Tricks or Treats???! Staying safe this Halloween!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

How is everyone doing out there?

I'm enjoying the change in weather (a little bit)... but also getting a little anxious about how dark it is becoming so early now...but I'm feeling like Fall is coming if I'm ready or not!?? Am I right?

I wanted to take some time to reflect on the first quarter of the school year as it's coming to a close. One thing I've been talking with my students a lot about is internet safety. This is the first year for them that they have their own devices 1:1 and they are exposed to the internet a whole lot. They are doing fantastic... however I always feel like I can do more... Like we can do more. 

Sometimes I Feel like I get so wrapped up in internet safety that I also forget that I {we} need to reinforce safety of all sorts with kids of all ages. So whether you're a teacher, a parent, or just looking for ways to reinforce safety with kids in your life..... this Halloween is the perfect example of a time to do that.  Need ideas???

I've got just the thing for you to get started with. Now, I know some of you won't need all of these tips if you have littles who won't be going off on their own Trick-or-Treating, but it's never too early to discuss with them what is expected of them, or what can keep them safe when they do go off on their own! 

Thanks to my friend Erik from Russ Darrow for sharing this graphic with me!

I'd love to know what other safety issues you discuss with your students or children at home?!  Please share!!!  Don't forget, as my 2 year old always says "Safety First!"

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Tech Talk- Xtra Math

Hi Strangers!  I've been absent for awhile. Life has been a whirlwind, but I'm super excited to be blogging today for a great new Blog Hop from "Great Minds Teach Alike!"  It's all about technology! Our school has gone 1:1 this year, and I'm really trying to incorporate so many aspects of technology into our daily schedule.  Sometimes I know that can be hard, however it has been a really great experience so far and I think that it's going great. You can read about some other technology happenings from my classroom this year here.  I'm excited to be doing this blog hop to share more resources and talk about what's working and what's not. I hope that I can help some of you along the way and also pick up some tips of my own!

Stop by Tasia's blog for some other great technology posts!!  

I first want to share, that I got the idea to use this site from a teammate at school. I have not been asked to write about this site, or review it by anyone. I like how it's has been a great addition to my classroom, and wanted to share it with others!

Xtra Math:

This site is a great addition resource to my morning work.  It's a free web-based math-fact fluency program for kids. The goal is to get students to recall their basic facts without having to use their fingers to count to free up more working memory in their brains!  There are a ton of explanation videos on site for you to get started, but I'll share some of the highlights for you.

- It allows for quick daily fact practice (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and mixed) for your students.  They only use the program for about 10 minutes a day.  It can also be used at home and there is a great parent component.

-It has simple activities for students to practice their facts each day, and helps regulate how long they are taking to answer each fact.  For example, it's goal for you student is to answer in 3 seconds, to show fluency.  If they do that, then when they answer they get a smile face.  If they answer in 10 seconds or less they get a green check mark and the fact is brought back around again. After 10 seconds the answer is shown to students and they must type it in to move forward.

- If you don't have a 1:1 computer situation in your room, the program also helps you set up a roster of students to go through like a list each day. One student will log into the site, and then when they are done they can see who is next on the list and let that student know that it's their turn to go on to the program.  There is also an iPad app.

-Progress reports are sent weekly to teachers (or parents) showing how each student has progressed through the past week.

-Students also see progress grids during their practice to see where they're at.

- It's easy for a teacher to set up a class (less than 5 minutes!!! YAY!!)

- There are no advertisements on the site to distract students.


My kids are really loving this daily fact practice! I also find it helpful for them to get their facts in multiple ways, so this is just one more thing that they can do to practice them.  If you're looking for something to add to your daily routine that won't take a lot of time, this program would be perfect for you!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Kids blogging Away!

Happy Tuesday!

I'm excited to be here today to share something 

super fun that I've been working on 

with my kids for the past couple of weeks---

KidBlog!!!

