Marching onward

Last week we completed ISTEP Applied Skills. I worked with 3rd and 5th grade students, as many of my ELL students receive accommodations for testing. This includes having the test administrator read questions aloud in English and having extended time to complete the test. I have just a few makeups to finish this week. Next week we start IREAD 3. After all of this testing, I will have one week with my students before Spring Break. I have a couple things in mind already: SMART cookie celebration and brainstorm project ideas.

This last quarter, my students will complete a collaborative online project. During CEP 810 (which just finished last week), we created a SIG - Special Interest Group. Our group decided to focus on using Web 2.0 graphic organizers to plan and produce expository writing. You can find the link to our presentation here and well as our list of resources at diigo here. It was a lot of fun to work together on this project and I am looking forward to implementing these ideas into my own classroom. I have created a separate website to document the progress on our project (We Know How To...). 

Looking ahead to summer break, I plan to organize and compile a giant list of resources for language learners that focus on all the tested skills on the LAS Links assessment. I made another separate website to keep track of that project as well (Tech4Language). I am very excited about undertaking these exciting projects and am looking forward to documenting what I learn, as well as what my students learn.

In addition, I am planning to put together a kind of SIG at my school focused around technology. I have created a basic survey here to gather information about the staff and their ideas about technology. My goal is to use this data to design technology based professional development for my colleagues.

I have lots of projects and ideas that I am excited about right now! Of course, there always seems to be other things that usually fill up my time. I just need to focus on school and work on extra projects when I can.

School starts Tuesday!

Summer is coming to a close and the beginning of fall is right around the corner. I love this time of year. The days are becoming shorter and I can feel a hint of coolness returning to the air during the nighttime hours. Most importantly, school is starting back up and that gets me excited! Not only am I excited about teaching this year, I am excited about being a student again. I am starting online classes at MSU this fall for my Educational Technology Certificate. Over the summer, I have been learning about a lot of interesting tech tools and am excited to incorporate some of them into my lessons this year.

Tech tools to try:

Jing - make screencast/podcast tutorials

Skype - video chat with authors

Another year means another chance to use all those ideas I have been wanting to try but never got the chance to.  I want to incorporate more Whole Brain Teaching methods, as well as SMART goal setting into my lessons. I love having students create learning goals for themselves. They take ownership of their own education and are motivated to succeed. SMART goals will offer more of a focus to our goal setting.

SMART =
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-Bound

Here is my SMART goal for this blog:

I want to add a post to this blog each week of the school year. It will include student objectives, methods and resources used, as well as what could be improved for next time. Is my goal a SMART goal?