bookmark pages that help me with the pursuit of my teacher leadership degree. And of course, I bookmark pages that help me in my work with this blog. I can use it to collect information, data and ideas. I definitely will continue using this to help me grow professionally.

I wanted to share with you some of the bookmarks that I have come across:

1. Success of Public Schools

This is a good example of an article that I would use professionally. As teachers, we are always looking for ways to help our school be successful. So, any information I can gather that will help me, my students and school be successful is important to me.

2. 50 Open Source Tools

With my blog and the success of my classroom, I am in search of ways to improve my classroom and help keep my students actively engaged. And I need to do this all a frugally as possible. This is an example of how I can do just that!

3. Educational Leadership in the 21^st Century

I am currently working on my Educational Specialist degree in Teacher Leadership. I try to stay on top of new information that will help me with this newly developed area. This is a great video that is short and to the point. Anne Barab talks with teachers in Texas about what educational leaders need to do to help their schools become successful in the 21^st century.

As you can see, I am trying to follow several different areas/subjects. I would hope that other professionals could benefit from this variety of areas and ideas. By adding a link roll to my webpage, I am hoping to share my resources with many others who might find them interesting. The majority of my bookmarks are 21^st Century/connectivism based. I really hope people can use these bookmarks to help them, their students and their school be successful in this new age of teaching.

Thriving...on a Budget

Thriving in Third Grade is all about doing the best we can with the little we have. So many of my students do not have internet access at home and the only interaction with technology they receive is during the school day. So I am always looking for ways to best teach my students, keep their interest and provide them with the technology they seem to crave. With this being my job, I am also trying to do it with limited funds and limited technology. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it!

Today I am going to share with you some resources that I have found along the way. AND...wait for it...they are FREE!!! Some of these sources I found here and some of them are things I have found that work well in my classroom.

Quizlet

This site offers users a place to view, create and save virtual flashcards. First of all, how cool would it have been to have this site when I was an undergraduate? You can not only save the flashcards you make but you can also share them with others. I have not used this in my classroom but I am considering using it as a reading center next year. We play a game called “Bang!” It is a fluency-building phrase game that uses flashcards. I think it would be much more interesting would it be if my kids could use this site to play the game.

Watch, Know, Learn

This site has more than 33,000 educational videos available for download. This might be an excellent source for those who cannot use YouTube at school or for students to complete research. It is free for teachers and students can use it at home as well.

Vusafe

On the same note as #2, here is a place to store all of your downloaded videos. You can set up different libraries of videos you want your students to view. They claim that you can save YouTube videos and it blocks outside content and ads. Again, great for teachers whose school system does not allow YouTube.

Innovative Classroom

This site provides teachers with lesson plans, bulletin board ideas, thematic units and teaching tips. You can also download “morning work” activities as well. It is a smaller site, but I have found several ideas I would like to try.

Spelling City

My kids LOVE this site! You can create spelling lists and save them on the site. When your kids go to that particular spelling list they can practice the words, take a test, or play a game using the words from that list. I create a list for each week’s spelling words from our StoryTown series. My kids love to play Hang Mouse and it uses their spelling words. There is a pay premium section but there are plenty of games and activities that are free.

XtraMath

This is a new site for me. It provides students with math practice. This includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, division or a mixture of those. Teachers can alter assignments based on what each student needs. The neatest part is that they will email you weekly updates on what your students have done, how they are progressing and which students need intervention lessons with certain skills. It is really easy to use and I am excited about getting started with it.

So, here are you six new sites or ideas to try. The article listed a few more if these do not catch your interest. It suggested that you pick one and try it. Take the time to dig into the site and find what would work best with your students. Once you realize how your students will benefit and that they actually enjoy it, it makes it worth the effort. I promise!

Do you share with others?

With all of the negative surrounding education these days, I am so excited to share a POSITIVE with you today! I truly feel we are lucky to be able to work in education at this time in our country’s history. Gone are the days where teachers create their own lessons and ideas, close their classroom door and only share those ideas with their students. We are now able to connect with teachers from all over the world. On a daily basis, teachers are constantly sharing ideas, creating lessons to share and blogging about successes in their classrooms. For new (ok...newer) teachers like me, this is so very helpful. I have always appreciated the work and ideas of others. So, today, I wanted to provide you a great up and coming resource I have found.

This new initiative brand new...and has only been released as of March 12^th. It is a new project created by Technology, Education and Design (TED). I have watched several of TED’s videos in my online graduate classes. They are known for making innovative and engaging videos on a variety of topics. These topics are generally created for adults. Now, they have launched a new website: TED-ED. They are asking for teachers to create and submit engaging video lessons. This idea reminds me of a mixture of ALEX and TeacherTube. Here is a video explaining their idea:

So, if teachers have a great idea for an engaging lesson, they can submit the lesson to the TED-Ed website. If TED agrees, they will send a portable recording booth to the teacher. He or she will then record their lesson and send it back to TED. The video lesson with then be sent to an animation team to enhance it. Then those videos will be post to their YouTube Channel. I watched a few and found them very cool. Here is an example of a video they have already posted:

The greatest part is that their goal is to help students become life-long learners and provide teachers with an engaging way to help their students learn. It is a great tool and even better...it is FREE! I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the downside. One, it is currently only available through a YouTube Channel. Fortunately, you can still download the videos at home and play them back at school. You can also "follow" the channel and be alerted when new videos have been added. Two, since they are so new, there are not a lot of videos to choose from. I didn’t find too many videos that applied to my lower-grade students, but I just know that this idea is going to grow into a plethora of videos that span the grades.

Click here to read more about this idea from an e-School News article published earlier this month.