Every day, to get us warmed up, my kids comment on our blog post of the day. Today I embedded a link to the National Geographic Kids site where short articles are posted about really cool topics. I need to thank Brian Crosby who has an awesome wiki and blog (which you need to follow if you don’t already) called Learning is Messy. I have gotten many ideas from Brian’s 1:1 work in his own classroom.
Well, the kids LOVED reading the articles, and using our new rubric for assessing blog comments, they were engaged in wonderful work this morning. Check out some of their comments here.
In getting used to our new email program I recently had the kids send me an email letting me know whether they liked fiction or non-fiction books more. Here are a few of their responses:

Dear Ms.Collazo,
I like nonfiction books because I like the facts in the book. I learn new stuff every time I read a new book I imagine stuff in the book I feel like the happiest kid on earth when I read nonfiction books. Nonfiction books make me feel like i’m the smartest kid on the earth. Nonfiction is great I would love to read them all the time. I hope everybody will like to read nonfiction books just like me?

Dear mrs.Collazo I like nonfiction books better than I like fiction because they give more information and they are true.They teach you about things you never knew like some bats eat about 500 to 600 bugs each year and they can be as big as your thumb. I never knew that until I read the book.

And, my favorite:

DEAR MRS. CALLAZO,
My favorite is fiction. Because non-fiction is hard to make notes with and because you have to remember all the real things that happened to the person. Fiction its easy because there are crazy monsters and you can remember what happens in the story because it is so funny. And you can picture it in your head while reading and taking the test because all the animals talking you can remember all of it, its just fun you get so in to the book that you don’t want to stop. Like the fiction books i have in the middle of the class i be in the book and then mrs.Collazo tell me to put the book up but she always be happy to see me read. I’ve read about 13 fiction books this year i just peak a book that i like and i read it at home and at school.

Teaching is so much fun!

Photo Credit: samie.shake’s photostream via Flickr

Today was another building block day (and a day to work out a few more glitches)! We started the day learning about blogs and what it means to comment on someone’s blog post. Every morning to get us settled, the kids will be replying to a post on our class blog. Today’s was about the field trip we took yesterday. Although you wouldn’t know it from the spelling in their comments, they actually asked for dictionaries! (Hey, I was just impressed that they asked!) Tomorrow we’ll look at the rubric I will use to assess the comments (mainly looking for addressing the prompt, including detail, and using capitalization, punctuation, and other grammar items we’re working on). We’ll also take a look at some of the comments and talk about them together! The kids really enjoyed this!

Then we looked at “Today’s Jobs” – a new section I’ve added to our wiki mainly to keep ME organized! It includes all of our activities for the day including any links we’ll be using (hopefully a time-saver).

We spent the majority of our language arts time visiting Disney’s Surf Swell Island to begin to learn and apply Internet safety. The kids kept some hand written notes as they traveled through the site for an activity we’ll do tomorrow as a follow-up.

Math time went very well again. We spent most of our time working together at the Smartboard reviewing telling time (which they continue to struggle with – can’t the world just go with digital clocks?!). They enjoyed the interactive practice and then really loved opening their Clams to try some independent practice at two cool sites!

Finally, our day finished on a very fun note! Thanks to a tweet from my PLN last night, I found out about the New York Zoos and Aquarium’s “Build Yourself Wild” site! Although ultra fun, it also goes right along with our unit (and field trip) on animal adaptations. The kids created themselves as unique wild critters. The really cool part will come tomorrow. At the bottom of their picture, the site provides facts about the body parts they chose and what adaptation they are used for in “real life”. We will use the pictures and facts as a springboard for a narrative writing assignment.

By the looks of things, we’re a pretty wild group!

The asked for dictionaries?

Hard to believe, THE DREAM, my hope for a 1:1 initiative actually comes true tomorrow! The Clams are in my room charging as I type. No, Clam is not some fancy acronym. Since my students, parents, and I refer to my classroom as Collazo Cove, I figured calling them clams would be appropriate. I mean, after all, they open like one, right? Plus it will be fun for the kids to use that term when referring to their brand-spanking new HP 1101 netbooks!

HP 1101 Mini

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Mr. Moore, my principal, for allowing me to come back home to Ingram and his faith in my dream; Mrs. Johnson, our county technology director, for her continued support as I’ve begged for this project over the past 6 years; my superintendent, Dr. Moss, for meeting with me to hear my ideas and then making the plan work; and finally to my great friend and colleague, Danita Russell (one of the best Instructional Tech Facilitators you’ll ever meet) for taking my phone calls at all hours and continually keeping me grounded! Here’s to proving what kids can do when you give them the tools!

