Teeny Tiny Bloggers

This week I debuted blogging in my classroom with private accounts set up through KidBlog.org. The students LOVED it! I mean seriously, half of them blogged that I was the greatest teacher in the world. The more we use it, the more I am started to love it as well. The best part is that kidblog is set up for classes so I have complete control of everything! I can edit/delete their posts and I have to approve their comments on each other's blog before it's public. Also, all the blogs are private so the only people who can access or read their blogs are the other students in the class.

At first I thought it would be a good thing to do during computer center in Daily 5 (some of my students have already finished all the books in raz-kids) but I soon realized I wanted to use it for more. I quickly introduced it to my students in the computer lab and then gave them 20 minutes to write 3 sentences about themself and post it (since we don't get too much practice with typing I thought 3 sentences would keep them plenty busy). I was planning on having to run from computer to computer to trouble shoot, but the room was actually dead silent. About five minutes into the assignment I decided to walk around and see what the students were writing. To my suprise half of them had already posted and taught themselves how to change color, font, text, and add smiley faces. By the time I circled back around to my computer I noticed I had over 20 comments to approve. I was shocked the kids were able to grasp blogging so quickly. At the end of our time in the lab I had over 60 comments to approve and some students had written 2 or 3 posts. I went home after this 20 minute lesson and logged on to write a post for my students. It was then that I noticed some of my students had found out how to access our log-in page from the school's website (you have to click through 4 different websites/links) and were blogging and commenting from home! :)

Since they caught on so fast I realized I had to utilize their blog for something more substantial. I decided that every week I would post an assignment that they could complete during their computer time (they each get at least 20 minutes twice a week during Daily 5). The students know that they are not allowed to write any other posts or read their friend's blogs until they have completed their assignment. This week their assignment was to write two paragraphs about their favorite book; giving a summary and telling why they like it. The students who have already finished did a phenomenal job! In my opinion, it's better than what I would have gotten if they would have written it on paper.

I introduced some rules before we started blogging, but quickly after I realized that I needed to add some more. Here is what we came up with:
1. NO last names, phone numbers, or addresses
2. You cannot write mean things about other students or name mean characters after other students
3. You cannot leave mean comments (I had to clarify that writing a mean comment and then putting "lol" after it does not make it okay)
4. Our blog is NOT facebook or texting (some of my students were writing posts that just said "what's up")
5. You cannot publish a post that is not AT LEAST 5 healthy sentences (we talked about how we blog to become better writers)

And since I love lists, here are the reasons why I will continue to give my students ample oppurtunity to blog:
1. They LOVE it!
2. Encouragement: They leave each other such motivating comments about things that I wouldn't think to say. You can see how much it makes their day to read their friend's comments on something they wrote.
3. Modeling: I complete every assignment with them so they not only get to read my model of the activity but they get to read peer work that is more advanced or shows a different style of writing.
4. Community: All of my students get along for the most part, but I typically have groups of students who hang out all the time. Since the students have been reading everyone's blog and finding out more about them, I have had less arguments and seen more opposites choosing to work with each other. I have also noticed that one of my less popular students has become almost famous in our classroom due to her hilarious stories. It is good to see students starting to value her for her personality and want to get to know her.
5. Parents: Parents are able to read their child's writing and see how other students their age write. This is extremely helpful since sometimes parents of oldest or only children don't really know how their child fares against other students their age. (I've seen parents not believe teachers when they are told their child is behind or low).
6. I enjoy reading it as much as they enjoy writing it! The students also like to read my posts. They think it's funny that I am doing the assignments with them....maybe I will let them grade me?

Does anyone else use blogging in their classroom? I would love to hear how you make it work and what you use it for. All ideas, comments, and questions are welcome.

(Comments from another post)



Math Workshop Symbaloo Site & Giveaway!