I'm linking up today for Tried It Tuesday

with Fourth Grade Flipper! 

I have heard about this site a lot,

but never have taken the plunge to do it. 

After a super sweet comment on my blog from Jamie

over at Thrills in Third Grade. 

We decided to team up and give this whole

virtual blogging thing a try... with our two classes!

One from California, and one from Wisconsin!! How fun!

A couple of things before I start:

1. KidBlog can be a completely private site.  So only people with a password can access it, which makes this teacher one happy camper! I'm always thinking safety when it comes to internet sites. 

2.  The site can seem like a lot at first, however it gives you complete access to each student and teacher account linked to your kid blog site. It's so great to keep track of what students are doing. I have set up notification so each time a comment or post is made,it comes to my email!

3. I tried this cold turkey without ever using this site, and have learned right along with my kids. Although stressful because I didn't have all of the answers.... such a great experience!

The main page of our blog consists of the 'blog roll' for each student.  As you can see across the top, I've named it for my class.  I guess, I could have used something more creative ;)  The tool bar in red allows you to see all of the blogs, which is what this picture above shows, go to your individual blog (one set up for each student) or make a new post.  Look at us with 2,464 views!  Our California friends I bet are checking to see that we have our work written up for them!

This is what each individual blog looks like.  Each student has their own page that can be viewed by anyone who has access to their site.  Jamie and I exchanged class codes (found in the dashboard section of the site) so on our blog rolls, both of our classes can be found.  We did find however, that it's easier if the students make new posts from their actual teacher's site.  Then go to the other site (which I will show you in a second) to read other blogs and make comments.  That way the main blog page doesn't get too full with new posts!  It can be a lot to manage. 

The posts that we started with were the current chapter book that we are reading, and an "All About Me" post to share some likes with their buddies.  I had them start with a book post so I could comment and ask them questions. That way the got used to checking their dashboard for new comments. 

This is what the teacher dashboard looks like.  The student one is very similar, however they don't have access to every post and comment made on the site. It's a great place to keep track.  The far left shows how many posts, drafts and comments that are made.  The middle shows the specific comments on the blogs, and the far left shows all of the most recent blog posts.  I've really been trying to teach the kids to check their dashboard for comments so they don't miss anything! 

When a student (or teacher) clicks on new post, this is what it looks like. I feel that it's very user friendly for kids too! They title their post, write it below with options for new fonts, colors, sizes, etc and then to the right they can save, preview and add tags.  I was so impressed with how quickly they understood about tagging.  

Above is another part of the dashboard.  In this case I clicked on "My Classes" and it took me to all of the collaborators of the blog.  In my case, since teaming up with Jamie, both of our classes show up.  This is one way that my students can get to her site.  The other is just clicking on a student name from the main page. Like I said, both of our classes are listed together for easy access!  I like how they can easily go back and forth between the two classes, and have access to what she's working on as well.  

Here is her site. As you can see you can also personalize it to be just right for you and your class!!!

For now, because she's awesome, she has posed several questions to her students about various things, and my students have been allowed to comment.  We both read Stellaluna last week, and are both working on multiplication concepts. I plan to have my students read her post, follow up on her student comments and then make their own to answer her questions. I will assign them to find their buddy that we assigned them too, and also comment on their response! 

We're in the works to plan a November activity for the students. I also plan on giving this as a choice in my writing center as we become more comfortable. Students can blog a story or two during their writing time on here for me to read instead of always doing it on paper. 

Do you have any advice on using this site? 

I'd love to hear how you use it or if you have any suggestions!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Have a great week. 

A lot of Friday Randomness! Five for Friday 10-10-14

Is it Friday already??? 

 I don't know about you but these weeks are flying by

 and that makes me slightly nervous. 

 I can't even remember what I did yesterday! YIKES!  

The good news?? 

My third graders are finally starting to be third graders.

The key word there is starting.... I know it's a process,

but we're getting there!

