tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75873045201632060382024-02-19T05:36:14.432-07:00Penny's Writing Awakenings Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-34053184131014924942015-03-20T11:43:00.003-06:002015-03-20T11:43:59.703-06:00March - PARCC Experience I made a poster for my students that says that PARCC stands for "Please Always Remember to be Calm and Cool." Now if only I could follow my own advice...<div>
Overall, it went well. My students worked incredibly hard, they used time effectively, they used their tools effectively, and their ability to navigate an online assessment was strong. I was incredibly proud of them in so many ways. I think as an educator none of us will ever be in love with "standardized testing" (no matter what test or format it might come in) because we know our students aren't standard. We know the purpose, we understand the intention, but when has testing become the definition of our third trimester. I will never be against assessment, but I am against the fact that it is eating into my time instructing and my time enjoying my students and our classroom community. </div>
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This frustration actually set in when I fully understood our remaining testing schedule. We have taken 5 tests so far (which timing wise sucked up my entire afternoon on those days), and we still have 8 sessions remaining between MAPS, CMASS, and EOY PARCC (on top of that, I have my own end of year assessments along with a District Writing Assessment as well). It may not sound like a lot, but when you look at the calendar after Spring Break it will eat up a considerable amount of days. My fear is not that my students will not rise to the occasion, because I know they will, my fear is that I won't be able to complete my instruction with all the interruptions. I still need to teach my entire Informational Writing Unit. I have two separate Book Clubs for reading, I still have plenty of math concepts to cover, and yet on 8 days over the next two months my time will be spent elsewhere. This is stuff I want to be spending my time on, this is my JOB as a teacher, giving my students genuine learning opportunities. My frustration is that it seems like my job title has changed from teacher or guide to proctor this trimester. </div>
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Moving forward, I know I will make the best of it, we always do, but I can only hope the quality becomes the goal instead of the quantity we are facing. I want to get back to my real job doing what I love so I can finish the year with my students the same way I started it, learning together and expanding our minds through hard work, success, and failures. </div>
Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-24162384307726063512015-03-20T11:26:00.003-06:002015-03-20T11:26:57.729-06:00"February" - Working on RAD Responses RAD Responses is the acronym we use 3-5 in our building for complete, short-constructed responses. The R represents 'restate,' the A represents 'answer,' and the D represents 'details.' We use this in every subject area for every question they need to answer. We are also using this work for our SLO and team goal too.<br />
When working with something everyday, you begin to become challenged on how to elevate your students work and get it to where it needs to be. Through a lot of brainstorming and discovering different tools, our team has come up with a way to track their work/growth and make sure we can compare our students work teacher by teacher. This has been invaluable in many ways. Not only are we able to help elevate each other's work and instruction, but we are able to find common problems and work together to solve them.<br />
One tool that has become very useful to us is Google Forms. We are able to have all of our students submit answers on a common form and then use the 'response' page to track their answers and compare them class by class. This has allowed us to not only grade them right on the response page, but we can then align our grading practices by seeing how each of us is grading a response. We can also use the response spreadsheet to keep track of data/scores as they progress throughout the year. Transparency is awesome on a team because we can all benefit from seeing each others work and each others student work.<br />
We have also given the students scaffolds to help with this work. As mentioned in a previous post, this is a scaffold necessary group! Having a clear 'layout' of what the expectations are and how to achieve the end goal has been invaluable to them. It also helps submitting work electronically because we can look at responses whole group on the document camera and comment on them accordingly.<br />
Technology has really enhanced out ability to work on this skill and I am very grateful that new pathways keep opening.Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-75346445513234344982015-01-22T12:16:00.002-07:002015-01-22T12:16:45.032-07:00Seeing Growth in Writing - Baby Steps I think one of the hardest things about teaching writing is that "head-wall-bang" feeling you get when you have taught a concept whole group, instructed on it again in small group, and they still look at you like "What is indenting?" With many areas of teaching there are ways to see immediately if a student is making growth, but in writing it can feel like a slow going process with lots of hurdles along the way.<br />
To help myself get less frustrated, I decided to use their very first piece of writing from the beginning of the year to be my guiding light. Instead of focusing on the little details they aren't getting in the moment, I compare the piece overall to what they did at the beginning of the year - this keeps me hopeful. They may still have no clue how to write a great introduction, or the purpose of paragraphing, but man are there more details in their work than ever before, and woohoo they are finally ending with a conclusion that is not just "I stopped writing because I was done, is that not a conclusion?"<br />
