The Last Weeks of School: Part 2

Woah. Those last two weeks of school went by SUPER QUICKLY. I know I was going to post all of our great ideas, but I felt as though I didn't even have time to breathe those two weeks!

Here are some other ideas that were in our balloons that we popped. (Confused? Read the original blog post here.)

• Serenade the principal. We sang "My Girl." The kids didn't know the song before we started. We only learned the first verse and the chorus. It took us about 4 minutes to learn, then we were off! It was fun!
• Extra indoor recess.
• Play board games.
• Read outside.
• A student sang a solo for the class. He made it up as he went. It was hysterical :) (He chose to do this, by the way!)
• Play the Wii. We did this the last day of school. I finished up packing report cards while the kids played. Woohoo! Our school has two Wiis for teacher-checkout in the media center. They were bought with a special grant for our PBIS program! The kids played Mario Kart. Each student raced one race, and they were the same players each time (Player 1 was Mario and 2 was Luigi). They raced the events in order, no arguments, no switchies. My students are numbered in alphabetical order, so we played #1 against #28, #2 against #27, etc. I know my kids at the last of the line hate going last, so we played this way!

I know there were a few more, but those weeks were a blur. Those are the ones that stood out in my memory! I have heard from many of you who are doing this in your classrooms, and I'm so glad it's been such a success! Thank you for sharing what you are doing with me. I have a few new ones from Twitter followers I certainly want to incorporate when I do it again next year. Thank you for learning and sharing right along with me!

To those of you who are already done with school, happy summer! And for those who still have a few weeks or days left, I'm sending relaxing thoughts your way!

The Last Weeks of School Part I

You might be thinking that the title of this post implies that there will be more than one in a series. You'd be correct.

At the time that I write this, we have only two weeks of school left in my district. A while back, I saw an idea for the end of the school year on Pinterest. In true scatterbrain fashion, I forgot to pin it. However, the image stuck in my mind.

The teacher who wrote it (sorry I don't know the source; if it's YOU, please tell me so I can give you credit!) blogged about blowing up balloons and, inside each balloon, was a fun activity for each day of the last weeks of school.

I wanted to do this for the last three weeks of school, so I bought a bag of 15 balloons and worked with the students to come up with a list of 15 random things that would take anywhere from 5-20 minutes to do. The kiddos blew up the balloons, inserted a slip into each one, and I pinned them on a bulletin board.

balloons on the board, not in rows, or patterns or anything

Each day, at a different, random time, I popped a balloon. The kids had a new countdown each day; when there were 15 days left, they counted down from 15 to 1. When there were 14 days left, they counted down from 14 to 1. I think you get the drift.

I popped a balloon, read the slip, and we proceeded to do whatever activity the balloon commanded! The kids and I are ALL having a blast with this, as a matter of fact! The morning that we popped "musical chairs" was quite hysterical, especially when it was time to change classes, and my team teacher was at the door watching all these fifth graders play a little kids' game. We laughed and had such fun! I really recommend that you do this with your students!

Here's a photo documentary of all our activities from last week. Next weekend, I'll share all the activities of the coming week. If you choose to do this with your children, will you leave a list of some of the activities your kids came up with?

Here are the first five on our list.

Musical chairs (we removed more than 1 chair at a time to speed it up)

Take a Nap Day - Favorite of EVERYONE! A 10 minute rest made for a great afternoon :)

Learn a New Dance (we learned the Spongebob from Mahalo.com)

Joke Day

*We also had "Talk in Accents Day" but I forgot to snap a picture! 

How are you planning to wind down the school year?

My Class's Antibullying Campaign

I love Twitter - shocking, I know. But I do love it because I get so inspired by reading comments and blogs by other teachers I follow.

One of my favorite posts lately is by Eric Johnson (@yourkidsteacher), from his website, called "Erasing Meanness." Read his blog post here. You need to read his before you read mine. His post inspired everything I'm about to say here.

I'm working with another 5th grade teacher from Canada (@FlyontheCWall) on a shared blog for all of our fifth graders (see it here) for the months of April and May. Our topic for May has been bullying. So naturally, I started looking for things mid-April for our classes.

I LOVED Mr. Johnson's "Erasing Meanness" idea. I felt like it was a message my students really needed to hear, plus it fit our blogging theme for the month. Mr. Johnson was nice enough to send me a link to the videos he used in his classroom.