You know the drill...It's Friday, 

so I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching 

for Five For Friday!

Here's what we were up to this week!

Well, as I stated in a post not to long ago,

I have decided to do my math time differently.

It's going fantastic. Seriously Fantastic!!!!

I will write more about it tomorrow, 

but just know that I am beaming with JOY!!!!!

This week I started using interactive notebooks. 

I am loving them, and so are my kids! I'm using a combo of two great ones that I've gotten.

I'm using this along with Jivey's Mentor Sentence pack and the kids are doing awesome with it!!!

I'm loving the technology component that Erin uses in this product!!!

The kids are loving the technology component from Erin's product, too!

We just went 1:1 with chrome books and I'm trying to use them 

as much as I possibly can.  It's been hard but we have found so many 

great ways to incorporate them into our daily routine!!!

We watched a short video from Frozen and then did 

a great inferences activity!  It was a hit with my kids!

After we watched the video, we started by making a list of things we know about summer.

Then we make a list of things that poor Olaf didn't know about summer. 

From our information we were able to conclude that Kristoff 

wanted to tell Olaf about summer but Anna warned him not to. 

It was so awesome, that I had to share two.....

Some of my kiddos got done with their activities for the week early,

so we also had time to do an Angry Birds video.

This one was a challenge activity,

where students had to interpret many characters at once.....

and make inferences about what they were doing. 

I have to say they were pros by the end of the week!

Writing Word Splash!

We're well on our way to finishing up our first stage of writer's workshop. 

This week we talked a lot about using different nouns, verbs and adjectives in our work.

One way we did that was to do a word splash.  It's so fun!!!

This was part of our new writing resource that you can find here. 

Thanks to Mrs. Laffin for the great sheet to record our splash on!

1. Set a timer for a particular amount of time (I did 2 minutes to start)

2. Give a topic or say 'anything splash' to put in the middle of the splash. 

3. Write the WHOLE time, even if it's not about your topic!

The whole purpose is to gather ideas.

We then took all of the ideas and made a list of nouns, verbs and adjectives from it. 

I'm starting to collect things again.....

I don't know how it happens, but I literally have 

what feels like 500 book shelves in my room.

This week I added another by my guided reading table.

So now that makes two full ones of 'stuff.'!!!!!

Funny how I feel like I still don't have enough room! 

Anyone else do this????

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

I'm becoming a Techy.... :) {A Peek at my Week}

Happy Sunday! 

I'm late to the the party, but I still have some time to link up with my friend Jennifer, from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for her weekly linky 'A Peek at my Week'.  

I usually link up during the school year, but with it being summer, I really haven't had much going on other than the typical new mom 'stuff'...so I haven't really linked up much.

 I'm looking forward to this next week with some professional development on the docket, so I'm happy to be linking up today!!!

I'm taking an advanced google training course this next week and I'm super excited for it.  

We're going 1:1 this next year with chromebooks, so this class hopefully will help direct me with some pointers to get started with them.

 I have to say I'm a lot bit nervous for this big jump....but also excited! I'm hopeful that we will have a good implementation year, and I plan to do a lot of reflection and blogging about the process for our school and my classroom of third graders. 

Change is hard for everyone involved...I'm trying to have an open mind and embrace it!

 I hope my students do too.

Source

Have any of your gone 1:1 or close to it? 

I'd love to hear some basic advice on what you think is important for me to know before we get started. What would you have wanted someone to share with you??  

 I am all ears! 

Also, please go ahead and check out my friend Mrs. Spangler's blog. 

She's sporting a fancy new blog design as she celebrates a wingding of a BLOGIVESARY! 

 She's having a big giveaway to celebrate. There's something for everyone! 

Be sure to stop by and wish her a happy year ahead on her blog!

Have a great week. 

I'm off to bed...setting an alarm clock for tomorrow also

scares me!!!  EEEK!