The endless challenge that accompanies writing instruction for me is the intense amount of pieces they need to get right all the time. Sometimes it feels like a lot to ask of them, but then I remember what a foundational skill this is for them - it's how they communicate with the world. There are a lot of things to look for, but sometimes I need to narrow my gaze and focus on just their details or just their conventions so I see growth and feel some success with the direction they are heading.Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-7823710347688036702015-01-22T12:01:00.002-07:002015-01-22T12:01:32.008-07:00"November" - Scaffold, Scaffold, Scaffold My realization this month as we step into multi-paragraph Compare and Contrast essays is that my group this year needs endless amounts of very structured scaffolds. It is amazing how much your dynamics can change from year to year - some groups are independent and require less hand-holding and some groups need constant hand-holding and repetition. While this shift can be difficult at first, I am definitely willing to do whatever it takes to encourage my students and push them towards success in writing.<br />
The best thing to have on my side through this transition is Google - Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Drawing, etc. In 5 minutes I can scaffold a lesson onto a template that I can then send to all of my students through Classroom so they have their own copy. Many times I do this work before a lesson because I can anticipate what they will need, but I also like that I can create one in real time if I am sensing a need. By using tools that are all interconnected and easy to navigate I am not stuck saying "I wish I would have made a template for that," or "I will get you a template for that tomorrow." While no tool is perfect, I appreciate, and my students do too, that I can get them what they need in a timely fashion.<br />
I created a document that breaks down the parts of a introduction so they are typing it one sentence at a time and then cutting and pasting it together into a logical paragraph. I have created thinking maps for planning purposes. I have created tables to collect all of their topics so I know what they are writing about. All of these things, along with countless others, allow me to meet my students needs. Yes it is a year of scaffolds, but at least I have the tools to do it and it is helping my writers to better understand to format and structure of multi-paragraph writing. Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-37776996487641752182014-11-04T17:01:00.003-07:002014-11-04T17:01:17.365-07:00Quality Writing and Feedback <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am definitely once again navigating the waters of discovering what "quality" looks like in my current group of writers. We ask our students to do writing in all subject areas and yet for some reason they struggle to put in as much effort when it isn't during writing time. They are improving, overall, they are starting to put in more consistent effort, overall, but I am still trying to figure out why that effort changes depending upon the assignment and the subject matter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> One of the things that is helping me with this, is being able to provide my students with feedback in a variety of different ways. I am doing handwritten comments on worksheets and handing papers back that are lacking in a variety of areas - some may call this “old school” feedback, but it is still very effective. When I have Google Docs (which is now more common with constant EEE use and Google Classroom), I now have a lot of avenues. I can use the comment feature on Google Docs, I can record audio comments on JING and Movenote, and I can also use audio/visual comments on Kaizena as well. All of these tools allow me to provide feedback whether I am in front of my school computer or at home. This accessibility has really opened doors. It has also allowed me to differentiate more for my students. If a student is ready to move on, I can challenge them and extend their thinking with my comments. If they are struggling with a concept, I can provide feedback on that specific area for them to go back and work on. Not only does this allow me to be “multiple places at once” in my classroom, but they really enjoy the personalized feedback as well. They actually hound me about giving it, which holds me accountable! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I am also excited because this will be a topic I am submitting to InnEdCo for my first presentation (hopefully) this summer with Erin Gonshor. My eyes have been opened to these tools over the past few years by Erin and Dana and I am finally beginning to use them and find my groove with them. My hope is to put others on this road as well. Ultimately, I hope that the more continuous, various forms of feedback will help them to move to more consistent quality work as well. Fingers crossed... </span></div>
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</span>Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-25351393786474933422014-09-12T08:01:00.000-06:002014-09-12T08:01:13.195-06:00And So It Begins... Well another new school year is upon us and I for one am beginning the year terrified. After attending a PARCC training a few weeks ago, I feel like I am already starting twenty steps behind. I look at those test questions and I think how can I ever get these kids ready? While everyone is assuring me, "Teach how you teach, they will be fine," the perfectionist educator in me is wanting to scream.<br />
I know I have come a long way professionally over the last few years in Littleton. With all of the professional development and new materials that have been given to us I am more focused and am pushing my students to higher limits than ever before, so why am I still scared? The reality I am facing is this, I have a very impacted group this year (and the groups seem to be more and more impacted every year) and I can already tell that motivating them to write, getting them to believe in themselves, and increasing their perseverance will be my greatest challenge to date. There doesn't seem to be an average student anymore, which I am not saying is a bad thing. Our students need more from us than ever before and we are being asked and slightly pushed to step up to that challenge.<br />