I'm going to post pictures and videos below for you to use if you would like. At the end of this week, my students made our own music video. Here's what's cool about this - I found the song "Perfect" by AHMIR (it's a cover of Pink's original) on YouTube. These guys have such beautiful voices, and I love that the video for their song is about bullying. If you buy their version on iTunes, part of the proceeds benefit the Trevor Project.

My students loved the video and song, so I tweeted the guys (@AHMIR) on Twitter. I told them the kiddos loved their song and asked if I could use it. They told us that we could use the song, so we proceeded to make the video. (There aren't many that are very appropriate for elementary, I don't think, so we tried to make our own to add to the options out there.)

After I tweeted out a link to the video, they responded back! How cool! They wrote: @ACommaQueen so awesome! We're honored and proud to support anti-bullying with you and your students!


They even left us a comment on our YouTube video! What cool guys! (This is my not-so-subliminal message for you to check them out.)


Here's my students' video:






Here's my Erasing Meanness Timeline


Day 1 I cleaned the board really well, removed everything else from the board, and wrote "mean" in the middle in big letters. (No picture, sorry!) I showed "Anti-Bullying PSA: The Price of Silence" (then discussed for a minute or two).


Day 2 Before the kids came in, I had written several synonyms for mean, hate, bullying, etc. Yes, I know abhorrence is misspelled. I wrote it about half a billion times before I noticed it. My apologies. And yes, lots of the words repeat. Then I showed the "Stand Up, Stand Out: No Checking, No Capping, No Bullying" video. My kiddos really responded to this, especially when students said they didn't feel like teasing sometimes, and it really hurt their feelings.

Day 3 Before the kids came in, I had written "How do you want to be remembered?" on the board. It took forever and it looks kinda bad. Whoops. Then I showed 3 videos: "Being a Friend," "Stop Bullying PSA," and Mark Wills' "Don't Laugh at Me" music video. The kids and I talked a lot about how, perhaps more important than standing up to a bully, it is very critical to make others feel wanted and important. We talked about how easy it is to walk up to someone after they've been bullied or if they are lonely and talk to them. Just having a friend can make a huge difference in someone's life.

Day 4 The kids noticed the board hadn't changed. They wondered what was different. I told them that they were going to change the board; they had the opportunity to erase some of the meanness and spread love instead. Before they erased the words, we watched Ahmir's "Perfect" video. The kids lined up to wait on their turn to "change the world."

the line to change the world

finished

Again, be sure to read Mr. Johnson's "Erasing Meanness" post. It's a great way to start an anti-bullying campaign. And you never know - it might help save a life one day.

Why I Think You Should Be on Twitter

Lately, I've developed a Twitter addiction. It all started when I gave up Facebook for Lent. I'm going to sound completely ridiculous for saying this, but it's true. (Disclaimer: I'm not perfect.)

So, I gave up Facebook for Lent in order to gain some time to become a better person. So, naturally, I took up Twitter instead (insert sarcasm here). Before you start chastising me, please note that the only people I really follow on Twitter are other educators*. I simply looked to Twitter during my "free" time to get some new ideas because, honestly, Pinterest was losing interest with me at the time (I'll save that for another post.)

I signed up for Twitter ages ago, but I didn't really know how to use it. So I dabbled a bit, got bored, and never really bothered with it again. Until this Lenten season.

I thought I'd give it a shot, and I'm glad I did. I went from about 20 followers to over a hundred in the last few weeks. I was following probably 15 or so people, and now I'm following over 130 educators.

Why is this so important? I've become a globally-connected educator. I've been getting ideas from all over the world; other US states, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, just to name a few places. I've connected with 5th grade teachers, 1st grade teachers, and college professors. I've borrowed ideas, shared ideas, and helped tweak them in crazy, fast-paced chats. I've debated, researched, and commiserated. I love it!

To illustrate how useful Twitter is for educators, I think you should check out Tom Whitby's article, "What if School Was Like Twitter?" Read it here. What I love about this article is that it illustrates how useful Twitter can be, and how ridiculous it would be if schools tried to pass on this kind of current information and collaboration with our copied-papers-in-the-mailbox way of disseminating information.

When I read it, this is the image that popped in my mind: If an administrator wanted to share current published findings on educational research, it would be copied, put in mailboxes, and then many would be recycled rather promptly.

