Join Peter H. Reynolds for an Afternoon of Learning

I don’t know what your lesson plans are for 1:00 pm EST tomorrow, Friday, April 19th. I do know what they should be, though! Clear those calendars and check your connectivity because it’s time to spend an afternoon with artist and author, Peter H. Reynolds, sponsored by the Purple Feet Foundation.

 

Here are the directions to join…

Join us for a thinc Career Chat with Peter H. Reynolds. Peter is a children’s book author, illustrator, bookshop owner, founder of FableVision… and an advocate for creativity and children of all ages.

 

Friday, April 19

1 PM ET (20-30 minutes)

Hosted in Google Hangouts.

Here’s how you can bring your students to chat with Peter.

1) Let them know you’re planning to attend. Register at: http://tinyurl.com/thincCCpeter

2) Have your students submit their questions for the guest at: http://tinyurl.com/thincQA

3) Double check to make sure Google Hangouts are not blocked at your school. On the day of the event you will go to http://tinyurl.com/thincHangout to participate.

The hangout will be broadcast “On-Air” and your students can submit questions via our form, but if you would like your class to connect to the Google Hangout so they can be seen by Peter H. Reynolds and the student interviewers make sure to let Lance (Lance@PurpleFeetFoundation.org) know in advance so you can be invited to join the hangout.

 

Go ahead! Sign up! Get your classroom connected, inspired, and ready to learn and lead!

Techy Ice-Breakers

Today, this set of “techy” ice breakers was shared on Twitter by my PLN member, Phillip Cummings. Ice Breakers are a great way to start a professional learning session or a class, and they shouldn’t just be reserved for the first hour of anything! I loved this selection of ideas and definitely plan to use some of them in the near future. Check them out at Educators Technology! Click on the image for the full article.

 

20 Percent Time – Will It Work?

Thanks to a recommendation from the launch of DEN Reads, I recently re-read Dan Pink’s book, Drive, about what motivates people. He talks extensively about Google’s 20% time. Here’s a bit of background from Google.

So, what does this have to do with my classroom? Especially, my 5th graders? Well, it’s getting close to testing time. When external pressures to help prepare my students to be successful of state testing, some say it would make sense to be putting them in situations where they were mimicking what they will have to do in May for testing. I decided to do the opposite. Test prep bores me… to tears. Really. Tears. Instead, I want my students reading informational text, applying their learning to real world situations and creating content that displays their understanding. Tada! 20 percent time for the classroom!

I already have 45 minutes per day built into my schedule when my students who receive tutoring, special pull outs, etc. go their separate ways on different days of the week. During that time, I’ve run literature circles, provided time for extra self-selected reading, and worked with students individually and in small groups as needed for remediation and enrichment. All of these are a great use of time, and many of these will continue. The difference will be in the fact that if you are not in pull out or working with me for a short mini lesson, you will be working on your 20% Project. For my fifth graders, we are splitting the projects into two week chunks. Yesterday, I told my students that they were all required to do a research project. Groan. But, they could research anything they wanted to research. Head jerk. I also told them that they had to share what they learned with the whole class. Ugh. But, they could chose individually how to report their learning. Whoa!  They are allowed to give a talk, make a poster, write a blog post, share a PPT, or whatever, just as long as they share what they have learned. Today, students submitted their choice of topics. I have students learning about everything from Komodo Dragons to How to Become a Fashion Designer to the Secret of Sasquatch. The best part is that I am rolling into the final quarter of the school year, and my students are more excited than ever. They are begging to research and bring in their own materials. This is a dream! At the end of the 2 weeks, we will take a day or two to share and then choose new topics and go again. I can’t wait to learn more about my students and see them share their learning. I will continue to share my journey, as I navigate this exciting project. Yay!

By the way, Post It Notes were developed during 3M’s version of 20% time. How can anything from which sticky notes emerged be anything but awesome!?

Genius

Love, love, love this graphic shared today at the Supporting Gifted Learners Facebook page. I love that daily frustration is a category! Our kids need to learn more stick-with-it-ness!

Must See-Blossoming into Science

If you loved “Blossom” or if you love “Big Bang Theory,” this video is for you. If you want to pursue seemingly contradictory passions, this video is for you. If you work with kids who are trying to find themselves and their places in the world, this is for you. If you believe that we all have the potential to be exactly who we want to be, this is for you to share!