So, the adventure starts tomorrow! My goal is to blog (at least a few sentences) every day about what we are doing in our room as we incorporate our netbooks into our learning. Hope you’ll join us often for the ride!

Okay, so while we’re waiting for our netbooks, I’ve been using my cart of Writers (which I’ve had for 5 years and still absolutely LOVE!) as an intro – an appetizer if you’d like!  They have ADORED them!  As always happens when my kids use the Writers, their writing is more detailed, and includes, GULP, most capital letters, punctuation, and complete sentences!

The Writer

I let them take them home last night for the first time ever (used to guard them like a hawk, but I’ve gotten treatment in preparation for our 1:1 over the last few years!)  They were so excited they’d be able to finish their work!  4th graders!  I love it!  And, winning a bet with my husband, every one of them returned to class today with them in their protective cases.  They still don’t know what’s coming in a few weeks!  I can hardly stand it.

Catching up on blog reading tonight, I came across this video on Scott McLeod’s blog.  Couldn’t agree more!  Bring on the netbooks and new ways of teaching!

I Need My Teachers to Learn

One of the reasons I LOVE summer is that I finally get some time to read the great books I keep hearing about!  I know I have officially gone over the edge of teacher geek-dom as I continually push away the perfect no-brain-needed beach novel, for the research-based educational read!  My family just roll their eyes at this point!  Although, I have promised my 15 year old son (also a lover of books) that I would go back and read The Half Blood Prince before the movie comes out next month.  I had skipped it to read the concluding novel in the series cause I couldn’t wait to find out how J.K. Rowling ended the journey!

Here are some of the super books I’ve read so far this summer (along with my grade for them!):

1. Why Don’t Students Like School? by Cognitive Scientist Daniel T. Willingham.

Thanks to Scott McLeod and Castle’s book club, I joined, purchased, and devoured!  It makes so much sense to tie what we plan and do in the classroom with the way our students’ brains work.  This book is a fantastic down-to-earth summary of the most recent cognitive research and how it can be applied to our work with students.  I had many “wow, really?” moments while reading this book.  I’m working on creating some new posts to let you know about those moments!  A+

2. What Great Teachers Do Differently – 14 Things That Matter Most by Todd Whitaker

Assigned to be read this summer by our administration, this is a book that aims at pointing out the 14 things that the author has observed great teachers doing.  It is an easy read with some common sense reminders of what we should be doing as caring, effective educators.  Nothing Earth-shattering.  C

3.  Not Much Just Chillin’ – the Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers by Linda Perlstein

This is a fantastic book written by a researcher who lived among the middle schoolers about which she writes.  It is a wonderful view of how middle school looks and feels from the students’, teachers’, and parents’ points of view.  The thing I like most about this book is that Ms. Perlstein combines the real-life experiences of middle schoolers with current brain research to support WHY they think and act the way they do.  If you ask me, this should be the book assigned by all middle school administrators for their staff members to read!  Very eye-opening!  A+

Okay, now on to Harry Potter!  I have until July 15th!

A neat thing happened the other day during a math remediation session with my students.  We had the laptop cart and were working on some problems similar to those they struggled with on the first administration of the End of Grade Test.  (Sadly, they must take it again, all 5 or so hours of it, but that’s another post)

We have used the Smartboard daily in my classroom this year.  We are lucky to have both a mounted board and projector, so the kids are used to coming up and solving problems with the Smart Tools.  However, we had never used the Smart Tools with the laptops (DUH, Mrs. C.).

One of my wonderful students who struggles so  greatly with math decided she would just open her Smart Tools over her problem and be able to draw directly onto the online coordinate grid.  She also used the highlighter tool to highlight words in the problem.

I know this sounds simplistic, but I just had never thought of the kids individually using the overlay included in the Smart Tools!  She shared what she was doing, and what a difference it made to the others who struggle moving from pencil and paper to working out math problems on the computer screen.  I was so proud, I had to tell you about it!  Baby steps, but aren’t our students brilliant?

Dr. Scott McLeod at Dangerously Irrelevant provided a recent link to this heart-stopping post. Or at least I felt myself catching my breath while reading it. All the while shedding a tear for my own sons who would shout AMEN!

