The First Grader

I recently watched a great movie called. The First Grader. This is based on a true story of an 84 year old man in Kenya that goes to school when the country starts to offer an education to everyone. The only thing they need to do is have their uniform and school shoes. This story is very moving and made me appreciate what I have as a teacher even more. I may be jealous that these kids are thrilled to go to school, but I know that I have to think about the differences. My students have always had the opportunity to go to school so it isn't a novel idea for them.

http://greggchadwick.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-grader-compelling-new-film-set-in.html

This movie is a good movie to watch. There are some graphic parts but overall it was not horrible and there wasn't too much in terms of gore. It's on Netflix, so I would definitely check it out!

Smithsonian Teach It Forward Part 2

Now part 2 of the professional development.

The entire idea behind all of this is to have us go back to our schools and teach our colleagues. I am not sure how I will do this but I have learned some great things to help my kids out.

One thing we discussed was to use food to help teach.  I'm not sure exactly how I would incorporate this however, the example we were given was to make hardtack with the students to show them what it would be like to be on a ship in colonial times.

We also saw how music could inspire some creativity and provide a look into history. There are some great activities to complete with the students. You could have them listen to a piece of music and then write about what the music means to them.

I think I just need to incorporate more hands on activities into my lessons. It will be a good way to help my students learn and get them more excited about what we are learning.

What are some ways you incorporate hands-on activities into your lessons?

Smithsonian Teach it Forward Part 1

The past two days I have had to opportunity to attend Teach it Forward, a workshop/professional development provided by the Smithsonian Museum of American History. This workshop was designed to share with teachers the resources available from the museum and to share how to incorporate primary sources, objects, etc. into lessons. Below is some of the awesome things we got at the 2 day workshop.

A- The binder full of lessons ideas and information for us.
B- USB drive bracelet. This holds digital copies of the hand-outs they gave us.
C- Hardtack, and hardtack cutter (similar to this one), plus the recipe to make it
D- Raw cotton. This was used to show the cotton gin and the progression of how it evolved.
E- Flint and steel. This was used to start fires.
F- A book called The Flag Maker which is part of the museums Our Story collection.
G- Replica of the Star Spangled Banner
H- A CD called Voices of the Civil Rights Movement. They showed us how to use this in lessons with our students.

Any idea what this is? What it's used for?
It's a steel and flint!

This workshop was great. We got to see some of the resources first hand and even got a private tour of the museums Star Spangled Banner exhibit. This was interesting because we got to hear how the flag was pieced together and preserved. Plus we had a curator who walked us through the exhibit and was able to speak as to why the exhibit was set up the way it was. If you get the chance to go down to D.C. this is a MUST stop on the list of things to do.

This is part 1. Watch for part 2 coming later this weekend.

Now on Bloglovin

Alright, so this has been coming for a while... in case you haven't heard of it.... I am now on Bloglovin. This site is a great way to follow blogs in one place. If you are like me and follow multiple blogs, it is great when all I have to do is check one place to see if there is a new post and then I only need to visit the blog when there is a new post.

Go ahead and sign up :)

A Great, Truthful Article

Ten Supplies Every Teacher Needs

This article is from a site I look at occasionally. It's full of good ideas and helps me keep my cool knowing that others are going through similar struggles in the teaching world. 

10 Supplies Every Teacher Needs

theeducatorsroom.com/2013/07/10-supplies-every-teacher-needs/

Franchesca Warren

courtesy of Reynolds Fine Art

In a couple of weeks, thousands of teachers will open their classroom to a new classroom of eager students ready to learn for the 2013-2014 school year. During this time teachers will have the privilege to know a whole new set of schools and have the chance to ask parents to help contribute to supplies for their classroom. The other night, I had an epiphany as I was creating lesson plans and I thought in a perfect world where parents/schools actually bought supplies that teachers needed, what would teachers ask for?

We posed the question on social media and the answers we received should be any principal and/or parent’s guide for purchasing supplies for their teachers!

image courtesy of macworld.com

1. A classroom set of iPads. With a variety of capabilities, the hottest item on our informal survey was a classroom set of iPads.  According to Apple, the iPad is a tablet computer designed and developed by Apple. It is particularly marketed as a platform for audio and visual media.. Within the last couple of years their versatility for facilitating student learning has made them a hot commodity among schools and teachers. In recent years, some schools are thinking about implementing a 1:1 iPad classrooms to cut the costs of buying paper textbooks. While initially they are expensive,  Ipads have a variety of ways they are helpful in the classroom. Teachers can load textbooks on them, students can create interactive  presentations on them, students can read classic novels on them without worrying about books being damaged !

Click here for #2.

My Short Summer

So, summer school finished yesterday. We had a little celebration for the kids and then they were out the door! Now I have exactly 10 days until I have to be at work for the school year. What will these days include?

Well first, finishing up the bookcases I made for my classroom. This mean just decoupaging the sides and top.

They also include a 2 day training at the Smithsonian. I am excited to see what this will entail. This institute as they are calling it, is supposed to be for teachers to collaborate and share ideas, as well as learn what resources the Smithsonian has to offer. I am looking forward to having this opportunity and seeing what I can learn from fellow educators.

This summer also includes maintenance being in my apartment.   This was unexpected. We woke up to a wet spot in our carpet. Now if you remember, the water problem we had earlier this spring, you may be thinking, seriously? Maybe its time to move? Well, good news friends, it is simply a leaking AC unit. This means I will get a new patch of carpet where the other one was messed up and they can easily fix the AC. This is especially easy since it is not crazy hot and I don't need to have the AC on all the time.

I am also hoping to get the sewing machine out next week and sew myself a maxi skirt and put velcro on my cover for my shelves at school. There will be pictures, once we get the camera back (it was left at the hubs sister's place this past weekend).