To look down.. or to look up? (4-A-2)

The internet and technology is quickly becoming intertwined with our every day life. Very few people are not familiar with either an ipad, iphone, or computer. All of these devices give us access to the world wide web. However, they are also quickly becoming attached to our every move.

Have we lost the ability to communicate with one another, learn from one another, and feel truly connected? Or are the use of computers and phones only helping us learn more, teach more, and connect with even more people?

 Below is a link to a video that states that we are too busy looking down at our phones and other technologies. Everyday we post on blogs, facebook, twitter, and other sites powered by the web for others to see. However, because we are so preoccupied with what is online we are starting to loose social interaction skills. By losing these skills we are beginning to lose the things that were once considered important. Take a look at the video to gain a better aspect on the message being delivered.

Look Up Link

In a response there have been several videos that took the exact opposite side. Some could argue that by constantly being connected and building an online community we are socializing more and more every day. We get to share and post the things that are important to us with everyone we know every single day. This allows friends and families to keep in touch and know all the aspects of what is going on. This also allows users to find things they may have never known they were interested in. Take a look at the response videos in the link below.

Look Down Link 2
Look Down Link 1

* There was another video that was in response but more of a funny parody. Due to some comments and content I chose not to post it. However if you wish to see more just do a quick youtube search.  

So after watching both videos and considering both sides I ask you, should we look up or down?

Parents & Pinterest (3-D-2)

How do we keep it all organized? How can we find more information about the topics we want to find? The answer is becoming easier and easier with all of the online social bookmarking tools such as Pinterest and Diigo. As a teacher I am constantly looking for new and fresh ideas to help get my students to learn the topics that will help them succeed. As parents you are always looking to do the same.

Below I am going to list some easy steps to creating your own Pinterest account and what to do once you have one. This will allow you as a parent to continually find new and exciting ways to keep your child's learning going even outside of school.

Steps:

1. Go to www.pinterest.com

2. Click Sign Up

3. Fill in the criteria to create an account

4. Log on to your email to activate and confirm your account.

5. Now you have an account. The next thing to do is to start to add the content you are interested in. Pinterest will ask you some questions about the things that you are interested in. The great part about this is you can find things that have to do with school, cooking, art, or anything else that you may enjoy. It will organize this for you later so do not worry that it will get mixed together.

6. After answering these questions you are ready to go! Begin to search. At the top left bar you can search for whatever you would like to find.

*Tips- I suggest searching for topics that your child may struggle with in school or are interested in learning more about. Examples: CVC words, short vowel, letter naming, counting, and number Id

7. After searching you can do two things.

  A. Follow Users
     1. If you find another user that has a lot of content that you are interested click the follow button.
     2. Now when this user pins things that match your interest they will come up on your home screen.
     3. This makes it easy for you to find relative content.

   B. Pin Content to a Board
      1. When you find an activity that you would like to try you will "Pin It."
      2. When you "Pin" an activity you can put it on a "board."
      3. You can create as many "boards" as you would like. When you click pin it will ask you what board you would like to pin it to. Click the create new board and name the board what you will be pinning. Examples: Recipes, Halloween, Reading or more specific such as CVC words, short vowels, etc.

8. Continue to search and look through content as the year progresses to give you new and fresh ideas!

There you have it! You know have your very own pinterest account that will help you keep organized and find new and fun ideas for your child. Since you are no longer in school I will not make this homework nor will I grade. However, I do ask if you find something super cool or interesting share it with me over email. I would love to see what you guys find and use them in class if we can!

Happy pinning!

Learning with RSS (3-B-2 & 3-C-1)

With all of the new education changes and developments in technology it can be hard to keep up with it all. So how can you stay on top of it? As a teacher I am always looking for new ideas to use with the kids as well as the newest up to date learning theories. By using RSS feeder I can stay better up to date on the newest development. It is great as an educator to use myself however my students are two young to benefit from it. With older grades during research papers they could subscribe to feeds that are related to their subject content. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all of the things I am trying to do in my classroom. Which learning theories do I use, how have the education laws changed, what new technology is out? This makes it easy to group all of that information together and give me one place to find it all!

Parents can also benefit form using an RSS feeder by subscribing to relevant information at their child's developmental stage. For more information you can visit Family Education.

As an alternative educators and parents can use Netvibes.com to keep a feed on all of their favorite resources. I am an avid reader of many Kindergarten blogs and this lets me keep them all in one place. If you would like to visit my public page I have created a resource page with all of my favorites that you can access here.

Drug Free

Today was the kick off to Red Ribbon week. The entire school made a promise to be drug free while putting their ribbon on the field fence across from the school. In the afternoon we were lucky enough to have a wonderful performance by Josh & Gab. The duo sang songs about making good choices and put on a real rock and roll show!

What Makes Us Everyday Super Heroes!

