Committed, Bacon, & a GoPro

Days of leisure! Love them! Ok, really it has just been the past 2 days. 

It has been very nice just hanging out around the house, visiting with family and friends, and getting caught on reading blog posts and Twitter feeds from some of my favorite bloggers/tweeters. 

Thought I would share some pics of my week . . .

My daughter's girl scout troop is working on their Bronze Award. On Monday, several of the girls came over to get started. They choose to make fleece dog and cat toys for the local animal shelter. The plan was to work for an hour, have some lunch and play Just Dance Wii tournament. After an hour and a 1/2, I had to convince the girls to take a break! These girls also want to loom knit preemie baby hats! Committed to their causes!

A wonderful friend always invites us over for Christmas Eve dinner. We love hanging out with her and her family. Fabulous food, plenty of beverages and a gift exchange. 

This year, the theme . . . Useless, but Fun! It was hysterical! 

Some fun, but useless gifts . . Flip flop foot massager, electric nose hair clippers, Magic 8 Ball, chocolate Santa and . . . bacon lip balm and toothpaste! Let's just say, I did not try to steal it.

Christmas morning! My brother sent some really fun games! Spot it! Too fun!
DiXit . . . a storytelling game. Players get 6 random cards with beautiful pictures. The storyteller tells makes up a word, phrase or sentence. Each player hands a card to the storyteller that they think best represents the storyteller's phrase. Everyone votes on the on the secret story. Points are awarded to the winner. This would be a great game for the classroom. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Pass the Pig, showed up in my daughter's stocking! It was perfect for after dinner!
Roll the pink piggies, gain or lose points depending on how the little piggies land!

My fabulous new beverage dispenser! Filled with cucumbers and mint! Tomorrow, oranges and berries!
My quest to drink more water . . .

GoPro3+ camera . . . I have some grant money to spend for my campus. This is such a cool camera that I'm considering. It is a video camera that can be attached to a helmet, chest harness, a pvc pipe . . .
A day in the life of . . . record a field trip, class celebration, school assembly . . . hum, can't decide!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Encouraging Girls in Math & Science

Yesterday, I ventured off to a particular chain toy store!
Crazy, I know!
There was one particular item I was looking for . . .
Little did I know that I would find the deal of the century for some really great girls.

I'll get to the picture in a minute!

Eight years ago I moved from 3rd grade to 5th grade. In third grade there were a handful of girls that would say . . .
"I hate math and science."

"I'm not good at the math."
"I don't like science."

In fifth grade there were even more girls expressing their dislike and lack of ability for the subjects math and science.

When my own daughter, in second grade, started saying the same phrases, I knew there needed to be a shift in thinking! I needed girls to get excited about math and science. What was creating this surge in thinking? What could I do to create a shift in this mindset? I started searching online.

I was looking for that something that would have a bigger impact than just in my own class.
I found it!
GEMS - Girls Excelling in Math and Science! I started to brainstorm with another teacher on the implementation of our after school club.

• 1st - 5th grade
• Twice a month
• Problem based challenges
• Connect with a career
• Use household items so girls can replicate at home

200+ girls and a waiting list later, we had our first GEMS meeting. It was literally one of those moments where time stands still. I stood back and looked at all the eager faces staring back at me, all excited to be part of GEMS. Goose-bump moment!

In GEMS we teach the girls to take risks, that failure really does lead to success and things aren't hard. They might be challenging, but not hard. You see, by definition, a challenge can be overcome. A challenge is a demanding task that calls for a special effort or dedication to the one engaged in it! (In my class, my students weren't allowed to say something was hard. Challenging, yes. I loved when I would catch a student say, "This is soooo har . . .  I mean, challenging.")

In GEMS, we celebrate failure because girls know they can always go back and redesign. Failure really isn't failure. It's a learning experience that helps us grow.

If girls have questions about the challenge, we answer with a question.
We laugh and have fun because math and science are fun!

At the end of each hour, we reflect. What worked? What didn't work? This is the most powerful part of the hour.

Thanks to some really wonderful teacher sponsors and a fantastic school foundation (that helped fund our start up), we are now on our second year and still going strong!

There have been so many projects, but the one that sticks out the most was our Hour of Code day! Another goose-bump moment! Where can you get that many girls excited about coding? Amazing!

What was the deal of the century?  K'Nex kits - Buy 1 Get 1 Free! Kits that teach math, science, engineering and technology concepts! I can't wait to share these with the girls!

Of course, my daughter and I are making sure all the parts are in each kit. (Wink! Wink!)

We are on our second one!         It is . . .  challenging!

I highly recommend starting a GEMS club at your school!

Never found that one item . . . this was even better!

Social Studies Mentor Text and an App

I love a good mentor text, especially for social studies, but add in a bit of technology . . .  even better!