Please take a few minutes and read the inspiring words of this student.

Photo Credit via Flicker: Report Card 1944

I love it!  I was talking with my teaching partner today about needing professional development in the area of differentiating effectively for today’s kids.  When I was in school grouping and differentiating meant two groups were sent off to work on a time-consuming worksheet so the teacher had time to work face to face with another small group.  And we would rotate, rotate, rotate.  This is no longer appropriate (I’m not sure it was then either!) with our kids.  So, I struggle with how best to work with my sixth graders and effectively differentiate and work with smaller groups, especially in the area of math.

Then, voila!  As is the norm these days, I read a post tonight addressing this very issue!  Again, one of my favorite bloggers at Teach Paperless, posts how he used a chat to differentiate a Latin grammar lesson:

I see Web 2.0 chats as having great potential for handling authentic differentiated instruction and I see best practices in a chat-enhanced classroom as having great potential for addressing issues of multi-sensory learning. The projected chat has all the benefits of being both visual and textural, and because we are talking about the material the entire time, the students are also using auditory and analytical skills. Not to mention the interpersonal skills necessary to take part in such a program.

How cool!  Side note:  His kids are part of a 1:1 initiative!!  You can do this kind of effective teaching when your kids EACH have the tools with them all day!

Flickr Credit: A Puzzle of Paint

Can’t stop thinking about a maddening parent/teacher conference I recently had with my son’s 5th grade teacher.  Among many questionable teaching practices, and by that I mean it is obvious there is no understanding of how children learn, recall, and use information, she emphatically stated that my son only had 2 grades (for 5 weeks worth of school) in language arts because they had been “doing” test prep books.  She promptly pulled one out to show me.  “Those have been your language arts program for the last month and a half?”  I asked, saddened beyond description for the poor children in her classroom.  She affirmed my fears, without hesitation.

This story, only to say that I’m sure she tries hard, but that is not enough.  Our students deserve more.  I’m sure it is not just coincidental that I read Scott McLeod’s post “It’s not ‘the tests’.  It’s us.” that same afternoon.  Wish my son’s teacher would read it….

Photo Credit: You’re Starting To Lose Me Now on Flickr

As we come up on the sacred End of Grade testing next week, kids are scared, teachers are stressed, and administrators are sweating in our building.  I just don’t get it.  Just yesterday, a veteran teacher whose children spend hours on Study Island, Accelerated Math, and other test prep activities, stated, “they [admin] don’t understand, a year of my teaching is in these tests!”  I immediately thought, how sad for your students.

I continually think about a statement made, I believe by Bill Ferriter on an old post at his Tempered Radical blog.   He stated something similar to the idea that he would rather have the lowest test grades on his hall, but know he was teaching his students how to be true learners!  I have thought about that idea throughout this year as I plan for my students.  I would hate to think that my year’s work could remotely be measured by three days of agonizing multiple choice tests created by the state department.

My year’s work probably won’t be measured for many years to come as my students continue to learn and grow.  As they apply some of the higher level thinking, creating, collaborating skills we journeyed with throughout the year.  No, my measuring stick is not the EOG’s.  For proof of my kids’ growth, I would rather someone look at the website we maintained throughout the year with many of our videos, photos, activities.  I would rather someone take a look at our Google map of our Skype sessions with other schools and experts.  I would rather someone take a look at the kids’ science wikis.  No they are not as full of the kids’ rich learning as I would like, but it’s a start.  I have begun to climb out of the crysalis of my teaching transformation and see more clearly what I desire as a true measure of OUR year’s work as a group of learners.

It was confirming to read Will Richarson’s recent post as he quoted Deborah Meier on Bridging Differences:

As long as we use test scores as our primary evidence for being poorly educated we reinforce the connection—and the bad teaching to which it leads. If by some course of action we could get everyone’s score the same—even by cheating—I’d be for it, so we could get on to discussing the interactions that matter in classrooms and schools: between “I, Thou, and It.” I’ve spent 45 years trying, unsuccessfully, to shift the discussion to schools as sites for learning. Such a “conversation” might not produce economic miracles, but it would over time connect schooling to the kind of learning that can protect both democracy and our economy. Because that’s where schools are (or are not) powerful.

How do YOU measure your year’s work?

Flickr Photo Credit – Chrysalis Butterfly Emergence