Letter to a Teacher

I came across this letter today, and I wanted to share it. I find it humbling and challenging, exciting and daunting. I think it best reflects all that we do as teachers, things that so many people don’t understand that we do.

Letter To A Teacher
Abraham Lincoln

 

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick
Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far more honorable to fail
than to cheat
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong
Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon
Teach him to listen to all men
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do
He is such a fine little fellow,
my son!

 

Excerpt from a letter, by Abraham Lincoln, to the headmaster at his son’s school

Brain Breaks

My kids love these quick Brain Breaks! They are all under 5 minutes and perfect for when your students (or kids at home) have been sitting for way too long. Did you know that 5 full steps sends freshly oxygenated blood all the way through your body? Get that brain refreshed and the mind and body ready to learn more!

 

 

And check out these 20 great ideas from Minds in Bloom and these Energizers for the classroom!

Reading Interest Inventories

If only ALL students were such eager readers

My school has a daily time for guided reading groups where all students, school wide, go to different teachers for leveled and skill focused instruction based on their needs. Every teacher, from classroom to support to specialists, has a group so class sizes can be small and impact can be maximum. I have some reluctant readers this quarter, and I want to make sure that I maximize my time with them. I want to start the new quarter and new group of students with a reading interest inventory, so I spent my afternoon looking for just the right one. I thought I’d share some of them with you, in case you are looking.

• This inventory is the one that I chose for my class of 5th graders. I like how it gives me a chance to assess some of their writing, informally, of course. It also covers reading habits, topics of interest and gives the child a voice.

• This particular choice is also easy to read and fill out, but it allows for choice and independence by the student. I’d definitely use it for 4th graders and above.

• This inventory for high schoolers looks great, too; but it is “advanced.” Students who are reluctant readers at that level may not want to fill out all of the questions, but the line of questioning they take is intuitive.

• The last page of this packet has an inventory that focuses on attitudes about reading in different situations. It would definitely be good to do for students who you suspect have negative attitudes toward reading. It could also easily be done as a “read aloud” to a whole class at any point. You could use it as a pre- and post- test throughout the year, in the hopes that attitudes about reading have improved.

• Professor Garfield offers another option that covers attitudes about reading in a way that might be appealing to younger ones. The scoring guide and background information are definitely useful, too.

Presidents’ Day Resources

February 18th is Presidents’ Day in 2013. We have the day off, unless of course we get an inclement weather day between now and then. We have done a big Revolutionary War and Colonial Times unit this year, and I’m in the middle of a unit on the Civil War. As Presidents’ Day is traditionally about George Washington and Abe Lincoln, my students already have a lot of background knowledge about these two presidents. I thought I’d share some other resources I’m considering using with my students this year…

 

• ABC Teach has lots of free resources for Presidents’ Day that address kids of all ages. I especially like the Fact Cards that they provide. They’d be great for a scavenger hunt of some kind, or to have students use them as background knowledge to create a Fakebook page for the different presidents.

• Animated Hero Classics offers great biographies of Lincoln and Washington, and there are excellent resources available to accompany these 30 minute videos at http://www.dscl.org/kids/animated-heros-classics.html. They cover everything from coloring pages, to historical tie-ins, to integrated math activities.

• We are learning about calculating the area of a shape with lengths of fractional amounts in math, so we might also find the areas of the different parts of different sizes of the American flag and then compare them proportionally.

• Last year, Karen Ogen, DEN Star from South Carolina, shared these great resources for your Interactive Whiteboard for Presidents’ Day.

• This FREE Main Idea Match Up activity from TpT also has promise for an ELA skill review activity for my students.

• These Presidential Task Cards are also a great option for stations and early finishers for the whole month!

What is your favorite activity for Presidents’ Day?

 

 

 

Safer Internet Day

Did you know that Tuesday, February 5, 2013 is Safer Internet Day? Take some time with your students to discuss this year’s theme, “Online Rights and Responsibilities,” and slogan, “Connect with Respect.”

 

 

You can find tons of  resources at http://www.saferinternetday.org.

- flyers

- leaflets

- lesson plans

- and more

How do you teach your students about online safety and responsibility?