Unintentional Blogging Break

I’m back! I started three posts this week, but never had a chance to actually post anything.

Last weekend was our first ever cardboard arcade. Each of my 18 classes made two projects. It was my ideal STEAM project. I was at school for 20 hours Friday/Saturday of last week. The end result was a LOT of work, but it was a success.  Expect blog posts to follow. Most likely more than one!

For now, I’ll give you a quick preview with pictures of my own kids having fun with my students’ creations.

They had so much fun that day that my son actually managed to fall asleep standing up. They cannot wait to be big enough to come to “Mommy’s school.”

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Of course spending that many extra hours at school + two small kids = getting sick. My two-year-old was happy to tell anyone who would listen that “Mommy got my boogers.” After living on hot tea and cough drops for most of the week, I’m feeling better.

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Our home computer also took ill since my last post. Thankfully it was still under warranty. During a call to Apple during my lunch break for help getting the iPhoto pictures off the dying machine, they asked if I happened to have another Mac in the house. I laughed and said no, but that I was in my classroom which just happened to have 25 iMacs in it. They talked me through it and I am happy to report that the photos are safe and the hard drive has been replaced. My husband spent most of today trying to put everything back the way we had it. Fun times!

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In other “more about that later” news, I was picked to be a 2014 PBS LearningMedia Digital Innovator. I submitted a video back in February, and I am thrilled to get to be a part of this program. I’m just starting meet some of the other educators on Twitter.

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It is date night, so I’m off to spend some time with the Irishman. He just picked up dinner from Outback and we are going to watch The Help. After a PJ day, it is the perfect way to end to my Saturday!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thursday Throw Down: Google Forms

I’m joining my blogging friend Erin from I’m Lovin’ Lit for her Thursday Throw Down Linky.



I know I'm cheating just a little. I don't have notebooks in my class, so I can't really enjoy all the interactive notebook goodies, but it is as interactive as I can get in the lab!

I’ve been waiting since October to start a cardboard arcade inspired by Caine’s Arcade. This pile of cardboard has been taunting my students for a month or so.



That big box in the back has a sign on it. It reads, “Not trash. Not a TV. Just a Box.”  They have been begging to get started.

I have 18 classes. I needed to find a way to have each class vote on a photo booth prop and a game. I handed out little slips of paper for the first class, but it took WAY too long.

During my planning period I created the shell of a Google Form. When my fifth graders came, we filled in their ideas for the photo booth and the same.



I sent the finished form to the student computers. Each student completed the form and then rushed back to the carpet to view the results on the SMART board.



I refreshed the results to the sounds of cheers from the winning group. If I had longer than a 50 minute class period I would have used this information for a teachable moment about data. Instead I printed out the information for teachers who wanted it.



I’ve been using Google forms a lot lately. It is so quick and easy to gather and use the data.

Now we are working on our projects. This is a treasure chest in progress. In the background are a robot and a claw machine.



This one is ready for paint and decorations.



Can you tell what it is?



My classroom is over run with cardboard projects and smells like paint, but we are having a blast!

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I hope that you will join me Saturday for my first ever Linky Party. I’m married to an Irishman, so St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in my house - and my classroom!

Clip Art: Sonia DeHart, Giftseasonstore

I have a few St. Patrick’s Day art projects I plan to share. You can link up any post, new or old, with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. To make sure I don’t end up “Jenny no mates” as my Irishman would say, I’ll e-mail my Sully Shamrock font to anyone who links up.

I’ll leave the link up through St. Patrick’s Day, so be sure to link up your favorite activity! Hope to see you then!

Cardboard Dreams

I’m starting a cardboard arcade project in the lab next month. I’ll be at FETC in Orlando next week, so I started introducing my classes to Caine’s Arcade today.



If you haven’t seen the video yet, it is well worth watching! I watched it with all six of my classes today. I almost have it memorized.

I picked up some cardboard clip art last night and put together some graphic organizers and planning sheets. My students have big plans already! I can’t wait to see what they put together when we make our own cardboard arcade.