Happy Wednesday! Recently I debuted Symbaloo in my classroom and the students LOVED it! Below you can find the link for my Math Workshop Symbaloo page. I simply pulled up the site on my classroom computers and my students were able to choose a game or site to explore during their computer time. I organized my Symbaloo page by color so I could give my students more specific instructions (i.e. Today you can play any game with a pink square. The pink squares are addition/subtraction sites.) Feel free to visit and use. Please let me know if there are any awesome math sites you like to use.

[click HERE to visit my original Symbaloo post with a link to my Animal Adaptations webmix]

ALSO

Don't forget my giveaway! I am giving away digital scrapbooking software for teachers who don't have photoshop but still like to create cute products. Click HERE to go to my giveaway post.

Amazing Software Giveaway!!!

I've sort of been on a hiatus since starting teaching but I'm back and I've got a spectacular giveaway! I'm giving away MyMemories Suite Scrapbooking Software (to be downloaded automatically to your computer). This software is great if you're a scrapbooker and AMAZING if you're a teacher who likes to create spiffy projects for your blog, classroom, or store. I just downloaded the software not too long ago and I am still exploring many different backgrounds, designs, buttons, embellishments, etc. in the program. I made the signs in this post with the software and I am currently working on an item for my classroom :).

8 Chances to Enter!!!!

After doing each please leave me a comment letting me know. Please leave one comment per entry.

1. Follow my blog (1 entry)

2. Follow my TpT store (2 entries)

3. Post about the giveaway (2 entries)

4. Visit the MyMemories site and leave a comment with your favorite digital paper pack or scrapbooking kit (1 entry)

5. Give an idea  about how you would use the digital software to create something for you (1 entry)

6. Give an idea about how you would use the digital software to create something for your classroom (1 entry)

The giveaway will end next Sunday January 22, 2012!

Good Luck!!!

Symbaloo Who?

So I may have been living under a rock for the past couple months because I jsut discovered Symbaloo. It is a visually amazing bookmarking site that I have already thought of many uses for. You could think of it as a more organized, easier to access, less picture-oriented pinterest. Not only am I in the process of creating my personal Symbaloo with all of the sites I frequent, but I have decided to make a class Symbaloo for my students. Again, I realize this may not be a new idea but I just discovered it so it's gold to me!

So far I have only made an Animal Adaptations webmix on Symbaloo. I plan on putting this on my classroom computer during Daily 6 for review or enrichment. I also thought about looking more into the SymblooEdu offers so I could have every student pull up a webmix on their computer in the computer lab one day to explore and research.

Please view my Symbaloo and give me any ideas or input you have for using this awesome site!

Click HERE to visit my Animal Adaptations Symbaloo

Free Software Trial!

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to 5th grade students.  I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program.  If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their  open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.

Class Dojo Rewards

Like many of you Class Dojo has worked wonders in my classroom! I enjoy using it and my kid's behavior has definitely improved. They work quietly without me even telling them because they know I could be looking to give points. Their hallway behaved has also completely turned around and we have begun to get compliments. They love to see the +1 pop-up when a point is given. I reward my students for being top earners in a couple of ways:

1. The 2 highest earners at the end of each day get to keep squooshy balls at the desk the entire next day (They feel wierd, kind of like stress balls. I got them from the $1 aisle at Target.)

2. The 5 highest earners at the end of the week get to pick a reward from my dojo reward list (attached below). If you are the 5th highest earner you can pick anything in the 5th category. If you are the 4th highest earner you can pick anything in the 4th or 5th category. If you are the 3rd highest earner, you can pick anything in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th category, etc.

None of my rewards cost money (except for a the spiffy pencil reward) or are edible.
Note: I started all of my girls with the same pink avatar and all of my boys with the same blue avatar so I could make picking you avatar a reward.

At the end of each week I reset points so the kids can start with a clean slate. I kind of fudge points here and there to make sure the same students aren't winning every time and all students feel the goal is attainable.

Word File            PDF File

If you have any other ideas for rewards or if you use it a different way I would love to hear about it!