Finding my Focus

I started my blog in in October 2012. I had a family blog.  I enjoyed reading teacher blogs. I figured that I would post ideas from my classroom.

I’d previously tutored to supplement my income. After my second child was born, I just didn’t have time. I discovered TpT at about this time. I found that there were some wonderful resources that I could make myself, but that with two small children at home it was worth paying $3 for an afternoon with my family. I decided in place of tutoring to start a TpT store. I could spend time working on things for my classroom anyway to sell.

My store now almost makes enough to support my clip art habit. I enjoy having just enough tucked away to buy clip art for each project I start. I haven’t posted new products in a while. I’ve lost the desire to be the next millionaire. It would be nice, but it isn’t worth the time and effort. I’m okay with that.

This year has been full of changes. I have always liked my job, but I truly love teaching in the STEAM Lab. I have had the freedom to create an ideal space. I have been able to explore and expose my students to digital citizenship, gaming in the classroom, week of code, GAFE, augmented reality, and more.

My blog has changed, too.  It is still there, but I am not worried about my TpT store.  I want to share ideas and interact with like-minded educators. I love the community of educators I’ve found online. The cardboard arcade we spent a month working on in the STEAM Lab all started with a blog post I read. Thanks to a technology newsletter in my inbox, several of my students have extended the ‘Week of Code’ and are currently working taking online courses in coding outside of school. A Pinterest post about the ColAR app has me addicted to using augmented reality. I love the way things are developing.

I hope you will join me through this process as I find my new focus! I cannot wait for my blog redesign in May. I found the perfect clip art and an amazing blog designer. I can’t wait for a new look to go along with my new focus.

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!

Graphite by Common Sense

Spring break was a blur. We spent a few days with Mickey Mouse in Orlando. When we got back, we had family in town from four states. One cousin got married on Saturday. We had a bridal shower for another cousin on Sunday. It was fun, but we didn’t rest at all!

Every night this week I’ve planned to do a blog post. Every night something has come up. Oh, well!
I got an e-mail yesterday to let me know that I was approved to be a Common Sense Media Certified Educator. They sent on a badge for my blog.



I’m currently waiting for a blog redesign from A Bird in Hand Designs. I’ll add the badge to the side bar once I get my new look. I can’t wait!

One of the other sites I’m having fun with right now is Graphite.



From Common Sense Media, this site lets you search for reviews of apps/websites. It is a really neat idea.

I’d registered and written a field note before. Last night I came across this post. I decided to write two more field notes. As a result, I got an e-mail tonight with the code for a $25 Amazon gift card. The offer ends March 31.

I’ve started working on my application to be a Graphite Certified Teacher. I love sharing technology resources. I think it is a good fit!

Enjoy!

Sunday Funday: Consignment Shopping

 
We are on spring break this week. It is a great time to link up with Molly and Deirdre We started our break with the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade.



Our Sunday Funday was shaped around the Liverpool game. I wanted to go to a big children’s consignment sale, so I left just before 8am to ensure that my children were not left unattended once the game started. (I joke…sort of!)

It was a great day! Not only did Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0, but I found some amazing deals at the Just Between Friends sale. The last day of the sale, most items are 50% off. I have gotten to the point where I only buy clothes for my kids at these sales. I also only allow myself to shop once they reduce the prices.



The pictures don’t do it justice. My cousin is getting married this week, so I bought my daughter four gorgeous dresses for $3 to $4 each. She is still deciding which one twirls the best. My son is going to wear the Ralph Lauren shirt in the picture. It was $2.50. The athletic shorts were $2 each. They are all branded. The blue outfit and matching hat are from Gymboree. I got all three pieces for just $3.75.

According to my receipt, I paid an average of $2.44 an item. My daughter was having a blast trying everything on. She was thrilled with our little impromptu fashion show.

So far spring break is off to a great start!

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On a separate note, please consider linking up your favorite St. Patrick's Day activity if you haven't already!

Clip Art: Sonia DeHart, Giftseasonstore

 

The linky will be up for another week. I am also giving my Sully Shamrock font to anyone who links up a St. Patrick's Day Post.

Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship

This week my fifth graders were on a field trip so I ended up with an extra planning period. I decided to use that time to work on my application for Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship Certification.

The application asks for documentation of how you have shared about the curriculum with the teachers at your school. I realized that I had done that, but I had not shared it clearly enough on my blog.  This post is not an application requirement. I’m not getting paid to post this. I just really think that digital citizenship is important, and I think Common Sense Media does a great job of giving teachers the free tools they need to do just that.



