BUILDING BAGS

Here's a great art activity for integrating STEM with a unit of study.

                             
 
Here’s an art/engineering project that my students always enjoyed. Erik Erikson believed that children aged 5-12 were in the age of “industriousness” and needed opportunities to feel confident in their ability to achieve and produce. If you watch children as they work on these projects you can almost see their brains firing away as they create and problem-solve.

What?
2 lunch bags
old newspapers
scissors, tape, glue, markers
construction paper scraps and other art media



How?
Decorate one bag with construction paper, markers, paint, and your imagination to look like a building.  Open the second bag and stuff with wadded up newspaper.  Insert the decorated bag over the stuffed bag to make a rectangular cube.

Why?
Tie these sack structures in with a unit on community helpers by asking children to make buildings in their community.

Let children make places from a book they have read and use them to retell the story.

Divide children into small groups and let them collaborate in designing buildings and structures. Can they make a city in the future? Can they make dwellings from other cultures and countries?

Now that's what I call building skills for the 21st Century!  Cooperation, collaboration, communication, and creativity all rolled into a fun thing for children to do!

DATA + DEVICES DO NOT EQUAL JOB SKILLS!

School districts may be winning the battle with higher test scores, but they might actually be losing the war in terms of well-rounded and educated citizens.

The studies of job skills major corporations look for in employees include:

Verbal communication
Teamwork – ability to work with others
Problem solving
Creativity
Self-motivation
Written communication
Positive attitude
Flexibility

Hmmm?? Do you see test scores, rigor, or technology in the above?  The roots of what our children need one day to be successful and healthy adults are what we promote through active learning, working/playing with classmates, centers, games, and creative and open-ended activities.

When children have time to express themselves and teachers have time to listen they are developing verbal skills.

When they play games and do partner projects they are developing teamwork.

When they make choices and aren't afraid to make mistakes they are problem solving.

When they have materials and freedom they can develop creativity.

When they are allowed to make choices to explore areas they are interested in they will be self-motivated.

When they take notes, set goals, and record what they are learning in journals they are developing written communication.

When they laugh, have fun, sing, and play they will have a positive attitude.

And when they learn that there are many ways to be wonderful they will develop flexibility.

Shut your door and teach children what they really need when they grow up!!!  

And come back tomorrow to learn about Genius Hour!

P.S. I don’t make this stuff up! Check it out for yourself.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2013/03/14/10-job-skills-every-employer-wants.html
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/11/12/the-10-skills-employers-most-want-in-2015-graduates/#186d74ec19f6
https://www.aacu.org/leap/presidentstrust/compact/2013SurveySummary
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2015/05/03/cheat-sheet-skills-college-grads-job/26574631/
http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psn/2013/09/job-applicants.aspx
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/top-ten-skills.htm

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hope springs eternal as we begin 2017! Our students will all score 99% on tests, our parents will appreciate us, and our administrators will tell us what a great job we are doing. We will get money back from our taxes, our favorite sports teams will win, the sun will shine, we will lose weight, we will win the lottery!!!! Sounds like a great year, doesn't it? Well, even if all those things don't come true we are lucky to be alive!

My website this month focuses on 21st Century Skills. With increased screen time in the classroom, I’m the one that keeps yelling, “BALANCE! BALANCE! BALANCE!” The Partnership for the 21st Century Skills (21stcenturyskills.org) recognized the gap between the knowledge and skills students learn in school and what is needed to succeed in the work place. Their goal is to align classroom environments with real world environments by fusing the traditional 3R’s with the 4 C’s. The 3R’s are the framework for Standards and core subjects, while the 4 C’s suggest the skills needed to be successful in career and life.

     3Rs include: English, reading or language arts; mathematics; science; foreign         languages; civics; government; economics; arts; history; and geography.

    4Cs include: Critical thinking & problem solving; Communication, Collaboration; Creativity & innovation.

It’s interesting that when leading industries are asked what skills they look for in employees they do not focus on technical skills. Their top responses usually include “good oral communication skills,” “knows how to get along and work with others,” and “knows how to find and use resources.” Isn't that what we've always emphasized in early childhood classrooms with open-ended centers, play, and opportunities for children to interact with friends. And, that’s why I embrace the Skills for the 21st Century!
                           
