Reflecting

As this graduate course comes to an end, I can honestly say that this was one of my favorite classes and one of the ones that I feel I learned lots that I can implement into my own classroom. My favorite element of this class was the time that was given to us to explore the various different online tools that were brand new to most of us. Some of my favorite tools that I was exposed to during this course are Animoto, VoiceThread, Edmodo, Wordle, Storybird, Padlet, and Kidblog. My biggest take away from this class was becoming involved in the Global Read Aloud Project. I have already started to connect with teachers across the globe and I am truly looking forward to the Fall to experience this global connection using books. Each week I enjoyed using this blog as a platform to share what I was learning and to follow other teachers, including my colleagues in this course. I plan to use Kidblog in the fall with my new second grade group of students and to hopefully use it to connect with other classes through the GRA. Padlet conversations, Animoto videos and stories created using Storybird were favorites among my own students and I look forward to using them more in the future. Below is a Wordle that I created to reflect upon my time in EDUC584, Integrating Technology and Literacy.

Surveys

In my grad class tonight we were asked to create a survey using Google Forms. I chose to create my survey with a theme of holidays because I love holidays.




Please take the time to complete this survey :) Thanks!

Literacy Project - Padlet

Every day in my classroom, students write about what they are reading. Typically I give my students a prompt and they respond to it in their journals using either a text I have read aloud or a book that they are reading independently. In my graduate class, I was introduced to an online tool called Padlet which allows users to create a "wall" that they can then post text, images, videos, etc. The best part about this tool is that users can share the URL (which they can personalize!) with others who can then post on the wall without having an account. This allows for communication and collaboration with others. For additional information about Padlet check out these links!

Ways to Use Padlet in the Classroom

For my literacy project, I chose to use Padlet with my advanced level students. These four students are all reading at a fourth grade independent reading level. They have participated in literature circles, reader's theater, and are advanced in both reading and writing. For this project, these students read Return of the Homework Machine by Dan Gutman which is a sequel to the original story The Homework Machine. The original story was a favorite among this group of students so I chose for these students to read the sequel in a reader's theater model where they each take on the role of one of the main characters in the text. This correlates well with the structure in which this text is written - where each character is speaking about what happened that previous summer. At different points while they are reading the text, I used Padlet to provide them with prompts to respond and reflect on the text. The idea is that these students will begin to think more deeply about the characters and plot and be able to reflect on what their peers are saying and thinking. Additionally, I will provide feedback to the students as they respond to the text on the Padlet wall. Below is an image of this Padlet that my students used for this project. To see more check out our URL: http://www.padlet.com/jwolanin/ROTHM

My heart is still in Africa

As I was checking my blog roll this morning I noticed that the creator of the Global Read Aloud Project had posted a new blog post. As my colleagues know, I love to create connections for my students with other students around the world. So far they have been communicating with other second graders in a different state as well as in Brazil! Well, I am very excited for the Global Read Aloud Project for next year and using it as a means of opening my students' eyes to the world around them. Anyways, I digress. I saw this post on the Global Read Aloud Blog and was amazed at the powerful connections that are made through this project. Take a look here and if you have time, come back and let me know what you think :)

Student Authors

As the end of the year is upon us, I have decided to give my students an opportunity to use Storybird to create stories of their own. I must say, for all of the ways in which I do not like Storybird, it has sparked creativity in my students. For two hours each day this past week my students have used Storybird to create some stories of their very own. I modeled how to create a story, showed them my own digital story (a few posts back), and set them free. What I saw happen was amazing. My students were completely engaged in their stories. They were excited to share them with their peers and many students took it upon themselves to assist their friends when problems arose. I was so impressed with the stories and illustrated poems that were published this week. Take a peek at some of the stories created by student authors...

A story by Kwaku

A haiku by Emily



A diamante poem by Ray

Student Blogging

This evening in class we participated in a Google Hangout with another professor from our college where we talked more about using technology with our students. I have been interested in ways in which I can incorporate more technology, specifically blogging, with my students. Due to the lack of resources in my classroom, I feel that it will be extremely difficult to implement student blogging with fidelity next year. Instead, while we were participating in the Google Hangout my wheels were turning and I think that next year I plan on creating a blog, or using this one, so that I can post about activities that we are doing in our classroom and communicate with parents. But then I was trying to contemplate a way in which I can have my students blogging. I think that I will have a student blogger of the week and provide them with an opportunity to post on the blog about something that we are studying that week so that they have the experience with blogging but in a limited format. Maybe by the end of the year, I can begin to have more and more students posting on the blog each week.

Does anyone have any ideas of how to slowly implement blogging into the classroom? Any experience with this?

The Daily Five

This past summer I participated in a summer book study with my colleagues using the text The Daily Five by "the sisters." This tool and way of teaching has totally transformed my ELA block. Previously I had used a workshop model but the Daily Five just enhances it. What I have done in my classroom is kind of a mixture of ideas I have found on fellow teacher blogs as well as the standard model of using the Daily Five in the classroom. So far, this mixture has worked really well for me.

The Daily Five consists of five rotations or centers that students go through each day. This provides them with structure and a limited amount of time at each activity. The five activities include: read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, word work, and work on writing. In my classroom, my students participate in: read to self, word work, and work on writing. I changed my structure to also include reading response and guided reading group time. This allows me to meet with students while the rest of the class is working independently. My students rotate through four activities each day and they spend 15 minutes at each rotation. So yes, my guided reading groups are short but students have time to practice after I meet with them when they go to read to self.

Also, in the original Daily Five, students have their choice of what activity they do each day. I have altered this to ensure that students are completing activities that are necessary. For example: my lowest reading group meets with me each day, then goes to read to self, completes a reading response, and typically goes to word work to practice. This may differ for your classroom.

This management system has totally transformed my classroom. We spend the first 3 to 4 weeks of school mastering the routines and procedures and building stamina in each of the four activities. This limits disruptions and issues later on in the year. I have asked my students what their opinion of the Daily Five is and almost all of the students love it. They enjoy having several activities to go to each day and the routine is helpful too.

Below are some links to fellow teacher blogs who have implemented The Daily Five as well as the website that outlines the Daily Five in greater detail.

Buggy for Second Grade

Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits

School is a Happy Place

The Daily Five