Why I love teaching #9 - Out of My Mind

Honestly, I don't know where it fits in the ranking, but this one is pretty high up there.  A little background is helpful.  My sister +Sharon Buehler is a school librarian in Oregon. She often gives me book recommendations and she knew of my inclusive education practices, so she suggested I read Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper (OOMM). I bought it over a year ago but didn't get around to reading it, so I brought it to school to add to my classroom library.  Last year, one of my most reflective and deep readers asked what she should read, so I suggested OOMM. She came in the following Monday and said, "Oh Mrs. McConnell, you HAVE to read this book, and read it to the class, too!"  I dutifully took it home and added it to my summer reading stack.

Fast forward a bit to this past summer, and I read the book. In a day.  It was, to say the least, compelling. OOMM is an incredible story of inclusion and acceptance told from the eyes of a child.  I knew I would start my year reading it aloud to our kids.  About a week later, I stumbled across a tweet by +Pernille Ripp about something called The Global Read aloud (GRA), which she started a few years back. This year, the one book to connect the world, at least for my grade level, is OOMM! I knew we had to participate.  It is an incredible opportunity to share and discuss this powerful book with a wider group of students. Since I am super lucky to be a part of our 1:1 iPad program, I knew the kids would be able to easily collaborate and communicate with their 'colleagues' in other parts of the world using technologies such as +Edmodo , +Skype, +Kidblog  and even Twitter (with a teacher, of course).

I set about acquiring enough copies of the book for all 35 of our inclusive ed. kids to read. I co-teach +sheila monger who provides services to students with special needs.  Our kids are together every day for at least part of each day.

I ordered 5 copies with a B&N gift card I'd received at the end of the last school year. Then I went to my trusted fundraiser, Adopt-a-Classroom, and raised money to buy more books there. I put the word out via Facebook and my class web page.  One of my friends shipped me 12 books, just because she cares about public education and inclusion.  One of the parents of a student bought her daughter a copy and 2 extra copies for our classroom.  Gratefully, I should have enough books for each child to read their own copy.

Since we are participating in GRA13, I asked my kids not to read the book ahead of time (if they hadn't already) since we'd be making predictions with our global classmates.  Today, the child of the parent who bought the books for us came in and slipped this note on my desk.

 And this, my friends, is on of the many reasons I love teaching.

Kids Blogging

I have blogged with my students for the past three years now and have been trying to figure out, within the bounds of our Responsible Use Policy, how to up my game.  I started blogging with my kids as a way for them to find their authentic voice.  We mostly wrote about books we were reading and I have also had students respond to journal type prompts. I used Google’s blogspot as my platform as it was free and easy.  I posted and my students would comment anonymously using only their initials as identifiers.

 I moved to a new district where they required all student writing to be within the ‘walled garden’.  So I moved to +Kidblog   http://kidblog.org/home/, a free app where students post freely and privately within just our class.  Again, we mostly used the blog for journal prompts and reading logs. I was most excited when, without prompting, one of my students started a story, to which other students added chapters!

But still, I want more fro my kids from this experience. I want their real and authentic voices to shine through. I want them to learn the value writing.  And I want them to learn to be responsible citizens, both in the virtual and real worlds!

This summer I discovered  Pernille Ripp.  Within 24 hours, I came across two or her posts about her blogging experience with 4th graders.  She had some great ideas that I wanted to capture and share. 

From +Ian Jukes' Fluency 21 blog, Ms. Ripp gives practical eleven steps to blogging with students. 

I love the idea of starting out on paper. I often take for granted that kids know how to do something which they have not yet learned to do. Blogging on poster paper with post-its for comments provides opportunities to discuss real time issues like safety and style.

The second post came by way of Smartblogs.com Here she talks at a higher level about how to give students a voice in their education.  How and why and most of all, listening to those voices then reflecting and revising based on what you hear.

She has some great ideas for ‘blog challenges’ with categories such as about me, and  about school at Student Blogging Challenges - A List of Ideas

Finally, Ms. Ripp has some great suggestions for integrating blogging throughout the curriculum.  

In the end, blogging should not be a burden in your already full day. Students should love blogging, not see it as a chore (which is also why I never grade my students’ blogs) and they should be eager to express themselves and expand their worlds.

So this summer I will be researching ways to 'go global' with our blogging as well as integrating with curriculum, not just language arts. I also want to learn more about how to use twitter with my students.

3 Classroom Apps for the New Year

Thanks HRM for the artwork!

This week I introduced my kids to three new apps which I am hoping will provide me with additional assessment information. We started a class blog using kidblog.  It is a secure blogging platform that my kids can use to create their own blog page within our group.  So far we wrote about our winter break and we've started with doing our weekly reading log online.  I am learning more about my students' writing and they are learning from each other.  There is an app for easy access to the blog from our class iPads. I am hoping that blogging will provide an opportunity for communication, collaboration and developing authentic writing skills.  My kids know that I blog, too. It helps them to see that writing is a life-ling skill.
We also started playing around with Khan Academy. Although I did the set up on my Mac, the kids and I are now using the app.  I know Khan has its detractors, and I am remaining open minded as I pilot its usefulness in my classroom.  I teach a 4+5 combo with very independent learners and I am hoping that Khan Academy will allow my students the ability to go deeper into subjects in which they have a need and or interest.

As part of our monthly life-skill focus of kindness, my students have begun a Kindness Project. We brainstormed a variety of ways that we see or hear kindness.  We are now working on developing icons or memes to represent kindness.  One of the tools we are using to draw them is the third app we started using: Skitch, which is part of Evernote.  Some students are also working on short movies to inspire kindness. We were inspired by this video from +Dan Pink 's daughter, Sophia.