Tech Emergency Times 2

My students renamed our classroom Learning Town. Isn't that awesome?

On Monday, I presented a tech session for my staff. It was a rotation of 3 sessions, and teachers chose the ones they wanted to attend. My session was about using Skype in the classroom and also about classroom blogging.

My first session went pretty well. I had more people than expected, and I was very happy with it. It was exciting helping others see all the possibilities regarding Skype and learning.

The second session was a little different.

I had a good-sized group in my my classroom ready to go. Two student teachers attended as well which was extremely wonderful! My presentation was cued up, my Skype cards were ready, and a Twitter colleague was waiting in Michigan ready to Skype in.

But just as I started to speak, the room went black.
And so did the computers.
And the Smartboard.
And the document camera.
And everything else.

My attendees and I laughed and gasped at the same time. I really did expect the power to come back on, and for all things to be okay.

But the power never did come back on.

I had no choice but to move on, and I did the entire session from memory. (I did have my iPhone on my own 3G network, so I was able to show a few things.)

What did I do? I talked, shared, and used the dry erase easel chart for visuals.Very low tech indeed!

My attendees were very understanding about it. I plowed through. We laughed about it as the lights came on AFTER the session was over.

The interesting (and annoying) part about this whole thing was that it would not be the only time this week that tech failed me. On Thursday, my class and I had a Skype visit scheduled with author Christopher Healy. Forty-five mintues before the session, my computer monitor went black. I could never bring the screen up, even after getting directions from our technician over my phone. (I pulled out many cords and restarted several switches, but to no avail.)

I solved this problem basically by thinking on my feet. My class was so excited to Skype with Chris, and I couldn't inconvenience him by rescheduling. So, I went to one of my favorite places in the building: the library. My class followed after me with laptops, and my integration specialist was sitting there waiting. She helped me with the session and we even co-taught the reflection piece.

It made me think of this: As teachers, we are skilled at dealing with the unexpected. When tech isn't available, we do what we do best: teach. When the tech IS available, we teach.

But how about our students? How are we equipping them to deal with the unexpected?

Hopefully, I modeled this well for them.

It's a lesson I didn't intentionally write a lesson plan for, but it's one I'm glad I taught!

What am I reading right now? Currently I am reading Going Vintage by Lindsey Leavitt. Also, Stick Dog by Tom Watson is waiting for me!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! I'm joining Jen and Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts to share what we've been reading this week. I'm happy to take part in this meme!

Last week consisted of two after-school meetings, lots of work for library school, Valentine's Day, and a fabulous author visit (plus some side projects). So my leisure reading was limited.

Last week I read:

I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Published: December 26, 2012

Hardcover, 32 pages

 

I loved this poetry collection of sweet haikus! We read these toether as a class on Valentine's Day, and it was the perfect book. It inspired my students to write haikus themselves.

 

 

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff

Publisher: Philomel

Published: February 12, 2013

Hardcover, 288 pages

 

 

This book is a delightful collection of little mysteries that all connect in the end. The story is smoothly written, and the characters are so intriguing. There are people with Talents and there are people who are Fair. This book also includes wonderful cake recipes that match each character. I highly recommend it.

 

 

What I plan to read this week:

 

I will be reading textbook chapters and journal articles, but I will also treat myself to these:

 

Every Day After by Laura Golden

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

 

 

What are you reading this week? 

Yaks, Yetis, and Cheese Puffs

My students and I read a lot of books together, and often, there is much discussion about authors and writing. We often refer to authors so much it's almost like they are in the classroom with us. But recently, we had the privilege of having an author actually visit our school. What a wonderful experience it was!

C. Alexander London, author of the ACCIDENTAL ADVENTURE series, visited our school, and in preparation, I read aloud from the first book: WE ARE NOT EATEN BY YAKS. When I read a book aloud, my students stop to discuss, sketch, and compare understandings. It becomes a shared experience. As I read from this book, I noticed my students doing a lot of following:

• laughing
• wondering
• asking many great questions
• exploring research topics on their own

Gloriously, they became very interested in places and things mentioned in the book such as (but not limited to) yaks, Tibet, explorers, and so much more. As we progressed through the book, they logged on to Edmodo during the evening from home to talk about Mt. Everest and TV-watching!

I encouraged their curiousity, and tried only to facilitate it. I enjoyed watching them design, create and pursue ideas. The result: a few projects that led to learning AND fun: 

During the making of these ties, we discussed the principles of design, production, and custom-made products!  