Learn from the past…live in the present…prepare for the future! Check out my website and I promise you’ll find some simple and practical ideas for promoting 21st Century Skills in your classroom in 2017.  You'll find activities for critical thinking, collaboration, adaptability, creativity, global awareness, and financial responsibility.

     
Note!  Since I haven't used "financial responsibility" very well this month I 
thought I'd try and grow a money tree.  Wonder why it didn't work?

May 2017 be filled with many blessings for you and those you love! 

 ENJOY THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR!

A KINDER WORLD

On this election day, here's a post from my friend Barbara Gruener about creating a KINDER WORLD.

Hello from Barbara at The Corner on Character. As I peek into my November calendar, I’m wondering if anybody else wishes every day were World Kindness Day like I do. But is that just an idealistic dream or a Pollyanna mindset to think that way? Not if you believe that anything is possible like I do.

So I’m on a kindness campaign to make it a reality. Won’t you join me? I’ve heard it said that kindness is love with its work boots on so all you’ll need is a pair of boots. I know there’s a lot of love in that huge heart of yours, so let’s get to work with some of my friends from Friendswood, Texas. Here are a few of their ideas to help get started warming the world with kindness.
                              
1. Positivity Sticks. This young superhero came to me asking if she could please eat lunch with me. Before I could get the word yes out, she asked if she could bring three friends. Thinking they had a conflict they wanted me to mediate, I agreed and we made a date. When they arrived, they asked if I had any sticky notes and markers. They had a plan: They were going to write positive, uplifting messages that they would deliver to the third-grade bathrooms during lunch so that it would surprise their friends in the afternoon. How super sweet is that? Never underestimate the power of a kind thought, a kind word, a kind deed to inspire and influence.

2. Knitting For Service. If you’re looking for a project that you can do with a club, why not consider teaching a skill to meet a need. This group of thir-grade knitters comes together weekly to make hats for preemies to help reduce the infant mortality rate. A cap is an essential, lifesaving measure that many people in underdeveloped countries don’t have access to, so we knit to help save lives. Community members from the local Knitting Guild volunteer to make it an intergenerational activity. Knit Club members come back as mentors in grades four and five. Kids helping kids; is there any better way to warm the world?

                                                        
3. Mentoring matters. Serving as a mentor to someone is another fantastic way to elevate empathy, practice compassion, and show kindness. High School Mathletes come to help us learn our math facts.
            
High School PAL (Peer Assistance and Leadership) students visit weekly to help us practice our social skills and learn to cooperate and work collaboratively.      
                                    
And Big Sister role models sometimes stop by just for fun, like this cookie-frosting visit on Dr. Seuss Day.

                                                        
4. Write on! Writing someone a note and/or drawing a picture is another easy, no-cost way to brighten someone’s day and sprinkle kindness like glitter. I received this beautiful ray of sunshine on a day recently when I was feeling more than a little gray and it totally filled my bucket and restored my joy. 

                     
5. Small acts. Kind acts don’t have to be great to be grand. This summer, my son and I had the opportunity to deliver some hand-dipped chocolate candies to a group of people who are challenged by homelessness. He was caught off guard twice when one of the ladies asked him for the recipe and one of the men told a story about how he used to make those very same peanut butter balls with his children when they were younger. A third encounter left him baffled when one of the men came back for seconds and told him that if he were to put peppermint candies on the white chocolate coating that he could actually sell them at a store for $8 a dozen. Entrepreneurial tips from a homeless stranger-turned-friend sparked so many questions and elevated our empathy as we tried to make sense of and understand their lives, their hurdles and their circumstances.

                                           
6. Service and sacrifice. A special annual service project at our school is our S.O.S. (Sweets for our Soldiers) campaign. We make Valentines and send them along with kindness from our kitchens in the form of homemade brownies and cookies to our active-duty military personnel overseas. Sometimes they’ll Skype in so we can watch them open what they fondly call our ‘hugs from home’ right in front of us on the big screen. We must never forget that freedom isn’t free and this is just a small token of our gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

So there you have it, six simple suggestions to give kindness some traction in your character building. Now you can lace up those boots and start making those kindness footprints today. And tomorrow. And every day after that until every day is Kindness Day in your World.

Buy The Book

Buy The Book What's Under Your Cape?

RESEARCH AND WRITE

I can work with my friends to write or do research.

