Oh PBS, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

I have a confession-I am a PBS junkie! I love all things PBS.  My love started just about the time Sesame Street first aired on PBS.  Yes, I am that old! I still can sing many of the songs I learned from Big Bird, Oscar, and (my favorite) Snuffleuffagus. I can count like The Count (ah,ah,ah).  I knew Cookie Monster when he ate too many cookies! I cried when Mr. Hopper died. Enough reminiscing!

The best of both worlds!!






The point is I still enjoy finding and watching different shows on PBS. This past weekend I watched the Teacher Channel via PBS. Granted it was early in the morning and not really the time I want to think about lesson planning but the lesson being shown (high school math) was highlighting common core standards.  I appreciated was the enthusiasm of the teacher and that of her students. She made it look fun and so easy to teach. That is what I love about watching a good teacher-they make it look effortless! Here is the link-lots of great things to see! Tell me what you think... check out their blog!

Come one, come all!

Happy Sunday All!  While reading the Sunday paper, I came across an article I thought was important to the class I am currently taking.
Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, will be at Renbrook School, West Hartford, Tuesday, February 19.
Maybe I'll see you there!

PBL, makes sense to me!

Project-based learning or PBL was first introduced to me by my director last spring. She asked each of us to do some research on the subject and that she would like each class to work on a project during the following school year.  She supplied each teacher with some articles to read over the summer.  I liked what I was learning about PBL.  Students become more invested in their learning when they are interested in the subject- this, as teachers, we know to be true.
While looking for articles to place in my Diigo library, I came across edutopia which had many articles about PBL.

Voicethread...revisited.

So I used voicethread a few years back in my classroom and wondered if I could access it.  I returned to the site and was pleasantly surprised to find my account still there.  Where would it have gone?  The more amazing thing was I had remembered my login and password!  Here is one of the thread that I created with my students.  This was an Empowering Writers lesson.  The children created the giants then wrote about it.  I used a microphone to record each child reading their piece of work.




It was very easy to use. The children and their parents loved seeing and hearing their voices.
I think the best component to voicethread is the ability for others to leave comments for the students and their teacher.

My Views of New Literacies

My understanding of the term of “new literacies” pertains to the growth of technology that is being utilized in the education world.  Tools of technology (computers, e-readers, iPods, iPads, document readers, and so on) have changed the landscape of education.  With that change, teachers need to be able to use and to teach students how to find their way around the internet using different tools.  Teachers will show students how to read, to understand, and to assess the information being presented.

The NETS, like the CCSS, are standards created for students and teachers as a road map in the ever-changing digital world.

I am incorporating technology into my classroom by using it as a documentation tool.  I take photographs and movies of my students while they are in action.  I am able to share this documentation with my director as well as my student’s parents during conferences.  I am eager to learn more about integrating tech into my classroom practices.  My school is currently implementing the use of a web program, edoctrina .  For our professional development, each teacher is required to put in their units of study and lesson plans in order to create a cohesive scope and sequence for the school in anticipation of an upcoming accreditation process.