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.