What can you find out?
Collect non-fiction books about a topic that you will be studying in your class. Place the books on a table along with clipboards, paper, and pencils. Let two children work together and take notes to look in the books and see what they can find out (learn) about the topic.
Hint!  Let your students make their own clipboards from a 9" x 12" piece of corrugated cardboard and a butterfly clip.
                              
Collaborative Books
Choose a theme for a class book. Ask the children to write a sentence and then draw a picture that relates to the theme. Let them sign their names on a page that says “Authors and Illustrators.” Bind their pictures together in construction paper to make a class book. Be sure and write “The End” on the last page. Read the book to the class, place it in your classroom library, or let one child take it home each evening to share with their families.

Topics for collaborative books might include:

THE BEST THING ABOUT ME

OUR WISH BOOK

WHEN I GROW UP

IF SHOES COULD TALK

THINGS THAT BUG US/SCARE US

WHAT DOES THE PRINCIPAL DO ALL DAY?

IF I WERE THE TEACHER I WOULD

IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS

OUR JOKE BOOK

HEROES

MY WORST/BEST DAY EVER

PUT THE "A" IN STEAM!

STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics. STEAM PROGRAMS are designed to integrate science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics in the classroom to encourage students to think critically and problem solve in a creative way.

Although some might think that science and math are the opposite art, both involve a “process” and a “product.” Both require students to think creatively and critically. STEAM is also complimentary to the 4 C’s of 21st Century Skills: creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication.

After over 4 decades as an educator, I see shadows of the integrated curriculum, constructivism, as well as the project approach in STEAM. I also see STEAM as providing a balance to our obsession with skills and standardized tests.

http://www.primetimepbc.org/steam-initiative#1

Take a look at some of the projects below. Couldn’t you use one of these instead of a test or worksheet to extend a story or a unit of study? These projects would also provide children with the opportunity to collaborate with a partner or small group.
                              
Art
Class quilt
Mural
Puppets (stick, paper bag, paper plate, sock, coat hanger, envelope)
Sculpture (mold with clay or play dough)
Invention
Create a board game
Poster or collage
Mobile or windsock
Mini Museum
Class chef

Drama
Skit or play
Role play
Pantomime and charades
Debate
Recitation
Rap or song
Dance
Mask or costume         
  

THANK YOU AND PLEASE

Manners can take you a long way in this world - although they are not included in most state standards! Manners are part of the “hidden curriculum” that we can nurture daily in little ways. This is a perfect time of year to talk about thanking others and what it means to be polite. Here’s a simple echo song to encourage children to use their “magic words.”

I Have Manners (Tune: “Are You Sleeping?” - Children repeat each line.)
I have manners,
I have manners,
Every day,
Every day.
If I want something
If I want something
“Please,” I’ll say.
“Please,” I’ll say.

I have manners,
I have manners,
Every day,
Every day.
When someone is nice
When someone is nice
“Thanks,” I’ll say.
“Thanks,” I’ll say.

*Role play when to say, “please,” “thank you,” “you’re welcome,” and “excuse me.”

*Teach children these signs and use them as prompts:
     Please palm open on chest and circle around
     Thank you fingers on chin and then down to palm

*Let the children use puppets to model what to do in similar situations:
     How do you greet a new student?
     How do you call a friend and invite them for a play date?
     What do you do when someone pays you a compliment?
     What do you do when someone gives you a gift?
     What do you do when someone has a book that you want?
                                  
Table Manners
There are several good books about manners, but I liked to use a stuffed animal to demonstrate negative behavior. I’d ask the children to help me show the toy the correct thing to do.
     “Coco always chews with his mouth open. Who can show Coco the correct way to chew your food?”
     "Coco just grabs food that he wants. What is the polite thing to do when you want someone to pass you food?”
     “Coco eats his food and then runs out to play. What should Coco say before he leaves the table?”

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY

What a great day to celebrate RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY! (February 17th is officially Random Acts of Kindness Day, but these activities are perfect any day!)  

What does "random acts of kindness" mean? Brainstorm examples and then challenge each of your students to do at least 3 acts of kindness today. 

Write "The Kindness Club" on the board or a poster and have students write the names of classmates who do something kind for them.

Give each child 3 "kindness tickets" to distribute to friends who do something nice for them.
                       
Make bracelets from pipe cleaners. When they do a good deed they can get a bead and add it to their bracelet.