On Twitter, I can be more selective about what research or information I want to read in my precious spare time. I can decide to click on an article and read it, I can favorite it to read later, or I can bypass it altogether. If I find a great article, I can even retweet it to my followers. I only retweet what I find important, intriguing, or worth the read.

Depending on my mood, I can just be a bystander, watching lots of really amazing conversations happening in #edchat, #elemchat, or #5thchat, or I can be an active participant. I can favorite a lot of the comments, or I can tweet out links of my own.

I've learned about so many neat things I can use in my classroom: TodaysMeet.com, Mystery State Skype, WallWisher, ways to make my students' blogging experience even more meaningful, different ways to use QR codes, and several other wonderful ideas (too many to mention)!

One of the most important things that have come from Twitter is my sense of connectedness (that may not be a word, but I'm going to use it!) with other educators in the world. I was able to chat with an author who is sending me a free copy of her new book to read and write a review! How COOL is that?! (Laurie E. Westphal; click here to find her list of amazing books, or follow her on Twitter: @GTConsultant)

In another sense of connectedness (and quite possibly what I'm most excited about), I have linked up with another 5th grade class in Toronto, Canada, to blog with (April - taking care of our environment, May - standing up against bullies) and a class in Madison, Wisconsin to read and comment on each others' blogs. My students are no longer writing just for me and their peers; they are writing for a global audience as well. In my opinion, that's how you educate a 21st century student.

So, after all that chatter, I hope I have you convinced. If you aren't already on Twitter, sign up. Tom Whitby said, in his article, that Twitter is both the easiest and the hardest website to use. Don't be intimidated. There is a whole community of educators online, and all of them started out at square one. Follow me (@ACommaQueen) and I'll be happy to be your follower!

Here's some advice if you do choose to sign up:

• Find some great educators to follow (I've blogged about who I follow here)
• Once you find some educators to follow, follow who they follow (confused?)
• Download Tweetdeck (or something similar)
• In Tweetdeck, add columns for the #edchat hashtag. There are lots of other ones too, depending on what you teach: #elemchat, #engchat (for english), ##sschat (for social studies), #scichat (for science) #5thchat, #4thchat, #1stchat (I think you get the drift).
• Check your hashtag searches every so often. When they have chats, they typically go really fast. It's easier to keep up this way. If you see an educator you agree with, follow him or her! (Here are some times: #edchat happens multiple times each week, I typically catch up with them on Tuesday nights at 7 EST; #5thchat occurs every Tuesday night at 8 EST)

Good luck, and happy tweeting!

*The two people I follow who are not educators? My husband and Professor Snape.

A Real Class App

So, if you've read our blog, you know that our favorite ways to use our classroom iPads and iPods is to blog (Kidblog) and complete assignments paperlessly (Edmodo). If you want to read more about it, click here to read the post.

For those out there who have iPods and want to add some apps, here's what I've loaded and why:

