Last Post!!!

It is hard to believe that I am already making my last blog post. Although it is impossible to sum up the year in one long post, I hope that reading this throughout the year has given you the chance to “peek into my classroom.” The kids are getting excited, and I am too. This is my last Fellow’s assignment to complete other than my comps paper, and I feel that I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m telling the truth. This year has been a year of growth and learning. I couldn’t have asked for a better first year teaching experience, and I know that the challenging coursework along the way has helped me to this point. In this post, I want to expand upon and reflect on one learning activity that I wrote about in my Technology Plan in August. As I reread the plan it almost seemed like a wish list, but I am proud of the learning opportunities that I have carried out involving technology.

In my plan, I talked about the hopes of my future SmartBoard. Now that I have it, I can’t imagine teaching without it and it encompasses each of Grappling’s technology uses. Each morning my morning message is neatly typed in PowerPoint with dazzling clip art and a few mistakes to help my kindergartners editing skills. This is the technology Literacy Use, but it demonstrates to my students the features of Microsoft Office products, and the convenience of typing.

I feel that the majority of my technology uses fell under the Adapting Uses category. In my plan I wrote about the literacy overhead center where students manipulated transparencies to rebuild poems, look for patterns, and practice rhyming. This center worked well, but the upkeep got annoying because of cleaning the transparencies, keeping it organized, and the constant upkeep of changing out poems and creating new ones. This is where the SmartBoard saved my life! (Not really, but it did help a lot) I then could create EasiTeach documents for my students to click and drag pieces of a poem, and rhyming words. A teammate also recreated our Pathways Trays that allowed my students to drag letters to build words. Another center highlight was a sight word PowerPoint that I found online. It had 217 sight words that flashed across the screen. Students loved to stand at the board and read the words; they would even make little competitions among their center groups. These interactions are the goal of literacy workstations, and are what I chose to do my action research on. In kindergarten, I feel it is extremely important to show that technology is all around us, nothing to be scared of, and can help us learn. I think that these activities also incorporated transforming uses, but more than anything they created a foundation for future learning.

These are just a few of the ways that technology was incorporated into my daily routines. I look forward to next year where I take the basic ideas of this class, and put more of them to use. This year, I got my feet wet, and now I am ready to dig deeper next year. Thank you for the facilitation of this online course. To all my fellow pal’s, we have almost made it…keep up the great work!

Is April long?

141 days of school! I have always heard teachers say that April gets long. However, being the young enthusiastic first year teacher that I am….I never believed them. APRIL IS LONG! Ha, not really when I think about it, but with MAP testing and no breaks the days do sometimes take a while. Teaching kindergarten, I do not have to worry about administering the MAP. However, I can argue that keeping 22 kindergarteners quiet and respectful to those who are testing is quite a challenge as well! Still…it is hard to believe it is April 15th, and there are less than 34 days of school left!

I am loving my team board and have found it particularly useful for showing united streaming clips for science units. You can download segments of videos that can explain photosynthesis or an insects life cycle much better than I can. The kids also love watching Magic School Bus….and being the teacher that never thought she would “show videos” to keep kids quiet has realized that it works!

I have also found some great websites with already made power points and jeopardy games. My kids love it, and it saves me time because I can alter a current PowerPoint and not have to spend time editing timing and technical issues. One already PowerPoint that I found has 214 sight words and it spends about 3 seconds on each word. THEY LOVE IT…plus, even kids who didn’t know the words at first are learning with the help of visual memory.

My mom is a school nurse and gave me a video that the state of Missouri has put out to encourage physical fitness. It is great on my team board and it gives my students structured wiggle breaks while teaching them about the importance of physical fitness. I am so happy that even though I am moving schools next year I will still have a team board. Happy spring everyone and enjoy the last 2 months of school!

131 Days!

I hope that everyone enjoyed spring break and are ready to finish out the year strong. As I worked on my comps paper over break I realized how close we are to finished. I can't deny that it has been a busy, stressful, and enjoyable year. At times, I wondered if I would survive, (and on some days still do) I realize how quickly it has flown. We are so closed to finished!

Things in my room are going great. I finally feel that I have a plan and can work ahead. For so long I was feeling day by day, and now I am to week by week. I know that probably isn't how experienced teachers are, but everything has been new, challenging, and exciting to me.

My teamboard is amazing. My kids love doing anything on it, and it is a great tool for me to have. It brings a new approach to each lesson. Tomorrow is opening day for the Royals. So, we will be having a baseball themed day. Slugger has a kids site that will allow us to investigate the Royals history, players, and symbols. We are also going to make our own pennants, and the internet helps the kids to explore other baseball teams. It has also been helpful in helping me plan writing activities that go along with my theme. There are so many great websites out there!

One thing that I did do on line that I have to share is that I bought children's books off of Ebay. I got 28 Gail Gibbons books for $45. Her nonfiction books can sometimes be hard to find, and they arrived in perfect shape. I want to continue to look for classroom books and supplies on line because I can get nice things for a reasonable price. If you have an author that you really like...you might want to check it out and see if there are any lots available.

