Final Blog Reflection-

At the beginning of the school year I was learning about what my Smart Board had to offer. I was also learning about blogging and how great it is to communicate with others in a different way. With the Smart Board I slowly integrated it into the things I was doing in my classroom. Now I am using it everyday for everything we do. The kids love it and they have expanded their role into explorers of their knowledge as well as independent reliable learners.
Over the past year I feel like I have expanded my knowledge on the Grappling’s Technology and Learning Spectrum, but I do not feel as though I have completely moved into the Transforming column. I feel that with a few years of practice and really exploring and modeling all that the Smart Board has to offer I will still be adapting my teaching of technology as a grow as a professional.
My class has moved from just using the computer lab to really effectively using our time in the computer lab. We do not just play games on the computer, but we have researched different things we were interested in, we have explored different web sites that can help our writing, we have used different software to produce different projects, and we have also used it to type final drafts of poetry and different pieces of writing to share with others.
In my Technology Plan at the beginning of the school year, I talked about initiating a pen pal cohort with another fellow’s class, but this unfortunately did not work out the way I would have liked for it to. Instead I set up a folder on the student share drive under myself, for each of my children to access, as well as other students in school to access. We were able to share our final, saved pieces with a pen pal class here at our own school. It was pretty cool because they could open up their pen pal’s folder here at school and read their pieces of writing and they could open up our pieces of writing and read them.
I believe over the past year I have shifted my thinking about technology and the integration of it into my classroom. I integrated real life things for students to work on, not just busy work. I encouraged and acknowledged my students to use higher-order thinking skills while using different software and programs that were available on the computer. They were able to construct their own knowledge and meaning by producing things that were useful to others as well as themselves. My students were active learners in their new technology skills.
My goal next year with the use of technology is to have a web page, designed by myself, that will be available for parents to access next year. I saw a few teachers do that this year and it was a great way to add to their classroom community. Within their webpage included: a class schedule, homework pages, as well as assignments, important dates, and special occasions, plus a weekly newsletter. Different teachers did different things. In order to access their different web pages you had to go through our schools’ web page. I know that this is something I wish I would have had time to do this past year, but I did not so why not set that as my technology goal for next year.

Stressed

Well...After the MAP ended my kids have been really chatty and it is taking a lot of time to redirect their thinking. We are working really hard on it though. I am also feeling quite overloaded with all of the papers and projects due for Fellows and for my class. There are so many things to do all of the time I just run on auto pilot most days. I am also stressed out in search for a job next year. I have had a few interviews here in the district....I really want to stay in Columbia and think there is a very good chance of that! One more blog left to do as well....=)

MAP Testing

Well MAP testing is about to start and i am kind of nervous. Today was the first day back from spring break and my kids were kind of talkative....hopefully not tomorrow. I went skiing in Santa Fe, New Mexico and it was amazing. It was really hot and I received a sunburn on my nose1 I bought my kids little rocks, that are called magic rocks. I told them they could have them with them for the test. They are really excited about the rocks! Well it is April and MAP time!

TGIF

Well it is finally Friday and it has been a very long week. I think my kids have been so off the wall this past week because of the GORGEOUS weather...I know I have been =) I have been going though interviews and last week I had the District interview. It was an hour and a half long, 3 different rooms, and a whole bunch of principals! I think my heart was pounding out of my chest; I was sooooo nervous. One more week until spring break and I am going skiing. I can not wait. Hope everyone enjoys their time off!

MAP Prep!

Well for the past month we have been really getting our students ready for the MAP test. We have been working on literacy; including writing prompt, short answer, multiple choice, and constructed response answers. Same with math we are working on time, measurement, graphing, and geometric shapes. We are calling it MAP Madness and splitting the boys and girls of all third grade into 2 girl groups and 2 boy groups, the kids absolutely love it the most. Other then that Math is killing me because we are working with fractions and it is kind of a struggle, but I have found some really great websites on fractions on line...here are just a few :
http://www.visualfractions.com/
http://www.gamequarium.com/fractions.html
The kids really enjoy these during computer lab time.
Plus Parent teacher conferences went really well.
Yesterday was my birthday too...the big 24 !!!!!!

WOW!

This past week I felt like was the hardest so far this entire year. I had to deal with several very serious issues with my class and I am literally mentally and physically exhausted. The worst issue was stealing... my phone had been taken by someone in school and it just so happened that it was one of my students. I have never been so crushed in my life, then to learn that one of my students, who I do and do for, took something that belonged to me. I could not help but cry like a baby. I was not upset about the phone being gone; I was more upset that it ended up being one of my kids. It is all over finally, and I have my phone back, but my heart is broken and my trust for my kids is gone. Hopefully, with time, my heart will be healed and I don't have to feel miserable any more. I am so thankful that the week is over and now I have a 3 day weekend to settle myself and get back to level ground!

Where has this year gone?

Our unit has gone great...we are almost finished writing and ready to publish. We went to the computer lab last week and did some research about our topic as well as found one picture for our paper to print out. My students are enjoying the research and are excited to share these with their parents and each other.
Other then that, I can not believe it is already the end of January...where has this year gone? It has flown by! I think I might be teaching summer school and I am really pumped about it. I also have to start going through the interview process again starting this weekend...I am a smidge nervous, which I know will pass very soon!