Make a "Kindness Book" where students can record something positive a classmate has done for them.

Here are some other suggestions from randomactsofkindness.org:
1.  Smile at one extra person.
2.  Each lunch (or play) with someone new.
3.  Make sure to say "I love you" or give someone special a hug.
4.  Send a positive message or help someone.
5.  Download the Kindr free app and brighten someone's day.

A MOMENT FOR MATH

I feel like I've been neglecting math lately, so here are some simple math games to play today.

Mingle Jingle
Children tiptoe quietly around the room as they whisper, "Jingle, jingle."  When the teacher calls out a number, they must form groups with that amount.  Those students who are leftover can do a jumping jack or other silly movement.  Continue having the children mingle and jingle and form different sets.

VOTING STICKS

                                     
Did you vote yesterday? Here's a super simple idea that you can use throughout the year to help children understand the democratic process and that "the majority rules."  First, each child will need to decorate a jumbo craft stick with their name. Second, you will need two cups or cans to hold the sticks when the children vote. Write options on index cards and tape them to the cups. (For example, if they were voting on a book you could write the names of the books and tape them on the cups. If they were voting on a game they'd like to play you could write the names of the games on the cards.)

GO TEAMWORK!

I asked K.J. what he liked best about school so far and he was excited to tell me about the video project he was doing with a classmate. Apparently, they were divided into partners and they are each doing a 45 second video based on a content area. K.J. got science, which is his favorite subject, but he was a little frustrated with his partner because his partner had never used the technology before. There also seemed to be a little conflict about which background music to use, yada, yada. WOW! Just think for a second what a useful skill that will be in the future…helping a co-worker…figuring out how to give and take…collaborating for the good of the group…I could go on and on. 

However, I’ll just stay check out my website today because I’ve got some terrific ideas for group work and partner projects. It gives me such JOY to come up with these ideas to share with you. Teaching is like a revolving door because 25 years ago we were “into” cooperative learning…and here we are again! Why? Because in real life and in the work force of the future, knowing how to work in groups is critical. As you read through the different activities on my website, think about implementing one a week to add a little variety to a task that you would ordinarily ask children to do independently.

I’ve also got a free song download called “Mother Goony Bird.” Yep, it’s another silly song, but the sweet thing is it’s just as much fun to sing today as was years ago. You’ll also find a Spanish version by Boca Beth. 
                      
HAPPY OCTOBER!!!

STUDY BUDDIES

I was doing some web research and I came across this tip for learning a new skill:

            1^st   Repeat it out loud.

            2^nd  Repeat it as you visualize using the skill.

            3^rd  Repeat it with a partner.

It’s a simple formula that could be adapted to many things that our students are expected to master.  Having students say things out loud or visualizing them in their brain is something I know you all do.  Isn’t peer teaching (repeating with a partner) something that you might do a little more often?

Each week pair children up to be “study buddies” for the week.  (This will eliminate the confusion of finding a partner.)  If they need help with an assignment, they can go to their study buddy.  They can also do the activities below.

Partner Teach – One student pretends they are the teacher and demonstrates or explains something to a friend.  Then they switch places.

Partner Coach – One student demonstrates a skill while the other student “coaches” (corrects, makes suggestions).  Switch places.

Partner Retell – After listening to a story children get a partner and retell the story.  After a lesson they can explain two new things they learned.

Partner Recall – Before children go home at the end of the day have them recall something they learned and something they did that made them feel proud.

Back Writing – Study buddies take turns making letters, shapes, numerals, spelling words, etc. on their partner’s back.  After the partner guesses correctly they can change places.

*Hint!  Pass out pictures of ears and mouths.  The student holding the ear listens while the student with the mouth speaks.  Switch cards.

Buddy Sticks - You can also put like stickers or matching letters or numerals on the ends of craft sticks.  Child match sticks to find their partner.

WILD AND WONDERFUL WEST VIRGINIA !

West Virginia is a beautiful state full of fantastic teachers who are committed to children! Last week when I was there the teachers told me how they are emphasizing “active learning.” Blocks are going back in kindergarten and they are encouraging working in groups, centers, and hands-on learning. One county has limited all grade levels to two worksheets a day, and they have put a one hour limit on screen time for young children.