Today, I share with you, Somewhere in the World Right Now by Stacey Schuett. This is a lovely book with beautiful illustrations. It is very lyrical and explores the world of time zones and cultures.

Click on the picture below to take you to a Youtube video of the book being read.

There is a great app that goes well with the book. Whole Wide World is a fun game where students take a journey around the world. They can rotate the globe to select a country to visit. Students play games and collect postcards to add to their scrapbook while learning about fun facts about each country. 

Then, students can use the interactive postcard creator from Read, Write, Think to write about their travels or research another location.

I love that when you hover over the various parts of the postcard, it will give the student the name of that part of the letter and a short description. 

It walks students through the various parts of the letter as they write.

Print when finished! Then, students can design the front of their postcard with an original drawing.

Head over to Collaboration Cuties to see other mentor texts for social studies lessons.

Happy Sunday!

Five for Friday

One of the perks of my job is being in and out
of classrooms . . . up and down hallways.
I get to see all the fabulous things going on at our school!

Here are my . . . OK . . .  a few more than Five for Friday for the week!

Cute doors, artwork and a decked out library loft!

As I walked into a 2nd grade classroom, this was projected on the screen.

Fire crackling (actual crackling noise), lights dimmed, students reading . . . 

I could almost feel the warmth of the fire. It will be great in January . . . writing by the fire!

Click on the picture to take you to the video.

Love this lesson. . . Life as a Rain Drop!

I had such a great time in a second grade as we learned about life as a rain drop! This is my favorite lesson that shows that the water cycle does NOT go in a circle! 

Roll for your journey. As each student went to their location, they grabbed a bead (different color per location) and added it to their pipe cleaner. When they finished, they had a water cycle bead bracelet! 

I created a Holidays Around the World QR Code scavenger hunt for the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers on my campus. Great way to compare the different ways we celebrate.

What could be more fun than doing Holiday Candy Lab Science Stations in your pajamas?!! (It was pajama day for our school.)

My daughter's science teacher used these today. 

What a great way to keep things calm and free from the craziness of of today!

Ari over at The Science Penguin blogged about these fabulous stations she created.

She used them during Halloween, but they are perfect for any holiday . . . or regular day for that matter!

Candy Corn Properties
Chocolate-y Conductivity
Soluble Sweets
Candy Refraction

Too fun!

The learning huts for our outdoor learning environment are almost finished!

Landscaping is next!

Grinch Ka-bobs for my daughter's class holiday party!

Glad to join the Five for Friday. It's been some time since I linked up!

"Hour of Code" and some Kinders!

Today was one of those days that gets you all pumped about being an educator! 

I was at our early childhood school today. (One day out of the week I work there.) I spoke with two of the teachers about trying "Hour of Code" with their class. They happily agreed!

"Hour of Code" is part of Computer Science Education Week. It runs December 9-15. It is about promoting students to start programming, but also about bringing coding into the schools. 

Before we started I took a poll to see how many in the class played video games. Then, of course, we had to share our favorite games. I explained that in all of those games there is a story about a character and the character is always doing something . . . actions . . . verbs!  We made a list of the various verbs in games they shared. I explained that game programmers need to understand verbs otherwise, they can't tell a story. 

Then, I introduced the Puppy Adventure from the Tynker website. There are several different programming activities on this page. The activities are grouped by grade level.

I quickly scribbled some of the verbs the students would be working with and discussed some of the programming lingo. 

In Puppy Adventure, the poor little puppy gets left behind by his family. The task is to get the puppy back to his family.  The students are given tasks to make the puppy move, jump or even bark. They have to determine how many moves the character will need to do in order to complete an action. 

The programming is as simple as drag and drop the actions into place. These guys quickly caught on!

Finding patterns, problem solving, failure lead to success, patience, sequencing . . . just a few of the skills during this challenge!

My favorite moment was when a little boy had to have the puppy complete several actions. He had his code ready to go . . . it was pretty lengthy. He clicked START and completely covered his eyes! He could not stand to watch the dog. The look on his face when he finally heard his dog bark and AWESOME flashed across his screen was one of the those, what I like to call, "Goosebump" moments! He was so excited, I thought he might fall out of his chair. Of course, we had to double high-five! You see, this little boy had redone this level about 4 times. He did not want any help. He kept saying, "I can do it." Perseverance at it's finest!

These kids were so engaged! I was so impressed!

Tomorrow, each student will get a certificate of completion. They are going to be so excited!

After being with the kinders, I quickly drove back to the elementary school where I work.

I also organized the "Hour of Code" for our after school GEMS (Girls Excelling in Math & Science) club that I sponsor. 150+ girls in grades 1-5 all programming! Super cool! Amazing to watch these girls!

So, what are you waiting for? Get your class started with the "Hour of Code."
Great video to get you motivated to try it with your class!

