Repeating myself-6 times!!

Well, patience was given a new meaning today. It is important always to be patient with little ones but today I realized with the computers a new level of patience is required! :)

We made folders on our desktops today. I showed the kids how to do it on the smart board several times and then we went through the instructions, no joke, at least six times. I asked what do you do first...ok what next...and so on. As soon as it seemed as though kids were able to respond...we did it one last time showing it on the smart board and talking it through.

I imagine this is more the way a kindergarten teacher teaches as everything seems new to these little guys. I think we take for granted that kids have an idea of how to do things in first grade and on...BUT with a computer it is back to square 1...so you have to repeat directions a gazillion times and show them...and MODEL MODEL MODEL until you think you literally beat it into the ground-and then try it one last time!

Was every kid able to make folders on their desktop after I repeated it (with the kids) and showed them at least 6 times...NO absolutely not...but did a majority of kids complete the task with little or no help...YES!!

AND I truly believe that I think the next time we create folders (now that kids have done it once) those kids who just needed a little help will be able to do it independently....it will only continue to get easier.

However, right now...EVERYTHING needs to be walked through lots of times and MODELED and repeated! It is just the way it goes...and I certainly don't blame the kids...it is all new to them...to be honest I am quite satisfied with how today went and feel very hopeful with how far we will go with the computers this year. I left today with a smile, knowing that the lesson was successful. :)

Technology Woes

Today technology was used as a tool to help the students stay more engaged and to help assess students ability levels. The computers were used today for think link (a program that tests students,) lexia ( a reading program,) xtra math (an online math program,) Pearson Math (math program) and differentiated math links for students.

The computers worked well today and students were actively engaged while on the computers.

Today, others had problems with chargers not working properly (fingers crossed that mine continue to work ok!)

Technology Woes

Today was hard for the students. The internet was slow in our classrooms. Asking a 6 year old to wait patiently (and quietly) is quite difficult. Let alone asking 25 6 year olds! When the internet works the kids do well on the laptops and the laptops can be used as a great tool. When the internet is slow it is difficult to stay patient about technology and is easy to think back to the fact that "paper and pencil" never had these problems!

Tomorrow is a new day, hopefully with faster internet!

It Begins!

I am back. The start of year two with the laptops. I am incredibly excited to be able to have an entire year to use the laptops with my students.

We have been using laptops in our classroom for about 3 weeks. The kids are now all able to log on (well, all but one...maybe two students!) Most of my kids are able to log-in to their reading and math program, Pearson, when using their password card (a few of the kids even have this password memorized!) Yes, it is baby steps with the little ones but in 3 weeks they have come a long way.

Although it might not seem as though the children have come far to an outsider I believe the first graders have learned a lot since the first day we took out the laptops. They know how to click and drag things. They know how to located and find new programs. They know how to enter in several passwords (with the help of a card.) They can turn on and shut down their laptop.

Sometimes, I forget the hurtles that the kids have jumped over but when I get a new student I am reminded at just how far they have come. I had a new student start in my classroom on Tuesday. He is having difficulties with things that my students are now "experts" on. As I watched one of my children standing over the new student today showing (not doing it for him) how to shut down his computer I had a big smile on my face. They truly are learning 21st century skills in the classroom-as well as skills that aren't so new like being a teamplayer.

Calendar

As we were doing calendar today I was thinking that next year I will introduce it slightly differently. In September I will start with doing calendar on the smartboard (the kids will not use their laptops right away...) once we have walked through the tools, some of the ins and outs, then we will introduce them to the calendar.

if a student deletes a piece of the calendar I will have them redownload it from the s drive.

Also it is important to remember for me to have the kids download it from the s drive...not the website. by doing this I can add or delete pages I want and can reorder them to make sense with our routine.

it does not bother me if students use different colored pens/markers, or change the background of their screen IF they have completed what we are doing.

It should be quiet in the room unless someone is called on.

there is lots of room for discussion by doing it on the computers as well as the calendar.

I would like to do one calendar helper a day to do it up on the smartboard as the rest of the class does it on the laptops...

also at the end of the month each month I would like for kids to turn it into me so that I can see who is understanding the concepts better/who is struggling with certain concepts.

Word Wall

Alright, thinking towards next year as I continue to work away this year with the computers. The word wall is going really well. I love that the kids (most of them) are doing such an amazing job spelling and reading the new word wall words. They are tricky words but my kids really seem to be applying their knowledge of the words and are doing a better job reading them too because they are forced to type them into sentences. I have a few lower students who definitely need the assistance but most of the kids are able to type the words right in and then apply them to sentences.

This is great for my ELL students! Today one of my ELLs wrote "I am taking the long cut." The word wall word was long. She explained that it was like short cut but long cut. This opened up the dialog so that she knew and now understood we have such things as short cuts but not long cuts.

Next year I am thinking a consistent way to do them each day would be great! This year I am having students do this work in Key note which I really like so far.

Monday: introduce new word wall words-clap, chant, cheer them (students can type in the word after clap-chant-cheering it

Tuesday: students put the word into a sentence

Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday students clap, chant cheer the words in wacky ways (students underline the word wall word in their already written sentence.)

Thursday: Students make rhyming words (if the word wall word is how then I can spell now cow plow ect-give students time to find pictures as well to go with the words.

Friday: word wall game (as class-kagan style)

Today for the first time when students were finished they were able to work on word wall games or lexia. this worked great. I will definitely do this again. students who finished their work were able to do this and it was great. Not busy work but on their level and they loved it! It was quiet in the room! :)

This is definitely on all kids levels as well because the higher kids were making multiple sentences while my lower students were making short sentences.

Differentiation for ELLs...I could give them sentence frames.