This year our school theme is everyday super heroes. Here in room 108 we discussed what that meant and how we are heroes every single day. It is a pretty cool thing to think of yourself as a super hero and even cooler because it is true. After discussing what we did to become heroes we drew pictures and shared our thoughts with you! Please feel free to communicate and respond back to our work. We would love to hear from you!

 Sincerely,                                 

Miss P & Room 108                

P.S. Keep posted for a clip of what everyday heroes dance like!

 "I help my sister clean up toys. I am a super hero!" -Kiara

 "When my brother makes a mess I help him clean up. That makes me a super hero." - Cailyn

"That is me and my friend picking up a toy." _ Jayden

"I am a super hero because I help my mom help feed my dogs." - Rilee

 

"I like helping my mom with her hurt hand." - Noah

 

"I am a super hero because I help my brother clean up when he makes a mess." - Bubba

"I help my dad clean up my toys and that makes me a super hero!" - Ethan

" I am a super hero because I push in my friend's chair." - Carter

" I am a superhero because I help my dad clean up his blood when he is hurt." - Davilynn

" I am a super hero because Adam got hurt and I am helping him." - Saul

" I am a super hero because Bubba is hurt and I am helping him." - Adam

" I help my mom feed the cat." - David

"I help my friends and my mom. When she is sick I help her get up." -Lexa

"I like to help my dad when he is not here with his work. I help fix the bicycle. That makes me a super hero." - Arelyn

"I help my brother find the bathroom" - Pat

Excited to blog- Kindergarteners tell why!

Today I introduced the concept of the Internet and blogging. We discussed how we are going to be sharing our work online with our families and community. This is what they had to say about why they are excited to get online:

"I want to talk about something exciting!" - Bubba

"We have never done this before!" - Lexa

"I want to show my parents." - Davilynn

"I like seeing my work on a computer. I like to share my work." - Arelyn

"I like to share my work with my sister." - Kiara

"I like showing other people." - Ethan

To the web... and beyond!

It is hard to imagine what teaching was like without computers. It is equally hard to imagine what it will be like in the next few years. The invention of the computer and its counterpart the Internet has grown unbelievably fast. Every single day more and more apps, websites, blogs, games, etc are developed to share ideas, express oneself, sell things, and educate. The opportunities are limitless.

If they are limitless how do we know where to start and keep a grip on it all? First, we start with the tried and true basics that have been around a little longer than others. In my room parents and students will encounter a few uses of the web and technology I have used over the past two years as well as new ideas as they come up.

Remind101- This is a wonderful tool run through the web and cell phones. It keeps parents informed at any time the teachers decides to send a text alert out. No longer are the days of phone chains or wondering and waiting. This simple to use website connects the classroom and home almost immediately.

Skype- Expensive assemblies? No more. Thanks to the web classrooms can not only connect to real life people but they can do so with people across the world! I still remember being in 2nd grade and sending a letter to a pen pal across the state. Now students can draft up questions and prepare for a real life interview with an astronaut, dentist, or maybe even a family member halfway across the world.

Blogging- Blogs allow me not only to share what is going on with my class with parents but the world. Teachers have an entire world worth of information and ideas readily available to them thanks to the web and other teachers blogs. I love to share and spread my ideas as well as build on those of other incredible teachers.

These just touch on a few. Parents can now (if they have computer access) easily locate and stimulate their child at home using educational websites. So what is the limit? There does not seem to be a limit. Virtually whatever we think up we may be able to do one day. My ideas are yours, my students ideas are yours, and your ideas can be shared when you comment below! Let's connect!

Kindergarten Blogging: Can it be done?

I am currently enrolled in a few Grad School classes. One of them discussing the web and how we incorporate it in our classrooms to enrich our student's lives.

Recently we have been discussing blogging. Not from the teacher but from the students themselves. Obviously being a Kindergarten teacher I can not let my children lose in the same way that a High School English class can. We are just learning how to construct basic sentences and learning three letter words! However while doing some research I came across this article davisonkindergarten.blogspot.com/p/blogging.html that talks about blogging with Kindergarteners.

It has inspired me to try some new innovative things with our class. Mrs. Davison has successful worked with her students to not only introduce technology and blogging to her class but done so in a way that promotes reading skills and makes children proud of their work. 

Over the next couple of weeks our classroom blog will finally be up and running. Assignments, News, and Updates will start to be posted at least once a week. However, all of these things used to be posted solely by me, the teacher. After some research I have decided that we will be doing this as a class!

I am very excited to introduce your children to more computer use while strengthening Reading skills. Keep an eye out for more educational posts, information on our blogging project, and other classroom information!

Super Safari Students

Hi Everyone,

I know it has been a very long time since I have been on to post. Things have been a bit crazy. As many of you know I moved schools and the switch has been a bit hectic. I will post about the change along with the makeover soon. But first let me introduce you to the SUPER SAFARI CLASS!!!