Merry Christmas to My Students and Me

I spent a lot of my Thanksgiving vacation applying for the Technology Model Classroom Grant being offered by my school district. Applicants could get up to $15,000 worth of hardware for their classroom. The time spent on that endeavor was definitely worth the effort.

On Monday, December 21, our assistant principal, Audrey Easley, called my room and asked if I had checked my email. When I told her I hadn't, she said I needed to do so right away. What I found was an email from Dr. Mabel Moore, Chief Technology Officier, that began "JPPSS Division of Technology is pleased to announce that you have been selected to participate in the Technology Model Classroom Grant." Attached was a letter from her which began with - "Congratulations! You have been selected to receive one of the first JPPSS Technology Model Classroom (TMC) Grants. Your current practices and plans to integrate technology into the curriculum have earned an award to outfit your class with the hardware and support you need to be successful."


Here is a list of the hardware that will be placed in my classroom:

ActiveBoard 1
Projector 1
ActiveVotes 1 set
Active Tablet 1
ActiveSlate 1
ActiveWand 1
ActiveView 322 Visual Presenter or other Document Reader 1
Laser Printer 1
Digital Camera 1
iPod iTouch 1
Flip Video Camera 4
Netbooks 15
Dell D18CFR 18 Station Laptop Cart 1
Portable GPS Unit 1
Webcam 15
Headset & microphone 15

Upon accepting the grant I am agreeing to the following:

JPPSS Model Classroom Grant recipient must agree to the following:
• commit to a minimum of three years to the JPPSS Technology Model Classroom environment which will involve ongoing administrative and peer observations;
• willing to submit the following classroom samples as part of an electronic portfolio in the JPPSS Blackboard site to be used as a staff development assessment tool: student samples, ongoing monthly journal reflections, digital pictures, digital video clips, and alternative assessment samples;
• post at least one lesson plan online at Promethean Planet per semester;
• participate and complete all activities in the JPPSS Blackboard collaborative environment (coming in the near future);
• satisfactorily complete at least one online course per year via the JPPSS Blackboard or other web-delivered course (cost covered by JPPSS Technology Department);
• integrate technology units and activities that utilize technology resources to support standards-based learning;
• attend the fall and spring JPPSS Technology Model Classroom collaborative meetings (release time is provided by the district);
• attend LaCUE Conference at district expense;
• submit a proposal to present at local, regional, or national conference during one of the three years of commitment;
• Applicants are required to produce a final technology “product” each year representing their progress towards their 3-year PGP (i.e. website, CD-ROM, electronic portfolio, video, multi-media presentation, etc. that will be submitted electronically or via CD/DVD).
• Applicants must assure that technology is infused into their PGP that:
• meets local and state content standards;
• contains direct links between content standards from two or more curriculum areas and the State Technology Standards.

I look forward to all the opportunities that being a TMC will afford me. I am so honored that JPPSS deems me worthy and am looking forward to 2010 and beyond.

Holiday Card Exchange

What do you get when you have 787 classrooms from 46 US States,7 Canadian Provinces, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Philippines, Scotland, Russia, & theUnited Kingdom?

Thanks to Jennifer Wagner of jenuinetech you get another successful collaborative project. My social studies class joined her Holiday Card Exchange and was assigned to Group Four. We designed, made, and mailed out our cards to the other 24 schools in our group. Then we sat back and waited. Within a few days we started receiving cards from our "buudy" schools! The students were so excited to open the cards and read the facts we received about their schools and locations. Locating each school on the map really helped us "visualize" where each school was located and helped us improve our geography skills.

Below is a map showing the location of the 24 schools that were in Group Four of the Holiday Card Exchange Project. Thanks to everyone in the group for the delightful cards and information. And special thanks to Jen Wagner. Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

Paul Revere Choral Reading

My students and Mrs. Wells' students, our buddy class in Kansas, have really enjoyed our collaborative projects. This is another we completed. It took a while, but our VoiceThread is finally done. If you enjoy it, we hope you'll put a comment on the last page of the VT.

"Paul Revere's Ride" Skype Call

Well, we did it again! We participated in another successful choral reading via a Skype call. I remember learning H. W. Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride" when I was in school many, many years ago. I can still recite the first two stanzas from memory.

