Contest Alert! Custom Theme Coming for…

by | Jun 14, 2010 | Reflect

Have you checked out the Theme Machine and thought, hmmmm, I wish {insert name} theme was available or welllllll, I need {insert color} to match my classroom walls.  Now’s your chance to get a custom theme design! Since I am heading out of town, I am having a {Name THAT Pug!} Contest!  So head on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment to help little pug to enter!   Contest ends on June 30, 2010!

What do YOU think his name should be? I can’t wait to hear your suggestions!

Name: ?

Age: 8 weeks old

Likes: Swimming and Chewing

Dislikes: Hot Days and Interrupted Naps

Free Theme Printable: Dynamite Den

by | Jun 14, 2010 | Reflect

The Dynamite Den Theme is complete! {Click HERE for a larger preview}  I received a few comments, some emails and some chatter on Facebook and “Bright Colors” was the winning choice.  Thank you for the input!  I hope these little wolves will brighten up someones classroom! 🙂  To download the theme, visit the Theme Machine page where all of the downloads are posted!

Do you have any ideas for a wolf classroom theme?  Please leave a comment below and share it… you might just be helping out another teacher! 🙂

Finding the Right Fit

by | Jun 13, 2010 | Reflect

I’ve been thinking about differentiation this year.  A lot.  Imagine if you went to buy shoes and the store refused to let you try any on, pushed them in the bag, and you were on your way out of the store with them before you could even ask a question.  You take your mismatched shoes home, try to cram your foot in them, feel awkward about the style, and wear them.  It just never feels right though and your foot starts to hurt.

Think about students and the various needs they have.  One size fits all?     I think everyone would agree that kids NEED the custom fit, and that’s where many of us (ahem… me)  get stuck.  It’s not that we don’t recognize this, it’s that it starts to feel so overwhelming.  You imagine yourself, walking about the shoe store, balancing boxes, carrying shoes, dropping things, trying to make it all work.  You’re still trying to measure, or assess, their foot size when some are ready to pick out their styles.   There are tennis shoes needed in  a size four, red flats in a 6, but wait…. you gotta make it back across the store and get that pair of flip-flops in a two.  Starts to sound familiar, doesn’t it?

But wait, the best part is, ALL the shoes are there.  The tools you need, they are there.  What we really need in our classrooms is not more shoes, but just a system for using those tools.   I have started working on developing that system.   The system that I want to develop will be based on focusing on three things:  1) What do the students already know? 2) What are the students interested in? 3) What tools do I have available to make this learning happen?   I started creating enrichment and extension grids using Microsoft world like this sample grid based on “Antarctica”.    I think it is easy to get frustrated because using one tool is not going to “fix things” but I press on.  I know that technology is going to play a huge role in meeting all of the kids needs and I’m exploring using my classroom Moodle to allow for students to have discussions with each other and explore their own choices on a more regular basis.    I also (thankfully) stumbled upon online tools like The Differentiator and Extendamenu.  I love it that these tools makes it simple to create some choices for students.  It’s tools like these that help the shoe store run smoothly!

I guess my new philosophy is that when it comes to differentiation it is simple:  you gotta start somewhere.  Nobody can just say “It’s too much work,” or “It’s impossible to reach them all.”  Believe me,  I am tempted every day to say those words and distribute a set of a size 6 Nike Running Shoes (in lime green of course)  to everyone.   But, learning is not ‘one-size-fits all.’  Maybe, after a little practice and finding a small place to start, differentiation will happen naturally.  Advanced kids will explore new topics and build higher-level thinking skills while struggling students are getting the support that they need.     At the end of the day, nobody’s feet will hurt! 🙂

Resources:

  • Thanksgiving Take on Differentiation
  • Dare to Differentiate
  • The Cluster Grouping Handbook
  • Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom

Getting Students Blogging! Students CAN do it!

by | Jun 10, 2010 | Reflect

Thinking about next year and how to make my classroom blog more of a view from students perspective.  I want students to have the opportunity to write, reflect, and share our classroom happenings rather than me posting “We did this today…”   Blogging is a way to open up the hatch in your brain, pour the thoughts out, and somehow make sense of them.  What better way for students to engage, think about, and process what is happening in the classroom?   So this coming school year, I plan to turn the control over to my students.   If each one has an assigned week to be the “Blogger” they can get the job done!  I am going to provide some ideas for them, just in case they get ready to blog, and then say “What should I write about?” I don’t want to write the post for them though, but some questions or post-starters might help.

I have thought of making it look like a Campbells Soup can, calling it “Blog Soup:  Feed your brain!”  and in the can, I could put lots of questions like:

  • What is your favorite area of the classroom?  Write a post that features the area and explains what you love about it.
  • What is something that you learned today?  Write about it and share it with others!
  • Interview a classmate and ask them questions about our school.  Write an article about the interview. Include a photo if they have permission!
  • What is something that YOU wonder about?  Do a little research and write a post that answers the question.  Chances are, if you wonder about it, others do to!
  • What does it mean to you to be “gifted”?
  • Take a photo of something outside.  Write about how it represents the area we live in.
  • Read any good books lately?  Write a book review.  Try to include a link to the author website if you can!
  • Teamwork rocks!  Today, secretly observe our class and make note of examples of teamwork you see. Write a blog post and share some of your favorite examples!
  • Brain Games rock!  Choose your favorite brain game (board, online, card, etc.) and write a review.  Be sure to tell others what is fun about the game, what skills it works on, and what you like about it.
  • Current Events:  Choose a current topic in the news, read an article about it.  Reflect on the event.  Try to include a photo or link to the article you read.
  • Interview the school principal and write an article about the interview.  Be sure to include a photo!
  • Write about your dream day at school.  What would you learn about, read about, or explore?

I am hoping throughout the summer I can collect more “ingredients” for our Blog Soup!  I just want to encourage my students to get writing, get sharing, and get thinking!    Do you have any ideas for questions that could be in our “Blog Soup Can”?

Here is a label so you CAN make your own Blog Soup for your classroom!  🙂