Doesn't she look great??
Anyway, after celebrating the first two weeks of summer like a champ, I now have my mind on technology for my classroom. Next year I will be teaching Minnesota History. This will be the first time in my 6 years of teaching that I am full-time social studies, and I am excited to focus solely on social studies. I see great opportunities in this non-standardized-tested area to really incorporate cross-curriculuar teaching and integrate technology in many ways.
Often times Social Studies gets a bad rap for showing too many movies, but I find it incredibly valuable to show short clips of videos as introductions to topics or as kick-offs to discussions. Christina Baker Kline recently released a novel called Orphan Train. Amazon says: "Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship." I haven't read the novel yet, but I know that this storyline and information will be incredibly engaging for my students when we talk about the Great Depression in Minnesota. I am looking forward to learning more and found this video clip of a 98 year old woman who tells her story of riding the Orphan Train to Minnesota. Unfortunately, the CBS website doesn't link videos well to blogger so here is the link.
An additional video with history of the Orphan Trains is embedded below:
Beyond videos in social studies, I am excited about using blogger in my classroom. At Highview we use blogger for our teacher webpages and I have found it to be an incredibly useful tool! I spend a fair amount of time throughout the year keeping my website up to date and I am excited that my students will be able to have computer access in my classroom throughout the entire year. I will be able to use my website to an even greater extent. In the past, I have had students create blogs for different activities, however, I find that blogs are actually a bit cumbersome for students to create for a project, there are many other interactive technologies out there that are easier for student use. For myself however, my communication with kids and parents, and the linking of assignments and resources, I LOVE blogger.
As far as my gadgets and pages go, I love the idea of a weekly poll on my website to encourage students and parents to visit my page. The page I created includes novels about Minnesota. It's a great way to keep kids thinking about Minnesota outside of my classroom. The credit for the created list goes to Tara Hupton, who spent time putting it all together!
I think that's all for now!
Wow Stacey! You know how to do summer vacation right!
ReplyDeleteYour blog is off to a great start! Your video looks really good, and now I want to read that book, too!
Gina - As an update, I read the book this summer… It was FANTASTIC!! :) I highly recommend it!
DeleteStacey - looks great! I like the idea of a poll on your website too. (I voted on yours). It's a great way to get kids to your webpage more often. Love the idea! Also, great videos on the orphan train.
ReplyDeleteI can't take credit for the book list. I got most of the book titles from Jackie Sawyer's list on her webpage! So credit is due to Jackie! It might be a worthy idea to put it on a google doc that we could all edit and add to. Maybe even put a couple student reviews on it. Just a thought.
I also agree with you on blogger and the use for communication at HV.
Haha, I am glad you voted on the poll… only 3 votes so far… Unfortunately, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to see the results! :) I'll work on that!
DeleteRoss, I had this great idea to put a list of what I was reading throughout the year on my blog, I attached it to the side of my first page and title it "What Ms. O is Reading." All it was, was a document with book titles and a short review from myself. I liked the concept, but I had a hard time keeping up with it. However, I do know that my kids accessed it every once in a while and it provides the opportunity for great conversations with kids.
ReplyDeleteStacey, I am so going to miss directly working with you next year, but I am also so happy for you that you're going to be able to focus solely on Social Studies. This was the one content area that I really missed teaching when I moved from being an elementary homeroom teacher to being a reading specialist in elementary. I'm jealous of the flexibility you will have to be creative since this area is not tied to a standardized test. I love using video clips as well and feel as you do in that they are great for building background knowledge and can really help clarify content. I love Blogger also and I think our parents appreciate our similar formatting of our blogs as it helps them navigate from teacher to teacher. Your grandma looks fabulous by the way!
ReplyDeleteHi Stacey!
ReplyDeleteYou are such a go-getter -- you inspire me! I've been sitting in my pjs for the last three and half hours catching up on Tech Nerdiness. I'm loving your blog! Get ready for a flood of comments from me. Anyways, it's helpful to hear that you've already used blogs in your classroom and have found them a bit too much for students. I considered using them in my classroom -- especially for advanced students, but I might look elsewhere. I would love to find a place where my students could post blog-type book reviews (with pictures, videos, etc.) and I could host it in one spot. Still figuring that out. I actually used my website LESS once I started with Google Classroom, and I didn't really hear any complaints. Once students start getting used to Classroom, it's so easy that they start relying on that. So I'm trying to find a good way to keep my website updated, but still spend time updating the tools that are most useful to my students and their families (last year, it proved to be Google Classroom).