• StoryCubes. Kids roll the dice by shaking the device and pictures come up on the cubes. These are writing prompts for students to write some interesting (and sometimes crazy!) stories.
• Google Earth. I've said this before. It's just cool. My students have found more ways to use it than I ever did when I played with it over the summer. It's great for working in social studies. It is also useful in science if you are looking up certain geographical features.
• Memory Match. This game looks silly and cutesy, but it requires kids to pay attention and hone their memory skills. It's wicked hard despite how babyish it looks.
• Learn Sharks. I have a few kids who are OBSESSED with sharks. This teaches about all the different types of sharks in a flashcard format. It uses great photographs and has interesting information. This would be great to use for informational writing.
• PBS Kids Player. It has lots of fun videos from PBS Kids like Sid the Science Kid, SuperWhy, etc. These would especially be great in early elementary grade classrooms.
• Citizenship Test 2012. This fits in perfectly with 5th grade social studies standards, plus it's hard!
• SparkleFish. Kids can use their voices to record words to put into stories. It's like an audio version of MadLibs with the kids' voices. It's a big hit with even my 5th graders!
• Prose with Bros. This is for older kids. Students have to create a "poetic" username and password. There are lots of words on the screen and kids can arrange them to create poems with different tones. There are other poems that other users have created that students can vote on. This app reminds me of those word magnets I had on my fridge in college.
• Doodle Buddy. The kids use this app in small groups to record their answers and their conversations so I don't have to waste sticky notes or index cards. Then they can just shake to erase and the next group is ready to write as well!
• Edmodo. You HAVE to get Edmodo. It's awesome. That's all I'm going to say. The app is for use on mobile devices once you've set it up for your class on the computer.
• Pioneer Lands. It's kind of like Oregon Trail, only it's not. Kids have to use critical thinking so that they can plan wisely to continue the game.
• Cut the Rope. I love this game because in order to get all 3 stars, the kids REALLY have to plan ahead and strategize. This game requires a lot of critical thinking. I challenge the kids to keep redoing each level until they get all 3 stars.
• Hubble Telescope. There are so many amazing images from space on this app! This is great for a space study or kids who are obsessed with the topic.
• Idioms. This is a fun way for kids to learn idioms.
• Scrabble Free. I love that the kids are challenged to create bigger words on this game.
• Dinos. This is like the shark app, just with information about and pictures of dinosaurs. This one is also in flashcard format.
• Wordsearch. Another fun word game.
• BrainPop. If you have a BrainPop account, you can watch all their videos for free on your devices and even take the quizzes! If you don't have an account, select videos are free. Love it!
• Jetpack. This is a fun game for math practice and language arts practice.
• Pages. This app is expensive, but it's basically Word for the iPods and iPads. Kids can create documents as easily as they can on the computer with this app.
• Financial Football. This is a great app for students who need to learn economics. Read my post on this app here.
• NASA. This is a cool free app with lots of information about the planets and space! Great photos and a bunch of important information for your space study.
• World History Maps. This app gives you just what it says. Great for social studies!
• Weird Word of the Day. If you are obsessed with vocabulary and words like I am, this is fun. Also intended for older elementary students (or above).
• Stellarium. This shows the constellations and other neat images.
• Common Core Standards. This is great to have for quick reference, for both teacher and students. It makes the standards much easier to locate than trying to click on things online.
• Dictionary. You can get the free one or the the full version. It's a great quick reference. (Be careful about how you set up your safety settings; this app is rated 17+! Read my tips on how to make your devices safer here.)
• Classic Books. This has a lot of classics, for free.
• History Books. This has a lot of historical books, for free.
• Audiobooks (Free). This has several books available for listening.
• Flashcardlet. This has several sets of flashcards already made, or kids can create their own. Great for studying.
• Google Translate. I love this because sometimes in a book I'm reading, there will be a phrase in another language. I use context clues to figure it out (and I've modeled this for my students), but I do still think it's fun to find out the literal translation. If I like it, the kids will too. It's also good for English language learners who need to translate an academic word as they work.
• Kindle. I've downloaded several kids classics for free for students to read on this app.
• Video Star. We make videos in class, and this enables kids to make videos (for book reviews, of their poster presentations, or just discussing what they've learned) and add some fun effects to the videos.
• Where's My Water? This is another thinking game that the kids enjoy.
• Angry Birds. Another strategy game.
• Songify. Kids can speak the content they've learned into the app, and it puts it into a fun rap or disco song! We love it.

Whew! That's a big list. Now, I don't teach math or science, but I'm sure there are TONS of apps out there for those as well.

I have also downloaded several leveled stories in reading. There are SEVERAL free ones out there. Let me know if you want me to give you specific titles.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and ask!

They Wanted a Hole

I recognize the fact that the title of this post is bizarre. I'm begging you to stick with me on this one. Trust me.

I read this quote from an unknown author on Twitter that really stuck with me, especially considering all the articles I've been reading lately about technology used in the classroom.

"No one who ever bought a drill wanted a drill. They wanted a hole. It's the task that matters."


I've been planning to blog about how we use iPods and iPads in my classroom, and this quote seems to be a great starting point.


A lot of technology in schools articles that I've read have focused on the idea that while technology is good, simply "having" technology in the classrooms doesn't make a classroom, or a teacher for that matter, great.


Case in point: I have 4 iPads and 6 iPods* in my classroom. That does NOT make me a better teacher.


However, the way I use those devices might make me a better teacher.


If I had to take the drill quote and put my own educational spin on it, it might sound something like this:

"No teacher who ever bought an iPad just wanted an iPad. She wanted an engaged learner. It's the student that matters."


My fellow nerdy teacher-blogger wrote about how she uses her iPad and iPods in her classroom. Read about it here. I use my devices in exactly the same way. My favorite way is for students to use Edmodo to complete paperless assignments and to blog on our Kidblog site. Even on a smaller iPod, the students can do some amazing thinking and writing on their blogs! They continue to impress and amaze me.