That is what is going on here. I hope everyone is doing great and taking time to enjoy the nice weather. It is so great to have outdoor recess! Happy teaching!

Middle of March

I can't believe I am on spring break....it is such a great feeling! I am trying hard to work on my comps paper, but it is easy for me to think of other things to do. More than anything, it is nice to have time off but I know April and May may get long with no breaks.

Everything is going great. I love my teamboard and I think it is a great way for my kids to see technology integrated into the classroom. sometimes, it is as easy as when i am unsure of how to spell a word and I type it in word and do a spell check....my kids love to see that! To me, that is a practical use of technology!

Our district e-mail was down from home all of last week, and it made me realize how much I rely on my home internet connection to do basic things for school. Whether it is retuning parent e-mails from the comfort of my couch, or checking my e-mail nightly to see if anything new is going on. Technology is great, but when it doesn't work....I get frustrurated!

Anyway, all in all everything is great here and I am looking forward to the rest of the week relacing. Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the signs of spring. Happy Teaching!

114th day of school

I can't believe that it will be March on Saturday. My kids are going to be so excited that it is an easy month to spell....now that is a true kindergarten teacher talking! Things are going good here. I just found out that I will be moving schools next year but staying in kindergarten. I am excited that my new school will also have a smart board because I can't imagine going back to teaching with out it. I am a good teacher this year, but I know I will be so much better next year. It is scary to think of starting over, but refreshing to know that I have come so far in such a short time.

Things are really getting busy with class, school, and the time of year. I feel like we will be in school forever because of all our snow days, but I know that it will soon be summer. I am going to teach summer school this year and look forward to the challenge of getting to know a new school and class in such a short amount of time...I'm also looking forward to the paycheck ;)!

It was interesting to read everyones tech blogs on blackboards talking about blogs and wikki's. I know that we have all learned so much this year, and I know that we will be able to apply so much more next year. It is great that we have each other to bounce ideas off of. Anyway, I am doing good and so glad that I am in this stage of my life with fellows all over. Hope everyone enjoys a happy leap day, and takes time to consider where they will be in the next 4 years...I know I will be teaching, and I hope to be just as excited about each new day as I am now. Happy teaching!

Mid February

Things are going great here. Valentine's was a great success. The kids were so excited, and I was too. I had a lot of parents in the room so it was the perfect time to show off the TeamBoard. It is doing great and I am enjoying using it for United Streaming, morning message, Easiteach, and games. Does anyone have any sites that they really like? I am trying to compile a list, but I could spend hours looking! One thing I have done is check out other school districts teachers pages because a lot of times there is tons of great info. I can't believe it is almost March. I am trying to work hard on my paper...but I need to make myself take time to do it so I do not get behind. I am looking forward to this 3 day weekend, and I hope you all are too! Happy Valentine's Day!

99th Day of School

I just got home from Fellows class and I think it is going to be a busy and great semester. I really like our new classes, and I know I will learn so much from them. As I looked around the room tonight, I was so happy to be a part of the Fellows program, I felt lucky and I felt like a good teacher (hmm, I do doubt myself at times!) It was great to sit in a room with young professionals and I know how cheesy this sounds, but it's true!

Tomorrow is the 100th day of school and I am so excited. I doubt I'll sleep tonight, I have so many fun things that I want to do, I hope that I get them all in. One is a book that we are all making. It has like 10 different writing prompts/pictures that they kids are going to fill in and then they will have their 100th day book. I got it from the internet, so it was easy for me and I know the kids will love it. There are so many great websites out there!

Drum roll................I got my teamboard!!!!!! They hung it on Monday, did the wiring on Tuesday, loaded software yesterday and I used it yesterday afternoon and alllllll day today. I am just as excited about it as the kids. I had my morning message all typed on it this morning (Complete with matching graphics) and the kids used it to play math and letter games this afternoon. I am even going to be able to do some of my small groups on it because the other kindergarten teacher made this awesome easyteach program that is our Pathways trays..so exciting! It was worth the wait!

Alrighty, today was a great day. I also had a student talk for the first time in front of the group. Things are really coming along! Hope everyone is enjoying their year and ready for the new month of February! The end is getting near! Happy teaching!

Mid January

It seems unbelievable that it is already mid January. Things have slowed down, and we are slowly getting back into the hang of things. Last week we had to review a lot of procedures, but I know this week will be better. Still no SmartBoard but I have been able to use my teammates. I found some great interactive clock websites that worked great for teaching my kids to tell time. We are studying penguins this week, and I've already been on nettrekker and united streaming to book mark everything I want to show this week. It is amazing what technology brings to the classroom! Other than no SmartBoard things are going great. I am beginning to feel like a real teacher. I know this is going to be a busy, hard semester with Fellows but I am trying to stay on top of things....not that its going that good! ha, I'll work on things next Monday when we don't have school. I know the comps paper is going to slip up on me, and I'm trying to do it by parts...it just sounds easier than it really is. Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying this chilly weather. Happy teaching!