Since we were studying the Northeast region of the United States, I planned a unit on Paul Revere. My students watched several videos, listened to an online recording of the poem several times, completed various activities on this website, and learned their part of the poem.

Below is the video of the choral reading that was recorded as we Skyped with Mrs. Well's class in Kansas.

The Great Pumpkin Project 09

The students really enjoyed this hands-on project. They weighed, measured the circumference and counted the seeds in their pumpkins. I took the seeds home and roasted them so we could all enjoy tasting pumpkin seeds. A lot of learning was happening as well as a lot of fun.

Washington Parish Fair Field Trip

Thanks to all the parents who accompanied us on this trip. I hope you had as much fun as the kids did.

A New Way with Flashcards

The math class I have after lunch gets a special visit several times a week. Using a webcam and a Skype connection my students receive a call from Mrs. Anderson's 5th graders in Montana. Each day her students offer a quick flashcard drill of multiplication facts for my students. My students take turns rotating through the chair in front of the camera and get quizzed on their facts. Now that's what I call a 21st century way of doing flashcards!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Skype Call

Hooray! Our second Skype call with Mrs. Wells' 4th graders in Ozawkie, Kansas went much better. I found my web camera, so they were able to see us this time. Since both Mrs. Wells and I were participating in Jen Wagner's project entitled Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, we decided to have our students read the book together during the Skype video call. My students read the left hand pages, and her students read the right hand pages. After the reading was over my class surprised her class with a song. Two of my students were our cameramen. Corey, handled the web camera so our Skype buddies in Kansas could see us, and Wayne used our Flip camera to make a video of the event. We had a few sound issues, and need to learn how to use the Flip camera better. I also need to invest in a better microphone. I created the videos for viewing using Windows Movie Maker. We hope you enjoy the videos. Feel free to leave us a comment.

Meeting Our Skype Buddies

On the morning of September 17 we did our first Skpye call with Mrs. Wells' class in Ozawkie, Kansas. I found Mrs. Wells through a Ning called OnlineProjects4Teachers. We communicated back and forth on the Ning and did a couple of Skype calls at home to figure out what we would do for our first collaborative project. Well, there was great excitement in the air on that Thursday morning, but as sometimes happens with technology things didn't work out quite right for me that day. My web camera went missing, so we had to go to Plan B. Mrs. Wells' students introduced themselves to my students since everything on their end was working fine. My class loved "meeting" them through the Skype video call which I projected onto our Promethean board. Our microphone was working so her class could hear us, but they couldn't see us. Below is a video of some of the introductions. Mrs. Wells and I Skyped each other later that day and set up a date for our second Skype call. She told me her studnets said it was like a mystery that they couldn't see us but could only hear us. They perked up when some of my students talked about being born in other countries. They are looking forward to "seeing" us soon.

Back to School Math Challenge

I received an email from vmathlive.com inviting me to register for their Back-to-School Math Mania Challenge. All 2nd–8th grade students in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas who were registered by September 14th could participate in the challenge. The competition took place on September 15 and 16. I registered all of the students from my three math classes and they had a blast playing the game. They logged on, created their avatar, and competed. Even though the challenge was for the states mentioned above, the site would select three players who were online and they could live anywhere in the world. A map of the world on the website would show each student where the students he or she was playing were from. My students played other students from Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Egypt and many other countries. All three of my classes place in the top 50. We got 41st, 32nd, and 12th place. Way to go Bissonet 4th graders.

Learning About Our World

We studied maps and globes as our first unit in social studies. We used our textbook, Promethean board flipcharts, wall maps, atlases, and globes to help us learn the continents, oceans, hemispheres, equator, prime merdian, and more. One of our favorite review games was Globe Toss. Each cooperative group had a globe and one student would toss it to another. The student catching the globe had to name the place where his or her right thumb landed on the globe. It was a lot of fun to play.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

President Obama's Back to School Message

This Wordle was created by my friend, Jen Wagner, from the transcript of the speech that the president will deliver tomorrow at 12:00 EDT to the schoolchildren of America. I just finished reading the transcript and am wondering why so many people are so opposed to President Obama addressing the children of our country. Here is an excerpt: That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn.

I found his speech to be very motivating and delivers a message of the importance of a good education. He encourages them to set goals, ask questions, and do the best they can do. Is that a subversive message?