A friend shared a Common Sense Media newsletter with me last spring. She suggested that I sign up. Once I looked around the site, I fell in love with their K-12 digital citizenship curriculum. I remember being at a conference years ago talking about these same digital citizenship skills that no one is teaching. Who owns this? I decided that the STEAM Lab was the perfect place for digital citizenship.



My learning goal for my class this year is based on the ELA technology standard for each grade level. I use the elements of STEAM to teach that standard. Each of these lessons is linked to other ELA standards as well.

I was a little overwhelmed last fall so I decided to just teach the lessons as written. There were a few plans that I taught with low expectations. I was shocked at how much they enjoyed it! We had AMAZING conversations. I was surprised how many of our elementary students were I honestly felt like these lessons made a difference. It changed the way many of my students thought about their digital lives. From keyword searches to cyberbullying to copyright issues, these topics are part of our world today.



I started by printing the entire K-2 curriculum and the 3-5 curriculum. I keep them in a binder so that I have originals to make copies. I did not follow the scope and sequence, but picked the lessons that matched what I had going on. Days I was relocated to the Media Center due to construction in my classroom we did Digital Passport lessons on the library computer. On the other hand when I did not have access to computers, I decided to wait to do the keywords lesson.

Funny enough, I taught most of these lessons before I had computers in my room. They are designed to be as low tech or as high tech as you want/need them to be. One computer with a projector was perfect to guide discussions.



If you do have access to more, the Digital Passport is a website from Common Sense Media for grades 3-5. My students loved these games. The Twalkers game is the best I have ever seen for explaining the dangers of driving (or walking) while texting.  You should try it yourself. They have also released an iBooks version of the curriculum I plan to use in the fall.



The resources available make it idiot proof. They have included everything you need – videos, handouts, extension ideas, computer games to reinforce, and more. There are even resources for sharing with parents or other teachers.  It is well worth signing up and exploring these free resources.

* The pictures in the post were from a bulletin board display we did for digital citizenship week. My 3-5 students each created a Twitter strip with a tip or something they had learned about digital citizenship.

ClassTools.net Timer

This will be a quick one. I wanted to share a website I rediscovered this week. It is a musical web based timer from Classtools.net



We’ve been working on typing in the STEAM Lab. It is not their favorite thing to do, but we have to do it. I found that setting the timer for 5-7 minutes with classical music playing makes the whole process much less painful. My students know that I will reset the timer if they are not working. There was more typing and less talking.

I also use the timer for clean up time. You would be surprised how much faster students move while Mission Impossible is playing in the background!

One tip: I’d always picked my song based on the length. My husband played with the site and wanted to know why I didn’t just use the keyboard to adjust the time on the song I wanted. It took years for me to learn that.

On a separate note, please consider linking up your favorite St. Patrick's Day activity if you haven't already!

Clip Art: Sonia DeHart, Giftseasonstore

 

The linky will be up for another week. I am also giving my Sully Shamrock font to anyone who links up a St. Patrick's Day Post.

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Be sure to check out the others:

Whooo is ready for St. Patrick’s Day Linky Party

I am married to an Irishman who moved across the pond for me. Every March I enjoy making a fuss over St. Patrick’s Day for him.

Clip Art: Sonia DeHart, Giftseasonstore

 

I did Irish themed activities with four grade levels. I’ve blogged before about the Tagxedo word clouds that my fifth grade classes made using traditional Irish songs.



Most of the fourth grade was on an overnight field trip, so a few of the remaining students helped me to make Paper Strip Shamrocks.



I love they way they came! I used straight pins to hang them on the giant board outside my rooms.
My kindergarteners made rainbow puff paint pictures. It was a two day project. They started by painting tempra paint rainbows on cardstock.



Once that was dry, they filled in the shamrock with puff paint. I was inspired by this pin.



If you have not tried puff paint, you should! All you do is mix equal parts of shaving cream and glue. To make it green, you add food coloring. The “goop-ier” the paint, the better the puff when it dries. It is pretty neat!

For my first graders, I found instructions on how to draw a shamrock on this post. My husband always makes a point to include shamrocks and not four leaf clovers in our decorations, so I decided to go with it.

The first day we used white boards to practice drawing the shamrocks. I went step by step and then let them practice until they were comfortable with it.

Next, students drew shamrocks on tagboard and outlined them with black or green crayons.



The next class, we painted. They first covered the entire page with light green paint. Then, they used dark paint to paint inside the shamrocks.



All together they make up an impressive field of first grade shamrocks.

So, there you have it! These are the activities I have done this year with my STEAM classes.

Do you have a favorite St. Patrick’s Day activity to share? Please link up and tell us about it!  If you do link up, please leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will send you a copy of my Sully Shamrock font. The linky will be open until just after St. Patrick’s Day.

An InLinkz Link-up