My students thought that everyone should wear duck ties for the visit because one of the characters in the book has a collection of them. I wondered how I would get that many duck ties for my class, but before I had time to wonder, a group of them started a little assembly line and MADE ties from construction paper. Problem solved.

Do you recognize this symbol from the book? Notice they also made a 'door' for the key to open!

Some were very curious about Tibet. They made this map to use as a visual for a presentation. Of course, we also found it on Google Earth, but I think this paper version is pretty awesome. (Lots of great geography discussions as a result!)

This is a YETI my students made as a gift for Mr. London. He's sporting a duck tie. During the making of this yeti, I taught a little lesson on centimeters and inches. ;-)

The visit itself went by way too quickly! Mr. London connected with my students from the very beginning. He was funny, engaging, and my students were entirely captivated! But my students weren't just being entertained--they were definitely learning. In fact, meeting an author in real life was the best kind of reading and writing lesson a teacher could hope for!




There's nothing quite like having the ACTUAL author read aloud from HIS favorite chapter. Especially if he's kind enough to wear the duck tie your students made for him.



I thought Mr. London might also need a snack after his visit. I gave him a bag of cheese puffs! Oliver & Celia's favorite snack!

 

 

As we processed the morning through notebook reflections and a classroom blog post, it was very evident to me that the visit had made a positive impression on my students. The proof came later in the day, during a break between lessons, when I noticed just about every one of my students completely engrossed in the 2nd installment of the series, WE DINE WITH CANNIBALS (which had been so nicely autographed by the author).

 

I am even more resolved now to continue to do all I can to connect my students with great books and the wonderful people that write them.

 

 

 

 

 



It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

On most Mondays, I join Jen and Kellee in a meme over at their blog Teach Mentor Texts . We talk about our reading for the week, and it's a great way to pick up some book recommendations.

This week I read:



CANDY SMASH by Jacqueline Davies
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group
Published: January 8, 2013

Jess and Evan find another mystery to solve, and along the way, they get involved in a few very tricky elementary dilemmas in the 4th installment of the Lemonade War series. I enjoyed this one because of the point of view by each character. I also appreciated the lessons they learn.  Thanks to HMH Kids for the book!

THE SWEET REVENGE OF CELIA DOOR (YA) by Karen Finneyfrock
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Publication date: February 21, 2013
Thanks to Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC!


Celia Door is enduring harsh treatment by bullies in her freshman year of high school. Secretly, she plots revenge.  But a new kid in the school named Drake complicates things. I couldn't put down this book. Karen Finneyfrock has a fresh voice and engaging writing style that draws you into her story.

 

TIMMY FAILURE: MISTAKES WERE MADE by Stephan Pastis (ARC given by Candlewick)

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Publication date: February 26, 2013

Thanks to Candlewick for the ARC!

 

 

 Timmy Failure owns a detective agency AND a polar bear. He's also 11 years old. His adventures made me laugh out loud and also say "Awwww" (especially the sweet conversations he has with his mother). It was a mix of comic/graphic novel, and I finished it in one sitting. 

 

 

I also reread the Texas Bluebonnet Award Winner for 2013:

 

(See my previous post.)


This week I am reading:

from goodreads.com

Read my tweets tomorrow to find out why I am reading this book tonight!

Also, in tomorrow's post I'll be writing about my wonderful author-visit day with  C.Alexander London! (Hint: It was a GREAT day, and I wore my red shiny flats!)

What are YOU reading?

 

 



Bluebonnet Winner Celebration

from Texas Library Assocation

This past week, the winner of the 2012-2013 Texas Bluebonnet Award was announced. My students and I gathered in our library with our librarian (and some snacks) to hear the announcement. For us, this was a very special occasion. Since attending a couple of Youth Media Award announcements, book awards have new meaning to me, and I think that has spread to my class. Books written for children, especially good ones, have such an impact on young lives, and can do very much toward leading students to a life of reading. Authors who help students become readers should be celebrated and honored, and this is one way to do that.

As a fourth grade teacher in Texas, and as a big fan of children's books, this particular award holds such prestige. Every year, my students read the books, talk about them, and I wait anxiously for the announcement of the new master list . (Hint: my favorite book is on this one.)

