Successful 1st time Mystery Skype w/ @beckitharp 's class!! Thank you!! We loved connecting with you all!! pic.twitter.com/ZW01w7XQ7f
— Shelley B (@girltraveling) September 25, 2013
We had our first Mystery Skype of the year this week. We had fun and want to do more! We Skyped with Ms. Bauer's class. We discovered that they were in South Carolina, near Greensville. It was great to meet all the students in her class. One of their Principals, Mr. Champlin, even stopped in to say "Hello". We noticed a few things, some of them had a fun southern accent, and they have a bigger class than we do. We have a lot in common too. We like sports and music. Their teacher Ms. Bauer grew up in Lockport, NY! We thought that was amazing - it is a small world! We are going to be reading the book Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper together for the Global Read Aloud! We will be talking on edmodo about the book. It was fun to meet them before we started! Our teachers even tweeted about it. Ms. Bauer took a picture. Surprisingly, our teacher was so excited she forgot to grab the camera! We think it would be fun to Skype with them again to talk about the book. Thank you for a great time!
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If you come to visit us there are some cool places we would take you. We could go on tour of Niagara Falls. We would take you on the Maid of the Mist boat ride that takes you so close to the falls you'll get wet from the mist! We would also take you on the Cave of the Winds tour which goes goes under the Bridal Veil falls. You can get so close that you can put your hand in the falls, but be careful the water is powerful and it is very loud! It is also very fun to watch the rapids go over the edge of the falls. We are in America, but we can see Canada across the water. People come from all over the world to see the falls. It is fun to see all of the different people. We would also take you to Fort Niagara. There is a historical fiction book that tells the story of the fort that we read. It is called The Gold Laced Coat. We also like to take trips there to learn about the different countries that controled the fort. We can see how the officers lived and how the soldiers lived. We can also see how they prepared their food, where they bought and traded goods, and how they defended the fort. We would also take you on a trip down the Erie Canal. We can go and see how the Canal worked long ago, as well as how it works now. It is fun to watch boats go through the locks. It is pretty to walk along the canal too. There is a fitness trail that we like to walk when we can. We think you would have a lot of fun if you came to visit us. We celebrated Dot Day this past week. It is a day to remind us to celebrate our creativity and to make our mark on the world. We loved making dots. We talked about how to make our mark and make it matter. Here are some of our ideas: Makayla is going to help her neighbor and her friends. Brianna is going to help take care of her neighbor's dogs, and help her mom with her little sister. Noel is going to help people that with jobs that they can't do themselves. Thor is going to say kind things to people to encourage them. Andrew is going to be nice and kind to students and teachers. We really liked the ColAR app that turned our dots into 3-D masterpieces! Thank you! How will you make your mark? This is going to be an incredible year. We are off to great start. We have many returning students this year and it has been fun to find new challenges for them. We have registered for the Global Read Aloud that begins on September 30th and runs for six weeks. We will be connecting with many classes across the country and world as we read a book together. We will be blogging, using edmodo, and Skype to connect, share our thoughts, and discuss the book. We will be reading Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. It is a fabulous opportunity to be a part of such a large movement, at this time there are over 100,000 students registered!
While I was sure that this would be enough to keep us busy this fall, the class had other ideas. They remembered that the Student Blogging Challenge occurred 2 times each year and they were determined to be a part of the challenge again. I reminded them of all the writing work that would be required to participate in both projects, but they assured me they were ready! In an effort to prove their point they completed the first challenge before they were even registered. Several students, Makayla, Noel, and Madisyn, are using their own blogs to participate in the challenge while others are working on our class blog posts for the challenge. I have an amazing class! It is a privilege to work with them. Please encourage them by commenting on their posts. Thank you! Before we start posting about our learning this year I think that we should pause and take a look back at what we learned last year. I have had all summer to reflect on this past school year. I thought that time would give me a more objective perspective, but I still have only one word to describe it - AMAZING! It was a year of tremendous growth for my students and myself. So many incredible things happened, but I am going to highlight just a couple.
It began by systematically infusing technology into instruction. We started with edmodo and digital citizenship. They learned to take control of their own learning both in and out of school. We participated in our first global project through edmodo and wikispaces with Crazy Crazes. Where they compiled our “favorites” and “crazes” and presented them in different ways. They became deeper thinkers as they searched for information on subjects and curated it with the help of Livebinders. Communicating their learning came next and they rose to the challenge! We then started a class blog to better communicate with our families, friends, community, and world. It wasn't long before they had their individual blogs. They took to it like fish to water! We decided to participate in the Student Blogging Challenge this past spring and that really springboarded their writing. They learned to help each other, using their combined strengths to be better together. If you haven't already done so, please take a minute to visit their blogs an witness their learning and creativity. I have a class that loved to talk and share so why not try backchanneling? It was a fabulous addition to our discussions on the novels Touching Spirit Bear, and Wonder. They used todaysmeet to discuss questions that they wondered about. Finally, we had the opportunity to participate in our first mystery skype. It was challenging, but fun. Especially because we were able to be part of the first Teach Like a Pirate Day at Utica Junior High School with Prinicpal @McLane_Ryan. It was fun to watch their faces as the other class guessed towns so close to ours. We will certainly start with map reading this September! A big Thank You to my students parents for entrusting me with their children. They are truly a blessing! Their desire to learn permeated each day and their enthusiasm energized me to find new and better ways engage them. I look forward with great anticipation to this year! It seems only appropriate to start this new blog with the last post from our 2012-13 blog.
I want to take this amazing opportunity to share a couple thoughts with you incredible bloggers! As teachers we seek to inspire you to love learning, to grow, to dream, to wonder, to question, and to become greater than you thought possible. However, there are things that you may not know (Pernielle Ripp). You inspire us! You inspire us to do things we never thought we’d be brave enough to do (Mrs. Vilas's Fabulous Fourth Grade Writers)! You have all become fabulous writers! Now, how willyou lead fearlessly? You challenge us to think more than we ever thought we could! Will you remember to THINK (If Only the Best Birds Sang)? We are reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. We like the precept “When given a choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” Will you remember to “be kinder than necessary”? You remind us how special we all are. We are all unique (Welcome to the Jungle: The Lions Learning Den)! What are you uniquely gifted to do? Most importantly - You are important! How will you make a difference in your school, community, and the world? Please read the The YOU MATTER Manifesto at the bottom of the post (Angela Maiers). What contribution will you make? What gift will you give? What impact will you make? How will you choose to matter? You are an amazing group of young people! Thank you for allowing the world to witness your learning. Keep writing, creating, and connecting! You are an inspiration to us all. Thank you, Mrs. Tharp |