Flickr Website

I knew there were tons of photos out there to be used by the public but this was a great site!  I feel like I have the world at my finger tips now.  I searched Christopher Columbus...being the social studies teacher and found an amazing amount of pictures with the variety being incredible.  What a great way to share photos with others.

Hallloween-A Learning Activity?

Sure...why not take a student's favorite holiday and turn it into a learning experience!  Halloween can be a great stepping tool to a way of fun learning.  Student's can learn about classify by using their candy.  They can write scary stories.  They can become fashion designers and create a one or a kind costume.  Just because this are not traditional ways to teach these are still all learning experiences that are authentic and help students take their new knowledge and apply it to a real world situation.  Use Halloween in your classroom and you could have great success.

Mid-Year Blahs

As the school year progresses and we hit the middle of the year our enthusiasm and drive tend to go down. These is common place but there are several things to help turn that around.  After reading a blog site on Scholastic they recommend a few things to help out.  First, implement a new activity for the classroom.  Do something you have done and the students aren't expecting.  Second, pretend you are a parent of a student in your room.  Would you feel welcome?  Is your student enjoying the class and actually learning?  Finally, do you need inspiration from the outside?  Sign up for a class, talk to other teachers for ideas.

These are simple ideas to help get you through the blah of the middle of the school year.

How welcome are parents at your school

Recently in a post on Edutopia there was a discussion as to the connection between student's learning and their parents.  One of the reasons that gets overlooked is how the parents feel as they visit the school.  If a parent feels comfortable and welcomed at their child's school the child will find more success at school.  If a parent is more likely to feel insecure or unwelcome they will most likely be withdrawn from their child's education.  This one small factor can have a huge effect on how well the students perform at school.  So welcome parents...

Social Media and Students

Students these days have a lot at their finger tips when it comes to socializing.  A recent post on Edutopia was interesting in that we need to teach the students to still keep their standards high.  Their grammar should not be overlooked just because they are posting items and socializing with other students. 
Also, the they should be considering why they are posting...not just posting to be posting. It is not a contest of volume.
I guess I had not thought of these things...I just took them for granted.  I even catch myself using "4" for "for"  in text messages.  Maybe I should change?

AYP

With my school being in full MEAP mode it has been a long two weeks.  The kids sense the stress associated with the tests and couple that with the teacher anxiety it really is not a fun two weeks.  The information posted about AYP-Adequate yearly progress on the Edutopia website is perfectly true.  Here we strive to achieve AYP at our school and in reality we are setting ourselves up for failure.  The items that qualify a school to obtain AYP are hard and if any one of them is not met then the school does not met AYP.  Is that fair?  Is that a true representation of the progress of the school?  I am not sure if this system is correct and could need fixing in the near future.

Read/Write the Web

There was a conference with all of those power players that were able to create and develop a tool that has caught on the web and are making them millions.  What caught my eye was "Groupon".  I have subscribed to it myself and love the idea.  The more people that subscribe the cheaper the coupon.  They are coupons for your area.  I also saw a news cast that said some businesses that are using groupon have been overwhelmed with so much business...which is a good problem.  The creator at the conference said that you should think like you are creating a tool...not a piece of art.  I thought that was perfect!

First Blog Ever

Well, I guess there is a first for everything...this is my first official blog!  I have no idea what to expect with this experience.  I guess only time will tell!  Enjoy!