Infogram to Magnets - Idea for Class?

Monday, October 29, 2012
I saw an idea on Nest of Posies blog site - turning an Instagram into a magnet.



I am sure teachers could find a zillion uses for this! My first thought was taking pictures of kids and creating magnets for parent Christmas gifts. Then my second thought was taking class photos/school pictures/logos/etc. and creating "look at my work" magnets as a prize for outstanding work or behavior.  How about using student pictures for the class birthday chart? Student of the week? The ideas could be endless!

What would you do with Instragram magnets in your classroom? 
1

Where am I?

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

I am blogging...just because. I really have nothing of educational value to offer today. My brain is fried. Do you ever get that way?  I only teach 3 days a week. But last week was conferences, and over the weekend I cycled a century. Yes, that wiped me out. This week my next two courses for my M.Ed. started. Wow. Can I just say I have so much homework I don't even know what to do with myself? In one of the courses, I have to investigate an emerging technology trend. What do you see as the two biggest emerging trends in technology today?




0

I've Been Boo'ed!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

I've been boo-ed by a teacher all the way in SW Florida by 3rd grade teacher, Laura Jordan of TIPS (Teach, Inspire, and Prepare Students). Please visit her darling blog!  Right now our leaves are beautiful! I love riding my bike down Deer Valley road each weekend. Right at the end of the road is an old fire station that has a very cute pumpkin patch! I am not a fan of Halloween, but I do love the fall season.

Yes, this is a coffee my son made for me! He worked at Peet's Coffee and Tea. Love it!

My other favorite part of fall? Foxy's Fall Century! Yes, I will be cycling my next century this coming Saturday! Yikes!  I am excited, though, and weather should be awesome! Best yet - my hubby is joining me this year!!



1. If you've been boo-ed, copy and paste the above pic and these "rules" into your post.

2. Give a shout out to the blogger who booed you and link back to their site!

3. Share 3-5 October activities, books, products (maybe yours or someone else's) or freebies(s) that you love!

4. Share the Boo love with 5 bloggers-make sure you check this link so that you don't repeat the "Boo"

5. Link up {here} so that others can find you and read about your October ideas! While you are there check out the other great blogs!

My 5 fall ideas...

1.  Coffee cup filter leaves...we have a tree in the window, students create the leaves, and add to the tree. I don't have a photo of our tree today, so I am putting a picture from The Chocolate Muffin:


2.  Paint a pumpkin!  This cute pumpkin is hand-painted on Etsy by Sarah Hall Designs.  Could your class do something like this?  

Check it out on the Etsy link above. How about trying polka dots?

3.  Read the Pumpkin Patch Parable:


4.  Pirate Voice Day - My co-teacher awarded the class one day by allowing them to speak with an accent. How about a pirate voice day? Here is a freebie pirate voice control chart to enjoy!



5.  Let's Doodle pumpkin picture - beautiful for coloring!


The five bloggers I am boo-ing:


2

A Favorite App

Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I will be starting a new position at our school - technology consultant. I'm very excited to be able to share with our awesome staff...and hopefully glean from them as well!  My friends know that I love technology and I love teaching. So to put them both together is awesome! So many teachers are fearful to step out of the box and try something new. But, once they see the benefits, they enjoy the fact that they did!

One thing I will be supporting the teachers with is instructional technology in the classroom. A few teachers will be using iPads to help support learning so I hope to give them ideas on how to best use them. There are a gazillion awesome apps. One of my favorite is Penultimate:


Penultimate is a handwriting app. You can create notebooks and organize the material. I like it because I can use my stylus and write with my own handwriting to take notes. (During boring meetings, yes, I like to doodle and use colors!) Because you can easily change pen colors, teachers can make quick annotations on student work. Students can keep their work in "notebooks" and teachers can add their thoughts quite easily. It has a feature where the page or notebook can be sent via email which I like. Last year I used the tool often as principal. I was able to jot down notes to teachers and quickly send the note in an email through just a tap.

Penultimate is a part of Evernote, so it can be saved and viewed on any computer - Awesome! I also like the fact that you can add photos, then write thoughts down by the pictures. Students could use this for a journal entry! :) love!

1

Water Cycle and Toontastic!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012
We are studying the water cycle right now. I am excited to try something new with my class tomorrow. I am going to have students in groups and have them produce a Toontastic cartoon about the water cycle to teach others.  Students will write their scripts, and  when they are ready they will produce their Toontastic. I only have 1 iPad - so, our 5 groups will take turns recording. I hope to choose the best one to share. Should be fun!  I'll let you know how it goes. Do your kids use Toontastic?


Thursday:  We have started our videos so I am adding to my original blog! Here is our first attempt at a toontastic video with our first student group... :) smile.



0