Having 10 mobile devices, several desktop computers, and two laptops in my classroom means that I can have more students reading online articles, researching, and writing about their learning at one time. Students, through their blogs and Edmodo posts, can respond to each other and create a learning community together. Those tasks make their learning more meaningful. Those tasks lead to higher student engagement. Those tasks lead to students crying foul when you tell them it's time to put down their work and line up for P.E. 


Interestingly, I just read a Tweet from one of the folks I follow on Twitter. He says, "The purpose of education is to learn to think for yourself. No piece of technology will or should ever change that." @sjunkins


I agree. The true purpose of education is not to just give out facts that anybody can Google. The true purpose of education is to learn how to find things, why to find them, and what to do with that knowledge once you have it. That's why creating a community of learners is so important. Students need to take the facts they learn, process them to find why they are meaningful, and share that knowledge and insight with others. 


So yes, my students are blessed with lots of mobile technology in the classroom. That's not the be-all, end-all, however. The technology is not the destination, it's simply the vehicle for traveling on their educational journey. Those iPods and iPads help them reach their goals of learning and sharing with one another. Those devices are just that - devices. Plastic and metal. Little parts with a pretty, glossy cover. 


But those devices lead to the greatest gift any teacher can ask for - a truly motivated and engaged learner.


So here's my advice to anyone who's recently gotten iPads or iPods for classroom use: don't worry about adding lots of apps and games at first. Use it to encourage authentic learning in your classroom. Set up a free Kidblog or Edmodo account. Let students write, research, and share. Let us know if you have any questions about setting these sites up - we love them, and we also love to share!


*Want to know how I got all those iPods and iPads?
1 iPad issued by school to my classroom
3 iPod Touches issued by school to my classroom
3 iPod Touches borrowed from teaching partner :)
1 personal iPad from home, a Christmas gift from the hubby
1 iPad bought with PTA funds (an accumulation over a year and a half plus fundraising $)
1 iPad donated by the hubby when he bought a new iPad for himself

Classroom iPods and iPad

I love having a few iPods in my classroom. I love even more that I have a partner that is an excellent sharer and allows me to use her classroom iPods whenever I need them!

Of course everyone knows how much of a ‘plaything’ they can be, we have managed to find more than a few educational uses.

1. Research – I like to hand out an iPod to a table of researchers after they have had a few minutes with a traditional source. For example, we studied the Turn of the Century this year. They had a few printed pages from an online encyclopedia as well as the social studies text and a few nonfiction books to be shared among the groups conducting research. After they were engaged in their activity I walked around and placed an iPod on each table. I simply said this maybe helpful as you are learning about the people and their important contributions. It seems to work that the iPod is not viewed as toy once they have been working for a period of time. We talk extensively about using out school search engine to find creditable and reliable information. I always have an iPod ready to hand out when students are asking questions. Figuring out how to find the correct information is the ultimate learning!

2. Assessment - Socrative.com – This is by far the best use of the classroom iPods I have found. This site allows me to load a test and have the students take the test on a computer, phone, iPod, or iPad. I am able to see the results as they are happening. There is an option for multiple choice, short answer, or true/false. Teachers can share test and all results are quickly downloaded to your computer for timely feedback. My fellow reading teachers and I have used this for weekly vocabulary and end of unit social studies tests.

3. Blogging & Reading - Kidblog.org and Edmodo.com – Using the iPods for work on blogs and various assignments posted on Edmodo has worked well. I am blessed to have 6 computers in my room that are functional and busy – the iPods and iPad are faster, portable, and fun. They are so easy for the kids to manage and maneuver. It is amazing how they can type an entire blog, read an article, and reflect on questions and comments from anywhere they are comfortable working.

4. Test Practice - Studyisland.com – This is a CRCT prep program that tends not to be the favorite activity on the computer. But if you tell a student that they can login using an iPod, iPad, or iPhone, you will have much more participation.

Since all of the things listed above require that the students have a tangible piece of written work or response of some type, I am very aware when they are off task. I have not loaded my iPods up with many applications this first year. Most of my effort has been on using them as a tool toward a paperless classroom. They have also been great tools for gaining knowledge and teaching an already proficiently technical group how to correctly and safely research and learn.