I don’t know who is behind this, but I’d like to give them a great big hug and nominate them for Secretary of Education!!! I am hopeful that the pendulum is starting to swing back in favor of children and developmentally appropriate practices. I know some people don’t like DAP, but who can argue with ACTIVE LEARNING? This is exactly what brain research and 21st Century Skills advocate.

Michelle Martin had recently attended an orientation meeting for parents at West Virginia University. The President of WVU reminded parents that grades might not be near as important as they thought they were. He explained that these are the top five skills employers are looking for:
     1. Oral communicate skills
     2. Knows how to work in groups
     3. Knows how to use resources
     4. Written communication skills
     5. Grades

Sounds like good early childhood practices, doesn’t it? I told my friend about what they were doing in West Virginia and he said, “Let’s move there and get a job!” Education is a
journey…a journey for the WHOLE child so that they will have the life skills they need one day to be active citizens.

Here is the link to the Office of Early Learning if you'd like additional information.
http://wvde.state.wv.us/oel/

Cheers for West Virginia!!!! 

Zip an Expression
Recognizing and accepting children’s feelings is something we all strive to do. Kristin Teter, a preschool special needs teacher, came up with this idea to help children communicate feelings. Draw faces with different expressions on the left side of a sheet of paper (cut to 10”) and insert in a zip gallon bag. Children can slide the tab to indicate how they are feeling. 

                                  

GOOD SEEDS

It's actually early in the morning on June 18.  No, it's not time travel, I'm just going to be busy this week at the College of Charleston Summit, Summer Camp in Tampa, and the Best Practices Conference in New Orleans.  It's difficult to blog on the road, so I always try to work ahead.  Here's a follow up on yesterday's post.  I'd sure love to hear from you if you try this little ritual in your classroom this year.  Come back tomorrow to see all the new things I learned from teachers this past week!

YOU are kind!
YOU are smart!
YOU are important!
And YOU can plant good seeds in children every day!

                          

Classroom Management 

Instead of reprimanding children for inappropriate behavior ask, “What are you? Show me.” Or say, “You know what to do.” Instead of focusing on negative behavior, “rise above it” by planting GOOD seeds!

21st Century Skills 
“I am kind. I am smart. I am important.” These statements can also nurture cooperation and collaboration and create a caring classroom “family.”

Executive Function 
The statement reminds children that THEY are responsible for their behavior. “Internal locus of control” was something I learned about 40 years ago. It’s basically the same as what we call “self-regulation” today. We are all responsible for our behavior. It’s not our mother or the weather or the dog. I AM RESPONSIBLE!

END OF YEAR RELAYS

Relays are a super way to develop cooperation, self-regulation, physical skills, and teamwork.
                                   
Running Relays
Materials: none
Divide the children into teams with five or six players on each. Have the players line up single file behind a line and run one at a time to a designated point and back. The first player tags the second player, who then runs the distance. The first team to have all players run is the winner.

Ball Relays– Have the children pass a ball over their heads and under their legs. The last person runs to the front of the line and continues passing over and under. When the first person is in his or her original position, their team wins the game. Relays where children must dribble a ball, kick a ball, or throw a ball into a target can also be played.

Animal Relays – Let the children walk like crabs (on backs with hands and feet), bears (on all fours), birds (flapping arms), monkeys (scratching sides), or elephants (swinging arms like a trunk.)

Quick Change – Prepare bags with a shirt, pants, and hat for each team. The first player puts the clothes on, runs to a designated point, takes the clothes off, then runs and gives the clothes to the second person.

Pig Relays - Move the ball with your nose.

Movements- Have children hop, jump, skip, gallop, walk backwards, or do other movements.

Toesie Relay – Have the children take their shoes off, pick up a peanut with their toes, carry it to a basket, and drop it in.

Potato Relay – Ask the children to carry a potato in a large spoon without dropping it.

Balloon Relay- Have children run with a balloon to a chair, then sit on the balloon and pop it.

Indoor Review Relays – Children can answer math questions, write words on the board, or perform other academic skills.

LEARNING TO BE KIND

Greetings from Barbara at The Corner on Character. What a spring-time treat to be here with Dr. Jean and Friends to share a few thoughts on helping raise kind kids. Thank you, Dr. Jean, for your kind invitation. 

