Time for a Techie Tutorial

Principal Ponderings...

This summer I attended the Scholastic Reading Summit in CT and I had the pleasure of listening to Rhonda Jenkins, a librarian in Illinois, share so many amazing technology tools and tips!  My mind was blown with all of her ideas, and this is coming from someone who is a multi-tasking, plate juggling, constantly learning new things person...and even I was a little overwhelmed with everything.  So I plan to share a few new ideas at a time with you. 

Here you go...
First up was a cool website where you can create your own newspaper clipping.  It's a site called www.fodey.com.  Kids can name the newspaper, pick a date, write a headline and then put their story into a text box.  With the click of a button, a newspaper article is generated.  And it's free! 

Another fun site to check out is called www.Storybird.com.  This site lets anyone make visual stories in seconds.  They curate artwork from illustrators and animators around the world and inspire young writers of any age to turn those images into fresh stories.  There is a fee for this site, but you can sign up for a free trial.

Another fun one that also happens to have birds in the title is www.littlebirdtales.com.  There is a cost, but also a chance to try it for free.  It's a storytelling and elearning tool that can be used in lots of different ways. 

Check out this fun site called www.whatwasthere.com!  This cool free site ties historical photos to Google maps...I played around with this and it is awesome!  I found this image of Main Street in Worcester from 1909:

Ok, one more super cool site that I have been having fun with is called www.bookseer.com.  This is a free book recommendation site.  Kids (and adults) can type in a book that they just finished and the Book Seer will recommend the next book you should read.

This was just a small fraction of the tools that I learned about this summer, but I don't want to overwhelm you!  Check these out and see what might interest you and your students.  Now that we know that we will soon be adding more technology to our building, I want to keep sharing tech tools with you.

Do you have any cool tech tools to share with us?

Currently reading:
During my morning walks, I just finished listening to Look Both Ways by the amazing Jason Reynolds.  This book is a collection of short stories that Jason magically ties together in the end.  It's 10 different stories of kids walking home from school.  It makes me think of the empathy video clip "Under the Surface" that I shared with many of you.  We see kids in school, but we don't always know what is going on outside of school or even in their heads.  I definitely recommend this book for upper elementary students and simply for teachers to read and get a different perspective.

I also have some reading homework for my next leadership team meeting so I have been reading Alfie Kohn's book The Homework Myth.  A favorite line from the first section that I have read: "Every hour that teachers spend preparing kids to succeed on standardized tests, even if that investment pays off, is an hour not spent helping kids to become critical, curious, creative thinkers."  Let that sentence sink in a little bit.

I also pulled out my copy of From Striving to Thriving: How to Grow Confident, Capable Readers to read through it again.  I just love everything about this book, from Dav Pilkey's comic strip story in the beginning about how his mom gave him book choice and taught him to love reading to the top 10 lists in the back, such as "Top Ten Moves to Advocate for Striving Readers Every Day."  A professional development book that encourages educators to be "literacy upstanders" is A-OK in my book and deserves multiple re-reads!

Events this week:
Monday - Report card entries should be completed for term 1, Gr 1 & 2 EL Creative Writing Club @ 3:30, Bedtime Story w/Principal Garden @ 7:30
Tuesday - Fit Club @ 8:00am, Hearing and Vision screening, Liz out of the building, Report Cards available in PowerSchool at the end of the day
Wednesday - Staff meeting @ 8:00, Hearing and Vision screening, Gr 3-5 EL Creative Writing Club @ 3:30, No Office Day for Liz - 3rd grade all day!
Thursday - Fit Club @ 8:00am, Hearing and Vision Screening, Liz @ PLT Meeting 7:45-10:00
Friday - No school for students, Professional Development Day, Gr 3 -5 working on science, K-2 literacy work in the am, UDL in the pm

Great things I noticed last week:

• Caught some 4th graders manipulating some numbers and symbols to solve different equations. 
  
• I had so much fun co-teaching with Liz Hilton with her 1st and 2nd grade EL Creative Writing group after school! 
  
• Enjoyed watching students get ready for the literacy parade - so many great book character costumes, hats, posters! 
  
• It was fun to see the different "You've Been Booooked!" signs popping up in different classrooms.  The principal's office even got booked with some awesome new bookmarks, thank you! 
  
• I was invited into 5OC to get my trick or treat bag of compliments...sweetest treat ever! 
  
• Friday was a crazy day with a two hour delay the day after Halloween, but thankfully we managed to have a dry, slightly windy, successful Literacy Parade!  Thank you staff for all your help with this great event.  I only got a few pictures since I was trying to lead the parade (thank you kindergarten for reminding me to slow down!).  But I had some high schoolers there to help us make an awesome video with drone footage - we are going to try to win a literacy contest where the prize is $30,000 for library and classroom library supplies! 
  
  
  
  

Check it out:

Hmm this is an image to make you stop and think...