Knowledge is Power

I love Twitter! It took me awhile to start using it, but it is an exponential wealth of information via links to education articles, discussions, and Web 2.0 tools. I started following LiveBinders recently.

If you haven't explored LiveBinders before, it is a website that allows you to create an online binder that is similar to a physical binder. You can name your binder, add tabs and subtabs, and organize your resources into it. Resources can include webpages, videos, pdfs, and images. You can share your binder and/or look at binders that others have shared. I had originally set up an account with LiveBinders in my last graduate class hoping I would start using LiveBinders to store my units online as well as having my physical unit. But, if it is usable at school, it would be an AWESOME tool for students to create their own LiveBinder of learning for student-led conferences in the fall and spring!

LiveBinders posted a link to this binder about Web 2.0 that heyjudeonline created. It's a great place to start if you are unsure about how to teach students to search online. Another great binder for teachers is Web 2.0 Tools created by Mrs.B which tells about everything Web 2.0. If you just thought, "I'm not really sure what web 2.0 is OR I don't know what web 2.0 is," then you should definitely look into this binder!

I would also suggest going to CommonCraft if you are unsure about the latest in technology. This site contains short, 3 minute educational/informational videos created by Lee and Sachi LeFever using simple paper cut-outs and a "fun and light-hearted style". (You can also search "in Plain English" on YouTube to find the same videos.)

Comments

Quarter 1 Common Core ELA & Math

Forsyth County, GA posted a link to the pacing guide they have created for next school year. I printed it out and took it home to look it over and start planning for next August. I know, I know. I'm working on the first day of summer vacation, but I need to wrap my brain around the new standards and how they will mesh together with science and social studies. Here is what I created for quarter 1 English/Language Arts. (Hopefully, the following quarters won't be so time consuming!) Everything in black type was provided by the county or the Common Core Standards website. Everything in blue type is something of my own that I added. Here is what I created for quarter 1 math common core content.

Smile

Look at that shelf. Such disarray. That's kind of how I felt around mid-August. Pulled in too many directions. On overload. In need of a bookend to hold me up and set me straight. (or, in need of more time in my day) One week, I tried staying no later than 4 PM, and leaving undone what I couldn't accomplish, but that was stressful, too! I currently spend around 30 minutes everyday, either during classes, during planning, or after, afternoon car duty, to keep all of the books shelved. I'm doing a better job of preventing the shelves from looking like the one pictured above. (We've had 3 different moms come a collective six times to volunteer to help with shelving. Yay for Mrs. Stratton, who has come back multiple times!) I implemented a new change this year, to allow 4th and 5th graders to re-shelve their own fiction or everybody/picture books. That has helped! I also started a 5th grade program called "Castle Apprentice" (since our library

Khan Academy

Good Morning! Enjoying a relaxing morning at my parents' house for a family visit. We were watching CBS This Morning and saw an interview with Salmon Kahn about his Khan Academy . It offers online videos of a grand variety of topics so that all students can have a "world class education". However, it ALSO has benefits for teachers, other than being FREE, it offers detailed profiles on individual students with an at-a-glance tool for seeing every video that that child has viewed and a class summary graph to show progress or need for remediation. The site also offers a vertical continuum of skills so that you can go straight to the topic you need and/or go back to more foundational skills to tackle more difficult skills. Lastly, the site awards "badges" for student mastery of skills. Students must create their own account and then add the teacher as a "coach". There are several safety features to keep students from posting private informa

Blessed to Teach and Read

Search This Blog