According to the Texas Library Association website, suggested titles for this list must meet these requirements:

• Books must have a copyright date of 2011, 2012, or 2013.
• The book must have been published in the U.S. and written by a living U.S. citizen or a current resident.
• The book must have received a favorable review in a review tool.
• The book must have literary merit and potential appeal to young readers.
• The content of the book must be relevant to children in grades 3, 4, 5, or 6.
• Ineligible categories of materials are textbooks and new editions of existing titles.
• Portions, such as poems & short stories, may have been published previously, but the entire book must not have been.

I won't list all the nominees here, but I will share a few of the titles that left a big impression on my students (besides the winners which are listed below). (Click here to see the full 2012-2013 list.)

from goodreads.com

 

from goodreads.com

from goodreads.com

I have many memories of students in this year's and last year's classes carrying these books, reading them, and swapping them out. Such excitement these books create! It is glorious to watch.

So in the library, as we heard the runners-up and winning titles revealed, I remembered back to that time in Seattle when the winners of the Youth Media Awards were announced just a few weeks ago. I experienced the same kind of inexplicable joy at knowing that books and authors for children are getting recognized as they should. Books aren't celebrated enough, and also, they should be celebrated by more people.

The 2nd runner-up was:

from goodreads.com

The first runner-up was:

from goodreads.com

And the winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 2013 is:

from goodreads.com

Postcards from Camp, written by Simms Taback, is a collection of postcards and letters between a son and his dad. We read their conversation back and forth and hear father comfort son in a humorous way about being at camp alone for the first time. Each page is a little surprise. Pay attention to all the pictures in this delightful picture book.

Celebrate a book today! Honor the author and his/her work by sharing a book with someone you care about!

Some days at school can be so "busy".  It is hard not to get caught up in the hectic things. Every moment with our students is an opportunity to teach, interact, encourage, and learn. (I think I tweeted something about that this week.) Looking at time a little differently helps put things in perspective.

No matter how busy the week has been, I always MUST blog.

So today, I'm just taking a moment to share a few little and good things.

First, our grade level is in charge of decorating the front hallway display case for February. We are making these Tagxedos! Each student will think of a book they love, jot down words related to it, and then create a Tagxedo with the words. We want readers to guess the book by the clues! Then they can check their guess with a QR Code which leads to the book title, or to the Amazon page for it!

 

 

Although we did this on Digital Learning Day, we didn't do it JUST FOR Digital Learning Day. I always try to remember that it's not about the tool, it's about the learning.

 

As my students made these, they were teaching each other.

 

Next, I want to share a book with you.

 

 

 

It's Exclamation Mark! by Amy Krouse Ronsethal & Tom Lichtenheld. Told from the point of view of the exclamation mark, the story is about discovering your talents, and being happy in the discovery! It is completely delightful and perfect for the elementary classroom. Thanks to Scholastic for the book! 

 

 

I hope to have more wonderful things to share with you in the coming weeks.

 

 



 





 

 

ALA Midwinter Medley/Wrap-Up

I've been home from ALA Midwinter for days now, yet it seems like the whole experience just hasn't sunk in. Perhaps it hasn't. It was a flurry of activities and people and happenings, and I suppose I'm having trouble categorizing all of it. That's why I have this blog.

My attendance at Midwinter was -- and I'm not exaggerating-- a life-changing experience. I was around fellow book people, and their passion inspired me. My time there also helped me reshape some career goals.

I attended the Youth Media Awards on the last day. Here was my view.

There was a lot if excitement and even though I'd attended Midwinter last year in Dallas, this was even more special. My students & I had read many of the books together, and we knew exactly how good they all were.

Things turned out well. Especially for a friend of mine named Ivan. (See previous post.)

Here I am after the announcements, which to me had the feel of the Academy Awards.

It was a little hard to leave the room. My #nerdybookclub friends and I walked together, sharing our joy about Ivan. ( See previous post.) We made our way to the exhibit hall and luckily we were there when THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN got his
sticker:

But there were other things about my trip to Seattle that were special and fun.

I found these beautiful tulips at the Public Market. Aren't the colors amazing?

And at one of the fish markets, I found this funny sign that welcome ALA visitors. I had to take a picture of it.

 

 

I will also never forget the people I met. Here I am with Nancy Pearl, "rock star" librarian and contributor to the book world. It was a special moment for this library school student! She was very kind and talked with our group for a while about her work.

 

I have more photos and memories to share, and like a future librarian, I will have to find ways to catalog them all.

 

In the meantime, I will treasure them in my mind and heart.

 

Thank you to all the people in Seattle who were so kind to me.