The only thing keeping me sane currently is the plethora of information I am privy to. Between my PLN on Twitter, my unending idea finder through Pinterest, the endless new additions to Google, and the PLN I have developed in this district, I know that with a few keystrokes I can access any topic I desire, I can get the help I desire, and I can be reminded that I am NOT in this ship alone. What sometimes feels like a one man kayak, is really endless battleships of teachers feeling the exact same way that I do and there is comfort in that.<br />
While the terror still rears its ugly head from time to time, I find myself reaching out more than ever before and that will not only benefit me but my students as well. Here is to another year of expanding my circle in incredible ways!Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-81410008562480970262014-08-07T15:47:00.002-06:002014-08-08T08:12:17.097-06:00Holy Co-Leadership Batman!<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today I loved getting to meet even more people and getting to reconnect with some old friends. Thank you to everyone for getting me through my Blogger presentation and being so receptive - you all are the best! I’m the Little Engine That Could, “I think I can, I think I can.” </span>Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-4880449666998743792014-04-08T11:51:00.002-06:002014-04-08T11:51:13.498-06:00April - Non-Fiction Books I am really excited about my current unit in writing - Informational Books. Our students had to create a few essays during the essay unit so we wanted to switch gears (for their sanity and ours) to informational writing with a twist. Our new Lucy Caulkins rubrics almost require us to move in this direction as it asks our students to include text features in their written work. <br />
Part of my excitement comes from the fact that I am able to implement so many amazing materials into this unit. We began yesterday by brainstorming in Padlet and I challenged the students to pick a topic that relates to a culture or a historical event. This decision on my part was two-fold: 1) They would all pick animal topics or Legos if I let them and I want to challenge their thinking and 2) We are reading books during reading that relate to different cultures and historical events so it was an easy way to tie all that work together (yeah Common Core). Today they will be placing their topic and title in a Google Doc so I have a class list of their topics. This will allow me to house them in one place and make sure their topic is appropriate without having to call each one of them up independently. <br />
I also created some templates in Google Docs that can house the research they find. This will allow them to use the research tool as well and type directly into the document to make their research easier to keep track of. I was able to link these to my website so it is all in one central location. I am able to use technology to support my students while incorporating curriculum like Lucy Caulkins as well - this to me is best practices - and that makes me feel like I am getting more comfortable with all of my teaching tools. I also know I am a better, more effective teacher when I am excited, and I am definitely excited by the possibilities of this unit! <br />
The one thing I am still pondering is how I want to publish their work. Google Docs is a great tool for so much of it, but I am wondering if there is another publishing device out there that could expose them to something new. Let me know if you have any ideas!<br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/a/lpsk12.org/miss-wyman-s-4th-grade/writing">https://sites.google.com/a/lpsk12.org/miss-wyman-s-4th-grade/writing</a>Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-30978141809990545972014-04-08T09:59:00.001-06:002014-04-08T09:59:06.506-06:00March - Authenticity of Blogger Work This month I had my students revisit blogging using our class read aloud and our class blog. I had them answer some questions about our book <u>Hard Gold</u> since we had just finished reading it aloud. The students used their "Blogging Docs" to create their responses and then posted them to the blog when complete. What I realized was what an authentic experience this was for them as writers. We have blogged before, but I don't think I realized how powerful this work really is. <br />
Before I publish anything on the blog, I call the students up to look through their pending response with me. I am able to give them immediate feedback before I send them back to their seats. If they have made convention errors I point them out, if they haven't used enough detail I point it out, and if they didn't answer all the questions (which was common in this post) I point it out. The best part about this is they go back and edit immediately while the comments are still fresh in their minds. Because they have it typed in their "Blogging Doc" the edits are easy to make as well so no one has to start from scratch. I also make sure my SMART Board screen is on so that other students can glimpse at the responses that are submitted. Many of them gauge their work by what they are seeing on that screen. I have had students add more to a response (more than they would have on their own) because of what they saw on the board. I also watch as many of them listen to my mini-conferences with students. Some of them take the information I give to others and use that advice in their own work before they publish. I am amazed that something so simple can create such wonderful editing experiences. I am also looking forward to April when we will have parents blogging with us as well because this will create a bigger audience and hopefully push them into creating their best work! Thank you Blogger :) <br />
