Nominate the Global Learner Blog for Edublogs Best Group Blog

I've just nominated the Global Learner blog as the best group blog this year for the Edublog Awards. The way you nominate is to create a link from your personal blog to the Edublog webpage. Let's get as many people as we can to nominate and vote. Go to my blog to see the example.

Let's Graph it Up!

As a collaborative project, Liz Springer and I decided to have our students respond electronically to work that our students posted to our classroom blogs. My math class created digital graphs using the website http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx. The students created a topic and then surveyed other students in the 5th grade. They compiled their data, created a frequency table, and used the previously mentioned website to construct their bar graphs. The graphs were downloaded as a jpeg and then posted to my classroom website. Their digital products were very professional-looking and they took great pride in creating a graph that looked as thought it came directly from their text books.

They especially enjoyed customizing their graphs by creating 3D versions and altering the colors, but they also had to determine the interval and create labels for their work. The students then developed questions, which they posted on the blog alongside their graphs. Students from Ms. Springer's class then analyzed the graphs and answered the questions. Overall, the project was a success and I would love to collaborate with other teachers and Global Learners on future projects.
-Robbie Robinson

Is it almost December?

I can't believe that the month of November is almost done! I am so thankful to be a part of the Global Learner project and am impressed with how much technology I have integrated into my classroom. (Patting myself on the back right now.) :)
So far I have started a classroom blog that my students and I both regularly post on.
I have created smartboard lessons and have used my response clickers almost daily. Overall though, I have exposed my students to technology and have given them opportunities to further their global presence.
I am really looking forward to the upcoming months and am ready to accomplish some technology goals that I have set for myself!

Fifth Grade Collaborative Writing Blog

Colleen Urlik (at Kemp) and I (at Central) put together a blog where students from both of our classes can read, comment, and collaborate on writing projects. My class started by writing the weekly writing project, a paragraph describing an interesting place. Then, Mrs. Urlik's class read each blog and posted comments on the paragraphs. Next, Mrs. Urlik's class will post a winter poem that each student wrote. My class will then read and respond to them. The kids love having their work published this way and it's a great way to have them help each other revise & edit. The blog is also open to other comments, so our students would love any comments, ideas, encouragement, etc.

http://palmer5th.blogspot.com/

How are you using Google For Educators?

We didn't exactly get to learn much more about Google for Educators at our last Professional Develop on November 17th. Everyone wanted time to work! So, if you are interested in learning more about Google for Educators, here are a few resources.

Keep the discussion going, please share how you are using Google For Educators. We'd love to hear it!

Free Technology for Teachers - Google Tool Tutorials - numerous tutorials for blogger, websites, maps, quiz creation, and much more.

Adams 14 Instruction Technology Site - This site was used at our PD on the 17th. Included on the Google for Educator page is a "How to Create a Google Site" by Doug Abshire.

Check Out My Lesson

I would like to share a vocabulary lesson for week 1 of Storytown. I modified an existing Smart Exchange lesson using "Rope Burn's" Robust Vocabulary. I've used this Smart Board lesson as a template for many subsequent lessons throughout the Storytown curriculum. The "context clue" section can be somewhat time consuming, but it can easily be excluded based on potential time constraints, or age level considerations. The lesson can be conducted quickly, but feel free to play around with some of the utilities. The pages devoted to specific vocabulary words contain tap-to-view slides and a link attached to the actual vocabulary word to its dictionary.com web page. I submitted the lesson to Smart Tech and it should be available within two weeks, or you can download it here in the meantime.

http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=x2d5a2d4b076040d39f23d4c91ba9c416

Enjoy!

Robbie

Increasing Engagement

So, after working with Jim at the Global Learner PD yesterday I decided to start using the Smart Response System as more of a mid-lesson engagement activity. By using the "Anonymous" mode, I have started using the true/false and yes/no responses in order to gauge student understanding. For example, my class was focusing on proper and common nouns this week and I was able to use the SRS system to quickly mandate student engagement and check for understanding in one fell swoop. The students don’t need to be signed in, so this could work well for primary grades as well. If anyone has any other intriguing ideas for SRS engagement, please let me know!