Tabs

Next year I would like to make my website have specific tabs for the students. I feel as though my website is already flooded with so many tabs that it no longer feels as organized to me. Although the kids do seem to be able to navigate just fine it bothers me from an organizational standpoint.

I would like a tab for each subject: Math (center groups if I do those again next year,) writing, reading, wake-up work,

Right now students are able to go on the websites they choose for the morning time. I think that next year I would like for students to go specifically to the "wake-up work" tab. I think that it would be nice to have things that we don't ordinarily find the time for like typing.

I like that students start off with extra math each morning. That is something I would like to continue.

I am also thinking that I could make up morning work for students to put into their shared drive for them to access each day for practice. However, I am wondering if this would be more time than it is worth...something worth thinking about.

Next Year- Silent Reading and Lexia

There are so many thoughts running through my head as the year winds down. The list of routines, procedures, and things I want to try next year is slowly becoming endless.

I want to figure out how to incorporate Lexia (a program out school has adopted into SSR.) I think I will need to make a "rotation schedule" to keep track students on Lexia. Right now all students are expected to be on Lexia; however, next year I believe we will be going in the direction of only our below-level students should be on Lexia. Students should be on Lexia for 3 15 minute sessions each week for it to be most beneficial for students.

At the beginning of the year I think this will be extremely helpful for kids to be on Lexia-especially for those who are not yet able to read completely independently.

Along with Lexia those students who are not yet able to read at the beginning of the year I want to find leveled readers online that they can listen to.

I know it is important for 6 year olds to hold books in their hands so I do not want all students to be "reading" online but to come up with a rotation so that students have the opportunity to listen to books online would be great.

I envision students having book baskets, the opportunity to read stories online (either through our Pearson program, adding books to their shared drive, or having a silent reading tab on my website) and to do Lexia.

Two New Ideas

Today was refreshing. We tried doing two new things with our computers and both of them are something that I will want to continue doing this year as well as next year.

Word Families: students use notebook software to type word family words and then found pictures to correspond to their words

Name Collection Boxes: Students made their own name collection box books using notebook as well. The kids loved doing this and could have spent hours on them!

21st Century Skill: Save Often

Today we worked on writing (or should I say typing) stories into Storybird. The graphics are really neat and the kids loved doing it. They had a lot of fun as they wrote a story to go along with their graphics.

Next year, I will want to start by creating a storybird with the entire class. I was impressed at how quickly and easily the students picked up on how to make their own storybird but upon reflecting I feel as though creating the example together (as opposed to just showing them the website and walking them through the steps) will be very beneficial to students. I have to remember a computer, like any other tool, needs to follow the same gradual release process-especially with first graders. I do. We do. You do.

I believe I only had one meltdown in my classroom today. It was from a little girl in my class. She began crying as she was very frustrated that "somehow the story got deleted." The computer froze and deleted a good portion of her work and she had to restart it. Therefore, today our most important lesson: save often. Projects being deleted by stubborn machines is a frustration of 21 century tools. It has happened to me; it has happened to most of us...a paper, a project deleted by a stubborn computer. Along with reading, writing and math I am also officially teaching 21st century skills.

Personalities Shining Through

The kids loved Photo Booth. They could have spent hours on it! It was fun to see the personalities shine through as they had a moment to record themselves. Students who are typically quiet in a classroom of 28 were goofy as they took pictures and videos of themselves.

It was simply refreshing to laugh as I saw my silly first graders be themselves in front of a camera.

It seems as though there is less and less time to allow these personalities to fully shine through as we continue to be very test driven and score orientated even in the younger grades. There is so much curriculum to cover in a year to get these students ready for the next grade level. I think I sometimes forget these children are only 6 years-old.

Tomorrow my goal is to remember and enjoy the fact that I work with silly, goofy first graders!

The Potential of a New Classroom

Day 1: complete. The kids were so excited to get to use the computers. I couldn't help but to smile as I saw their faces light up when they opened their new laptops.

The first day was a time for the kids to explore. In the afternoon the kids changed their dashboard to set the weather and time for Chicago. As we looked at the 5 day forecast we had a discussion about the weather. This very short discussion gave me a glimpse of at the possibilities in our new 1:1 classroom.

In first grade we talk about the weather every day at calendar. I simply ask one student to tell the class about the weather (how was it during recess, look out the window, ect) and flip over a card on our graph. This usually ends our discussion.

Today, as students were looking at the five day forecast for Chicago, we discussed the weather for the week. I told the children that I want to go for a run outside this week and asked which days would be best for my run. Many eager hands went up in the air as students suggested the "sunny days." One little girl kept her hand raised and eventually told me that the "best day" to go for a run outside was today because it was not only sunny but also had the high temperature for the week.

This short discussion was enough for me to be able to see the potential of my classroom. Teaching children through real-life situations and seeing students apply their knowledge to daily situations and problems.

I know that I have a long way before I am able to become that teacher but the tools are there and I am excited for the journey.

A New Way of Teaching

This is my 4th year teaching in a school district outside of Chicago. I was lucky to get a job as soon as I graduated college. Although I have been teaching first grade these past four year I am not yet an expert. Sometimes I wonder if any educator ever truly masters a grade level when change is so prevalent in the education system.

Things are changing drastically in our classrooms. Teachers are told that kids are learning differently than they did growing up. Children's brains are actually thought to be wired in a new way due to the technology and modern things they are exposed to. As the children change, we as teachers are expected to change as well.

Tomorrow, I will be starting a new adventure. I will be teaching a classroom with 28 computers and 28 students. I will be teaching in a 1:1 classroom. Join me on my journey with my first graders as we learn how to integrate this wonderful technology into our classroom.