One of my favorite jobs as a counselor and character coach is to empower our future leaders with values and virtues that will take them well into and beyond the 21st century. Not just knowing them and embracing them, but living them by doing them. One of my favorite skills to teach, model, and practice with students is being kind.
                                                    
Kindness is learned behavior. That sentence bears repeating because it’s packed with so much hope. Hope that one day cruel bullying behaviors will be replaced with kind acts of compassion and care. Hope for a kinder, gentler climate in our classrooms and in our homes. Hope that we’re creating a culture of kindness in our country and in our world.

And we must start small, with our most important assets: our children. Since they are interacting with battery-operated devises way more than with heart-beating friends, teaching kindness may be more important to humanity and humankind now than ever before. Research shows that we are hardwired to be kind. And since kindness has the incredible power to boomerang back, it could be just the antidote to cruelty and chaos that we’ve been awaiting.

So how do we teach kindness? It helps when children witness and experience it. My friend Sheila from Pennies of Time actually takes her two young boys on an intentional kindness outing every day. Every day. On purpose. Unless they run out of time, in which case they read about and discuss kindness at tuck-in time. So inspirational.

In schools, that might be more of a challenge, but it’s totally doable. Kindness can be a topic of your morning meetings or sensitivity circles. Every day. Ask students to be on the lookout and share what they’ve seen. They can act it out, draw it out, dance it out, put it into a chant or rhythm – the possibilities are endless. Let them share and share again. Remember, kindness is learned behavior. Mirror neurons are triggering and children are going to eventually imitate what they’ve seen and felt.

Think they’re too small to make a difference? Think again. Here are some ideas for our littlest learners that teachers, parents, and role models can encourage and do with them:

*Help a neighbor by returning an empty trashcan to the garage door.
*Find stray carts (with an adult!) in the parking lot and return them to the cart corral.
*Pick up some litter on the playground at the park and recycle or trash it.
*Make get-well cards to a pharmacy to attach to its prescriptions.
*Look for needs and start a collection (like socks to warm the homeless),
*Write positive messages on the sidewalk.
*Take a bottle of water to someone who looks hot or thirsty.
*Grab a few quarters and go to a Laundromat to help someone with the laundry.
*Make and decorate bookmarks and take them to the local Library to distribute.
*Bake a batch of cookies for your banker or other service people in town.
*Cut out hearts, write affirmations or compliments, and attach them to doors throughout the school or neighborhood.
*Donate gently-used books, clothes and toys that you don’t need anymore.
*Put up a visual display and keep track of all of the kind acts you’ve done and seen.

Want a kindness brain break? Sing this little ditty with them that I wrote to go with the Bunny Hop dance:
Do a kind act (step out two times to your right)
It’ll boomerang back. (step out two times to your left)
Give kind, get kind (hop forward, hop back)
Just like that. (Hop three times).

Visit these sites for more ideas for building kindness:
Kind Spring
Random Acts of Kindness
Pay It Forward

I believe that kindness truly is the real global warming, don’t you? Try it and prepare to feel the warmth.

I-T INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY

The ability to find useful and reliable information is essential in all areas of life.  Technology skills will also be critical to future success.

Where Do You Go When You Need to Know?  Encourage students to suggest what they can do when they want to know something.

                        Go to the library.

                        Search on the internet.

                        Look in a magazine or book.

                        Ask the teacher.

                        Ask a friend.

                        Ask someone in your family.

                        Go on a field trip.

                        Look around.

Free Sites for Technology

blabberize.com  (animate reactions to literature and current events)

discoveryEd.com (video streaming)

dropbox.com (paperless storage)

escrapbooking.com (e scrapbooking)

gcast.com (creating a podcast)

livebinders.com (paperless storage of materials)

Prezi.com (create multi-media presentations)

Surveymonkey.com (completing an online survey)

Here are classroom activities that can foster technical skills:

Send emails

Use the internet for research

Use a Smartboard

Build a wiki

Create a photostory

Write a classroom blog

Assess and evaluate research sources

Interpret media sources

Use technology to write and illustrate stories

Make a movie after a field

Graph – use software to record and analyze data

Incorporate the use of digital technologies in the classroom (PDAs, media players, GPS, computers, SmartPhones, etc.)

Note! Several weeks ago at a workshop a teacher said, “Dr. Jean, I know you don’t like technology.”  That’s not true!  I LOVE technology!  Mr. Google is one of my best friends!  However, I think technology in children’s lives needs to be balanced with all of the hands-on activities and social experiences I try to share with you every day.  Balance, balance, balance!