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<a href="http://misswymanblog2013.blogspot.com/">http://misswymanblog2013.blogspot.com/</a>Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-10094910569697677192014-03-02T17:41:00.000-07:002014-03-02T17:41:26.533-07:00Failure February - Teaching Writing is HARD! There are so many amazing quotes about "failure" and getting back up again, well sometimes it is hard to get back up again when it comes to teaching my students how to write. This past month we have been working on the all important five paragraph essay - an essential skill for young writers. Having taught this now for years you would think I would be an expert, that this would just be another piece of my year. Welp, not so much...all of us teachers know the struggle that how you taught one year might not work the next. I know my students have struggled with this in the past and I have learned from those struggles, but every group of learners is different and needs different things. Can I sit here and say they have made no progress or no growth, no. Can I sit here and say I am still struggling with how best to meet their needs, yes. I tell my students that failure is the path to success everyday in my classroom, so why am I struggling so much to take my own advice?<br />
I am constantly open to trying new things, I incorporate student choice whenever possible, and I take my students' lead whenever I can. You would think these would be the keys to success, but while they are leading me to the door it is not yet open. This month I needed this blog post to be a true reflection with where I am at as a writing teacher. I am using great tools, I am conferring with my writers as much as possible, and I am using mentor texts to support my lessons. I know I have done good work, but as I watch my students struggle with pieces of their essays or the essay as a whole it is hard not to feel deflated and let down. When I watch students with incredible potential hating on the process it is hard not to internalize that.<br />
There is an amazing quote that I was given last year that has guided me every since, "You can open the door for your students, but they have to actually walk through it." I am opening the door, but some of them are not walking through, or stumbling through, or barely tip-toeing through. To me this continuously challenges me to go back to the drawing board, which is the part of teaching that I do love, but sometimes it is hard to walk away feeling like I have a concrete answer. I know I am not the only one who struggles with this, I guess I am just looking to find some new resources to turn to when my other ones run dry. I need to get creative and step out of the box again! I know this month felt a little stale, but I know it can be good again, I still have the opportunity to positively shape my current essay writers. All this shows me is that 'Failure February' has the potential to turn into a more positive March. This doesn't mean that teaching writing won't continue to be hard, we all know that isn't possible, but it does mean that I can continue to challenge myself and my students to be better and want more from their instruction. Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-34353570979211488442014-01-27T15:31:00.000-07:002014-04-08T09:59:58.477-06:00January - Beginning Work on Essays<br />
<b id="docs-internal-guid-65e86fb9-d5d3-ced8-411e-03b20dcaf122" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This time of year always brings about our Essay Unit in 4th grade. I have always had a love/hate relationship with this unit because it challenges my writers in so many ways. They have never been asked to write “this much” before and the structure of it can be a lot to take in. I love the challenge that is poses for them, but can also struggle with that as well. This year my goal for them and myself was structure, structure, structure. Lucy Caulkins starts her essay unit with a lesson called “Essay Bootcamp” and I think this is the perfect way to look at it. Each “exercise” is asking my students to tackle new material, while strengthening their skills at the same time. </span><br />
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-65e86fb9-d5d3-ced8-411e-03b20dcaf122" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We started brainstorming again using their personal </span><a href="http://padlet.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Padlet</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> walls. Because they already had ideas stored here from other points in the year, I figured it could give them some ideas to start with if they needed. Many created new ones, but I like that it is a collection of ideas to always refer back to for inspiration. Padlet is not hugely structured though, and after getting on Twitter a few weeks ago I discovered a new tool that they could have used instead that was more structured for expanding their ideas (oh well there is always next year, or later on this year). The tool is called </span><a href="http://popplet.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Popplet</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and it is a web creation tool that they could use to type more specific information for their plan. Really I could use Padlet for their brainstorm and then Popplet for their actual plan - two great tools to get them started! </span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Today we actually started writing. They have been researching information on their chosen topics and now we need to put it all together. One element I have added to help with structure is color-coding (highlighting) on Google Docs. This way students can visually see if they are missing any pieces. For example, their introductory paragraph needs a hook, a thesis/topic sentence, and a list of their body paragraph topics. I assigned each of these a color: hook = blue, thesis = red, and topics = green. Once they typed their introduction paragraph they had to color-code each sentence. If they were missing a color they had to go back and add something they forgot. I want to carry this through the whole essay process using different colors along the way. Once they know they have every piece, they