Bombay TV

I heard of a great site where you can add your own subtitles to Bollywood films. I plan to use it in my class Thursday to talk about "voice" in the 6 Traits Writing Curriculum. Here is my example to show the class!

Watch Video!

Here are some examples the kids made during the lesson...
Student Video 1
Student Video 2
Student Video 3

INTERN POWER TEACHING!!!

Here is a video of a lesson I power taught in a 6th grade math class...

POWER TEACHING!!!

I started Power Teaching this week- links are below to see what it is exactly.

6th Grade Math 1

6th Grade Math 2

11 Year Old Power Teaching

Crazy Professor Game


Below is a link to a video of my 6th graders talking about Power Teaching as well as some of their comments after a few lessons. 26 out of 27 kids in the class LOVED it!!!

Student Feedback on Power Teaching

“I don’t like power teaching because I don’t like to move a lot.”

“I think it is like another resses! Wich means I Love it. It is one of the best things I ever heard of! Well I realy heard it! I think Ms. Shaw and Ms. Roberts class heard it too!”

“I like power teaching because it tends to keep people connected.”

“I liked power teaching. I liked power teaching do to the new class attention and how it is way more exciting.”

“I like power teaching because I like saying yes, yes when she say class, class and it is always crazy. And it’s fun.”

“I like power teaching because it becomes a little more fun and people aren’t always screaming.”

“Yes I like power teaching because it is very energetic. I love energetic and It’s fun while you learn. I heart power teaching.”

“I do like the power teaching meathod. I like it because earn rewards by getting smiles. It’s also kind of cool to answer you with a yes.”

“I like power stuff cuose its hayper.”

“I like power teaching because it is more fun. You get to move around and you don’t have to just sit around and do boring work.
The work is more fun when you get to move around so far I like power teaching.”

“I liked power teaching because it was more energetic than normal school. We didn’t stay still and we got to talk a lot.”

“I like power teaching very much because you get to move around and have miniature one second parties.”

“I do like power teaching because it is full of energy and it envolves the class with the work and it teaches them to pay attention.”

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Just finished the best book ever! Or, at least the best book I've read in the last 6 months or so... A young boy reads an ad in a newspaper, "Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?". The ad catches his interest and he ends up taking and passing a series of bizarre tests with insane directions. Only 3 others pass and the children, all orphans and all gifted, form the Mysterious Benedict Society. The group is lead by Mr. Benedict, a man with a mission to cause the downfall of a very evil man- a man intending to send messages directly into the minds of the world's citizens and gain control of the world. It's a longer children's novel but is very difficult to put down!

My Brilliant Ideas...

My Two Brilliant Ideas of the Day...

1) Classroom Read Aloud is a must- I don't think anyone will disagree. However, if students each had a copy of the book, yes this would be expensive, read aloud time would also boost fluency. I would alternate days of them following along with days of just listening so perhaps just half a set of classroom books would be needed. Half of the group would follow along while half would just listen- then they'd switch the next day. I think there would be countless benefits from this but perhaps I'll try it out this semester and see what happens.
2) Student Read Aloud You Tube Channel- not sure if this is legal but if a safe classroom youtube account was created. Students could read aloud from the book they are reading and post it on Youtube. Is it legal to read aloud an entire book on youtube?

Northwood Elementary

Here's a video about my pre-internship at Northwood Elementary in Parchment, Michigan!

UDL Resources

Universal design is using technology to make content accessible to all students using their strengths and how they learn best. Universal design eliminates the irrelevant constructs of a lesson or possible "road blocks" to learning. The Number 1 site for more information on this topic is http://www.cast.org/ however, here are a few others!

Curriculum-Based Measurement
http://www.aimsweb.com/
A commercial website for CBM. It is very similar to DIBELS, but includes more academic areas.

http://www.precisionteachingresource.net/
This site provides instruction, tools, and performance standards for improving academic and social behaviors using an instructional measurement practice called Precision Teaching.

http://www.studentprogress.org/
This site is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs. Provides information on monitoring progress.

http://www.progressmonitoring.net/
University of Minnesota sponsored website for the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring.

Note-taking

Diigo.com Highlight and put sticky notes on websites. Access your highlighting from any computer! http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/ Print off sheets to take notes on for class.

Study Skills

http://quizlet.com/
Make flashcards to help you study.

Survey Creator
http://www.surveymonkey.com/
Create your own survey and see the data on this free website.

Mathematics
http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html
Find clips from movies dealing with math.

Reading Fluency
http://librivox.org/
Listen to books online for free.

http://www.starfall.com/
Read easy reader books online. Allows readers to click on words they don’t know. There are also games.

http://ebooks.mlcnet.org/B5A65E3D-87A6-4085-B26F-D104244F5DC5/10/230/en/Default.htm
Free online audio books for individuals to check out through their public library account for two weeks. Great for students to have a hard copy of a book along with an audio copy to follow along with!

Writing
http://www.grapheine.com/bombaytv/index.php?lang=uk
Add subtitles to a Bollywood video. Great for teaching "voice" in the 6 Traits.

http://easybib.com/
Automatic citation maker.

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Write a story and have it look like a newspaper clipping!

http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx
Add words to a photograph that you find captivating.

Social Studies
http://www.capzles.com/
Create virtual time capsule slideshows set to music.

Word Processing

http://www.buzzword.com/#o

Internet-based word processing. Documents are saved online in your account.

https://www.pdfonline.com/convert_pdf.asp

Convert Word Files to PDF and have them emailed to you.

Communication/Networking

http://twitter.com/

Let friends and family know what you are up to.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php

Stay in touch with friends and create events.

Teaching Strategies
http://www.fcrr.org/
Florida Center for Reading Research

http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
Council for Exceptional Children

http://www.imbes.org/
International Mind, Brain, Education Society

http://www.ldonline.org/
LD Online

http://www.interventioncentral.org/
Intervention Central

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/
The IRIS Center

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/
What Works Clearinghouse

http://dww.ed.gov/index.cfm
Doing What Works

http://homepages.wmich.edu/~whitten/
Website for Dr. Elizabeth Whitten- click on “Strategy Bibliography” for strategies


Blogs for Educators
http://www.techsavvyed.net/
A blog on integrating technology in the classroom.

http://planetesme.blogspot.com/

A blog on only the best children's lit from the official expert in readiology!

Disciplined Teaching

Howard Gardner defines discipline as:

• Working steadily on a craft.


• Expert status in an area and continuing to be an expert by continuing your education.

“If I don’t practice for a day- I know it, if I don’t practice for a week- the
orchestra knows it, if I don’t practice for a month- everyone knows it.” –Arthur
Rubinstein

I hope I continue to learn something new every day and grow as a teacher. I do not want to become stagnant by not trying anything new or learning about new ideas. I want to be as up-to-date on all new ideas as a student just coming out of college- only with the background knowledge of an experienced teacher.

Leader v. Creator

What is the difference between a leader and a creator? I watched a video today called Creativity and Leadership: Making the Mind Extraordinary, Howard Gardner: In-Depth (1998). It was quite interesting and asked the question- what makes a great leader or creator?

Leaders- lead through stories, ideas, and the way they lead their lives. They directly share with audiences and have linguistic and interpersonal talents. They have a rhythm of success and failure however, they do not quit when they fail. They reflect after a failure to determine what to do better next time. They take risks and say what's on their mind. They have high energy and always need to be in charge of something.

Creators- solve problems, fashion products, and ask questions within a specific domain in a novel manner. Their work is acceptable in their culture. They share their ideas in more indirect ways such as through essays, theories, and other means.

So what are you... a leader or a creator?