Civil War Sallie Visited Room 224

I attend an online webinar every Saturday morning from the comfort of my sofa usually while still in my pj's and enjoying a good cup of coffee. I have learned so much about technology and Web 2.0 tools while attending these Classroom 2.0 Live sessions.

The show on January 16th was titled "Civil War Sallie Technology Projects-Special Guest: Sarah and Jim Beeghley". (The entire session is archived here.) Sarah is a sixth grader from Carlisle, Pennsylvania who started a Educational Follow Me Project. She took her passion - the Civil War- and created Civil War Sallie. Sallie is a teddy bear that travels around to different Civil War battlefields, museums, and classrooms. Sarah, or should I say Sallie, maintains a blog, a wiki, and a Twitter account where she keeps everyone updated about her travels. After attending the session I decided to sign up to get Sallie to visit our classroom.

This huge box arrived at school Wednesday morning, January 27. Inside that box was Civil War Sallie and a ton of Civil War information. My students were all excited to meet her and read her accompanying information. They loved checking out all of the pins that she wears or carries in her knapsack. They took turns taking her to their other classes and home at night. On Saturday, February 1, two of my students and their families met me and Civil War Sallie at the Civil War Museum in New Orleans. The museum presented Sallie with a special pin and took photos of all of us to put in their newsletter. Dionne and Sabrina and Sallie had fun taking pictures, learning from the exhibits, and shopping for keepsakes at the gift shop.



Sallie even became an honorary member of the Who Dat Nation at our school's pep rally where we all cheered for our Saints football team to win the Super Bowl (which they did). Sadly the visit had come to an end, and it was time to send Sallie on to her next stop. She was headed to Mrs. Blazosky's 1st grade classroom in Clarion, Pennsylvania. (I know Tracy Blazosky through my online training with Discovery.) My students and I are glad we had a chance to be a part of this unique educational opportunity. Thank you, Sarah for your inspiring work.

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.