Texas State and National Monuments

I always like to find good ideas online for things we do here in second grade. I couldn't find anything specific for teaching about important local and US monuments for Social Studies, so I created this myself. I also created a PowerPoint to introduce the monuments with the students, and explain why we have monuments. This is just a quick assessment to show that the students can identify the different monuments by cutting and pasting the names with the pictures. We will also use library books on the different monuments to look into the history behind them.

Download file here

Figuring out this blog stuff...

I have loved visiting Pinterest and all the blogs out there. I've had a blog for a few years, but haven't really done anything with it. At first it was going to be a reflection on things I tried in teaching, but with all the things I've learned over the years and in the past few months from all the teaching blogs out there, I think this blog will be a combination of great ideas I've found and ideas I'd like to share with others. One thing that I found is the great clipart that I found on Etsy from KPM Digital Doodles. I love the sea images and can use them on the blog, in my class, and on my website. I had to figure out a few things, like using Photoshop and combining images, but it wasn't too hard. I can make it personal to me, and do it myself. Love that! Until later with new discoveries... Janna

Ideas from Pinterest for teaching! So exciting!

After getting so many ideas for Daily 5 and Reading Groups, I decided to make tags for my reading groups. The names in the group may change, but I usually stick with 4 groups, focusing on different skills.

You can download it here

The Dragster

This story is for my writing class. I thought it was fun, and it brings back good memories, so I thought I'd share.
The Dragster
Talking your 10-year-old kid into doing something you know he would love is harder than you might think. Bribes, teasing, encouraging, negotiating, and a little pushing all went into play for him to end up saying, “Can we do it again?”
This summer we took a crazy road trip… from Lago Vista to NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO, CANADA. Crazy, right? Just the 4 of us: me, Phil, Caden and Allie Mo, the dog. We all had our agenda and done the research. My highlight was the scenery. I mean, can you beat Niagara Falls? Phil and Caden’s highlight? Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky, Ohio. To tell you the truth, that was the destination all along. I had to negotiate the 400 extra miles to Niagara Falls, but that’s a whole other story.
The internet said it all: “The roller coaster capital of the world!” Lots of record setting rides, including the tallest and the fastest rides, all excited Phil and Caden, and me too, just a little. The one that most excited the guys was called The Dragster. “Top Thrill Dragster is one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. Race 420 feet into the sky at speeds of 120 mph on the world's first "Strata Coaster."” What thrill seeker wouldn’t want to ride that, right?
Caden has always loved roller coasters. He’s tall for his age, so he was able to ride roller coasters from a young age. I have pictures of him with his hands up in the air riding a roller coaster at age 4 and loving every minute of it.
When we go to the park after 3 days of driving and living out of our tow-behind trailer, we were so thrilled! We saw all the rides on the horizon and we were giddy with excitement. Which one would we ride first? Our plan of attack was to ride some of the not-so-scary rides first, then go for the big dogs!
As we were walking through the park, we walked by The Dragster. It towered over all the other rides in the park. We watched from below as the people on the ride took off like a shot out of a gun, went straight up in the air so far that they looked like ants. Finally, they came back down again all in a matter of 6 seconds. After seeing this, Caden said, “I don’t think so.”
Phil and I were both like… What? We traveled all this way, and you’re not going to ride on the one ride we were all excited to ride? We thought, oh, just give him time. We rode the longest, fastest coaster and one that went upside down 6 times! Caden would be warmed up for the big ride, right? Nope. The day was over, and he hadn’t changed his mind. He still didn’t want to ride The Dragster.
That night we talked to him. “Are you really not going to ride it?”, “You know you’re going to regret it when we leave and you haven’t ridden it.” ,“Just think of the bragging rights!” We could tell he wanted to ride it, but was really freaked out by it. He was stubborn and wouldn’t be talked into it.
The next day, we rode all of our favorite rides again. Caden and Phil would ride the same scary fast roller coaster 5 times in a row! I liked them, but not that much. Every couple of rides, I would ask Caden, “You sure you don’t want to ride The Dragster?” He got to the point of just glaring at me.
Phil couldn’t take it anymore and told Caden he was going to ride it without him. I think that was the turning point. Caden said he would wait with him in the 2 hour line. About 30 minutes into the wait, it started raining and they closed down the ride. ?!?! What???? It was our last day at the park, and we may not be able to ride the one ride we went to Ohio to ride? They told us it would open again when the rain stopped. There was not much time left for Caden to change his mind. You could see the dilemma going through his mind.
The last pep talk did the trick. “Caden, you’ve ridden all these rides, you’ve seen the faces of the people getting off The Dragster smiling from ear to ear. It’s only 6 seconds of your life, but it will be a memory forever. Are you sure you want to pass up this opportunity?”
“Okay, I’ll do it!” he said.
When the ride opened up again, we waited another hour and a half. Once he made up his mind, he became excited. “Hey, let’s ride in the front car!”
“I’ll leave that for you and your dad!” I said. They waited an extra 30 minutes to ride in the front car. As he climbs into the seat, he gives a worried look. As the car gets set, the crazy kid puts his hands in the air! Six seconds later he is back with a huge grin on his face! He loved it!
“Can we do it again?”

Trial and Error

Last week, I thought for my class, let's change it up and take our weekly selection test on the computer!  I had learned how to use google docs and had done a small 3 question practice test on Groundhog Day, which worked great!  I wanted to create motivation and interest by using computers, because I know my students love technology.

So I took the time to type in the questions into google docs and test it out.  I even spent an hour trying to upload a graphic image.  I also found out how to score the multiple choice section automatically.  On Friday, the kids were all excited to use the computers to take the test.  When my quick finishers got to the end of the test, the submit button was un-clickable!  I made sure they had answered all the questions and still they were unable to click submit.  The rest of the class was starting to finish as well, and they couldn't click either!  Needless to say, my experiment went awry. I still don't know why the submit button wasn't working.  I tried to search it out on google docs help sight, and I couldn't find the answer.

I won't stop trying to use tech, but I'll do further testing next time!

On a positive note, I upgraded my class edublog to pro!  I wanted to upload some video's of my reader's theater that my kids were doing last week, and it wouldn't let me otherwise.  I love it.  I'm getting very techie!

Thanks to my PLN, I also learned about hootsuite where I could load in my twitter account and facebook account so I wouldn't have to open up 4 programs every time I'm on the computer.  That PLN... so helpful!

Inspiration

I have spent all my free time this weekend on Twitter, clicking the links and learning something new each time.  I have joined 3 ning sites, and found an inspirational video about technology in education.



I want to be able to share all my information that I've learned with my teacher friends at school.  I want to show them the resources that they can access through twitter, diigo, and Classroom 2.0.  Who was the first one on their campus to introduce PLNs to the faculty and how was it recieved?  I need ideas!