Hiccups

The technology integration has been challenging this year.

1.Smartboard projector needs replacing and we are still waiting on the new arm/projector to arrive.
2. The wireless drop did not work properly in the beginning of the school year.

Hiccups such as these are normal difficulties with acquiring and implementing new technology in the classroom. My students have been very patient. We were very excited when the wireless drop worked properly and now have been working in our Learning Labs (centers) for three weeks now. These types of technical difficulties are often unseen until there is actually a problem. I think the best advice is too stay calm and continue to work through it until the issues are resolved.

Tweeting Reading Responses

Students are enjoying our low tech version of Twitter! Students record their responses on our Best Thinking board using a sticky note, then the best responses are chosen. It opens up a great opportunity to model how to create a great response or fix up one that was provided.

My Own Junie B. Jones!

My first story has to be to introduce you to my very own Junie B. Jones. If you have ever taught or had a young student at home, then you know exactly who I am referring to. She always seems to find herself in odd predicaments and situations that thankfully are easily solved with some guidance. This particular student keeps my classroom exciting to say the least and keeps me smiling! I am enjoying the opportunity to reassure and support this student with positive praise, encouragement and reminding her to laugh whenever possible to lighten the moment.

Learning Labs (centers!)

This week has been exciting for the fourth graders. They have started rotating to learning labs each day. The learning labs allow them to use the laptops to blog and view science videos on my class website. This week we will look at the blog on the Smartboard to analyze ways they can type complete sentences, and remember to use punctuation in their responses. For the science videos, students will write 3-5 sentences in their science journals in response to the videos. Again, I will be checking for writing but also deeper thinking as it connects to science and social studies concepts. During the learning labs I have been able to meet with small groups for guided reading. This is always a joyful time to get students in small groups to discuss their learning and help them find strategies for reading and understanding concepts.