I think these are things that each parent should be saying to their children every day as they head off to school. As a teacher, I know I strive to be the best educator I can be, and want my students to ask lots of questions. Setting goals is a great way to stay focused on the important things in life. I was the first person in my family to earn a college degree and know first hand the value of a great education. I spend a hour or more everyday continuing my educational journey online and value all the technology tools that enable me to learn something new everyday.

As I face my students everyday, I hope that they will catch the learning fever that burns inside of me and strive to be the best that they can be.

3D Photo Display

I learned how to make a 3D display of my photos today with a website called Kickfly. I had these pictures I had taken at the Natchez Balloon Festival in October in my Flickr account. Kickfly allows you to upload pictures from your MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, or Photobucket account. Or you can upload from a web page. Kickfly takes the pictures you upload and creates your gallery for you. After it is created you can share it to your MySpace or Facebook page, email it to friends, or embed it in your website or blog.

I really like that it can popout of my blog to be viewed fullscreen. Another cool feature is the ability it click on the Blueprint button to see the floor plan of your gallery.

Enjoy!

Animating Online

I attended the "Working on the Work Web 2.0 21st Century Skills" inservice sponsored by the Jefferson Parish Public School System on June 10 and 11. I learned about animating online in one of the sessions. I learned about Blabberize, Glogster, and Voki. My students and I made several vokis last year.

Next year I will demonstrate Blabberize so that my students can choose which tool they would rather use to create an avatar. Their avatar can be used to explain how they solve a math problem, to recite a poem, or to highlight the events of the week as a very 21st century learning log.

Below are some examples of the Vokis we made this year.

Which Lion Are You?

Get your own Moonk!

You have magically been turned into a lion. View the slideshow and decide which one best represents you. Write your lion story in the comments. Don't forget to include your first name at the end of your comment. Have a "roaring" good time.

How We Celebrated Odd Day 5-7-09

I learned about Odd Day from Ron Gordan when I was researching Square Root Day. I was thrilled when he called to inform me that the video I submitted for his Square Root Day contest was one of ten winning entries. He mailed a check for one-tenth of the prize money to me ($33.90) along with copies of his wife's cartoons about various math holidays. Thanks, Ron.

For Odd Day we wore odd hats, worked math problems with only odd numbers, played math games in groups of three (an odd number) instead of pairs. Then just for fun we made the clothes we were wearing look odd and posed for odd photos.

I used a new Web 2.0 tool for making this video that a friend on Twitter recommended. Stupeflix.com was easy to use, and faster than making a Photostory video. But like animoto, I didn't have much control over the final project. The music I submitted was given a very techno spin.

I have submittted our Odd Day video to Ron's newest contest. Wish us luck and enjoy the video.

Our First VoiceThread

We are all excited because we wrote poems based on the ones in Margaret Wise Brown's book The Important Book. Then we recorded them to a VoiceThread. Please feel free to add your comments. If you have a microphone you can leave a voice recording. If you don't have a microphone you can type in a comment.

Earth Day Grocery Project

In honor of Earth Day the third and fourth graders at Bissonet Plaza borrowed 400 paper grocery bags from Rouse's, decorated them with messages, and then returned them to the store.
On April 22 customers got a beautifully decorated grocery bag if they requested paper instead of plastic. Enjoy the video.

Twitter Handbook for Teachers

Twitter Handbook for Teachers

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu human twitter

I discovered this from one of my fellow Twitterers. It gave me a better understanding of how Twitter could be a valuable tool. Read it and you'll want to be part of the "Twitter Nation" too.

How Tweet It Is to Twitter

Get your twitter mosaic here.



I joined Twitter on February 25, 2009. At first I didn't understand what I was doing or how it would help me grow my PLN (personal learning network). So I started doing some research on how teachers use Twitter. I slowly began to follow others (mostly educators), and posted an occasional "tweet". I attended several Classroom 2.0 Live sessions (online and so cool) on Saturday mornings and was asked for my Twitter name. All of a sudden I started getting followers. I downloaded Tweetdeck, a Twitter client, that notifies me when someone I follow posts a tweet. And I was part of the "Twitter Nation". In less than two months I have discovered how valuable this tool is for me to continue my lifelong learning and better myself as an educator.