can remove the highlight from their writing. There is a lot of potential here for peer editing as well. Their peer might need to color code a paragraph and see if they got all the pieces they needed. It is amazing how something so simple can have such a great impact on how they view their writing. </span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If there are any other helpful structure tools out there to help my students with essays PLEASE pass them along, I am always looking for new things to try! I do feel more on top of the unit this time and that has helped me to better guide my students! </span></b><br />Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-25064017807843340232013-12-02T10:17:00.001-07:002014-04-08T09:59:48.071-06:00November - Rough Draft vs. Final Draft With EEEs Now that I am having more of my students rough draft on their EEEs, I have come across an issue I haven't seen before. Because publishing has been the step where students have used EEEs in the past, they aren't understanding that just because it is typed doesn't mean it is perfect and in "final draft" format. Many of my students are typing their rough draft and are not finding the need to edit because it is already in a published format. I have had to have a lot of conversations this past month about what a Rough Draft is and what a Final Draft is. If anything I think I might change these terms because as a colleague of mine pointed out "No draft is really a final draft." Many authors who type their work edit 80 or 90 times before a book is reading for publishing. More of my students need to understand this!<br />
My students are coming along with their editing and revising work, but I am still looking for ways to translate and have them apply this to their typed pieces as well. We will be using the highlighting tool moving forward, more comments with their writing partners moving forward, etc, but I am still working on hitting home that one editing, one revision, does not a "Final Draft" make. Has anyone else run into this using their EEEs more for writing? I am glad it has been part of our discussion in our classroom, but I want to find more effective ways to address it. I love how I am constantly being challenged in my instruction based on real world issues I see with the implementation of technology in my classroom! Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-46913372636659074412013-11-04T10:38:00.000-07:002013-11-04T10:38:05.493-07:00October Success (a a little late) - Research Tool/Quotes on Google Docs<b id="docs-internal-guid-1a9035b0-242e-9de7-8d8d-82a7a767e99a" style="font-weight: normal;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> I love learning new things with Google Docs. At our Inspired Writing half day meeting we were introduced to searching for quotes in the Research tool. I had an immediate application for this in my classroom. We were reading the incredible book </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wonder </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by R.J. Palacio. One of the characters in the story is a teacher named Mr. Browne. He had a precept every month that he shared with his students. They had to write a paragraph explaining what the precept meant to them and how it connected to their lives. I start everyday in my classroom with a “Thought of the Day” (much like a precept). We use these quotes to start our day on a positive note and get our wheels turning. Using this idea, I asked the students to come up with a precept that was meaningful to them and their individual lives. Using the Research tool they searched for a quote they wanted to use. I then had them write an explanation of what the quote meant to them and why it was important in their life, much like Auggie (our main character) had to do for Mr. Browne. They typed these responses in their Blogging Doc and then posted it onto our classroom blog. When finished they had to respond to other people’s blog posts as well. I was very impressed by what they came up with and how they really did pick quotes that meant something to them. It was a great way to write about what we are reading using helpful technology to support. </span></div>
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<a href="http://misswymanblog2013.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://misswymanblog2013.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b><br />Mrs. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04776762692589791432noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587304520163206038.post-5197214793675422762013-09-30T20:57:00.003-06:002014-04-08T09:59:37.002-06:00September - Padlet, What a Tool! Part of the reason I love Inspired Learning so much, is that I constantly leave feeling inspired. One of the tools we were introduced to was <a href="http://padlet.com/" target="_blank">Padlet</a>. This is Wallwisher aka an electronic planning page, idea storage house for students. As we are transitioning into the new Lucy Calkins materials this year, I am having to change how I teach/think about teaching. This tool became of immediate use as we embarked on Lucy's first book. The students needed to generate a list of ideas/small moments that they could turn into a realistic fiction story. Instead of doing this planning in their notebook, I had them do it on Padlet. It was a huge success. Not only does Padlet link to their Google accounts so they don't have to register, but it will house this idea wall for the rest of the year so they can always refer back to it for ideas. There is no losing it or misplacing it, it is housed at all times online for their individual use. It also helped some of my students to generate more ideas because they weren't caught up in the pencil/paper work. They were able to click and add a new idea immediately.<br />
I am excited to use this tool moving forward as a successful option for student planning. I am excited by the work they have done so far, and I can't wait to see the stories that they generate from this first brainstorm of ideas.<br />
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