Fifth grade teacher turned Instructional Technology Specialist

Meeting a Ninja, Google Summit & Drawing

Google Summit II was a huge hit . . . again! Dr. Roland Rios did a great job organizing the summit.
I love when I can get together with like-minded educators that are excited to learn new things and collaborate. For me, it was also about making connections . . . which leads me to meeting a ninja, Tech Ninja Todd, that is! Todd Nesloney was the keynote speaker at the conference. He has a lengthy list of accomplishments that could intimidate just about anyone, but I pushed down my nerves and approached the Ninja! I had a great time chatting with Todd. We shared various sites, apps, lessons . . .  and then continued the conversation at lunch where I got to introduce him to several of the teachers and ITSs I work with in my district.

Todd's keynote was inspiring, motivating and pretty darn funny! He kept us engaged the whole time with his fast talking -  ever so funny stories about life in his classroom.
I love that he showed how the power of being connected has opened up so many doors and created many meaningful experiences for his students. Throughout his presentation he shared tweets from his friends, other educators, and authors. He discussed how those tweets have impacted his teaching.

Just a few (cuz there were many) fun things Todd shared...
Mystery Skype - connect with another class and call each other and try to guess where each class is located in the United States or around the world. (Advice from Todd . . . Texas teachers-be sure not use the word "ya'll" or show the state flag posted in your room! Huge give-aways!)
Double Robotics - Using an iPad, Todd's class controlled the robot and toured a school in another state.
Genius Hour - Students have choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.

I was able to attend one of Todd's sessions, Podcasting with Google Hangouts. I'm still wrapping my head around this . . . Google+ . . . Google Hangout . . . circles . . . thing!


During Todd's session we got to "hang out" with Drew Minock (Two Guys and Some iPads) and see the features of Google Hangout. Tons of fun, but really such a powerful tool! It was entertaining to watch the two try to outdo each other with all the features of GHO.

During Todd's keynote he said, "There's a huge difference between not knowing and choosing not to know."  So, I'm choosing to figure this whole GHO thing out!

Pardon, the fuzzy pictures . . . clearly (or not so clearly) I'm having issues taking pictures. I'm going to blame it on the fact that yesterday we were in the 30s (That's cold for us Texans!)  and I was shaking from the cold!

I was excited to present, Creating Digital Artwork using Google Drawing at the Google Summit.  I really think this is an untapped treasure in Google Docs! There are some amazing teachers at my school doing some even more amazing things with their students using Google Drawing, but that will have to be my next post along with Speed Share #4. Check out #1, #2 and #3, if you haven't already, for some really great tech resources.

Currently ~ December

What a wonderful week! Thrilled that my sister-in-law and her family stayed with us! My daughter and niece are the same age, so got lots of quality time together. It was so fun to listen to them giggle and giggle like 10 year olds should!  My mother-in-law cooked a fabulous turkey with all the trimmings. My one regret, I didn't get my day after turkey sandwich on white bread slathered with mayo. I almost look forward to that sandwich more than the fresh - hot - golden brown - out of the oven turkey!
Next year!

December 1? Is it really? It must be cuz Farley has her Currently posted! 

Link up and join the Currently craze!

Listening - Jinxed the movie with my daughter! Ooo boy! That is some serious bad luck!

(My niece and daughter!)

Loving - All our Christmas decorations! I was really not in the mood to put up directions last weekend. There just seemed to be something wrong with doing it before Thanksgiving, but I'm so glad my husband and daughter pushed me to get it done! Too much going on this next week!

Thinking - Can't wait until this coming Friday and Saturday!
Friday, I'm the guest speaker at UTSA's student teacher induction ceremony. 250 soon to be first year teachers, their family and friends! My stomach is doing flip flops just thinking about it! I've been practicing my speech for days!
Saturday - I'm presenting at the TCEA Google Summit II! Using Google Drawing in the Classroom!
Not only that Todd Nesloney, also known as Tech Ninja Todd, is the Keynote speaker! Super excited to meet him! If you aren't following him, you need to! Recently, he was selected and honored at the White House for Champion of Change and being a "Connected Educator"... so cool!
Saturday evening ... yearly cookie bake!

Wanting - a new blog design/name! I keep saying this, but just need to get going on it. Since, I'm not a 5th grade teacher anymore ... it's got to change! Know any good blog designers that will work with what I have, but redesign the header? Plus, need a new name!

Needing - a cute pair of black boots and a cute pair of brown boots! (The heel on my black boots is broken and my brown boots are way to high for my current position at school. I'll never make it all day!)

Family Tradition - This is my husbands grandmother's recipe . . . she started the tradition of a cookie back. Now we host a cookie bake for friends and family. Everyone brings their own cookie tins and what you make you take home. Look closely at the second ingredient. I try to ignore it! These cookies are sooooo good! Even better frozen!

Have a wonderful Sunday!