My Passion Project

As I mentioned in the last post, my class is working on Passion Projects. While we were discussing passions, I gave the kids an example from my own life. I used to have a career in media, but I wasn't satisfied. I didn't feel that I was doing what I was made to do. I told them that my passions are being creative and building relationships and my talents are working with kids and teaching. So, I combined what I love and what I'm good at and now I have a job I am passionate about.

One sweet little boy raised his hand and said, "Mrs. McD, you forgot one of you passions." I fully expected him to say it was chocolate, coffee or Diet Mt. Dew. But, he said, "You love to help people who need you." Oh my! What a moment! These kids are so thoughtful and insightful. I had never thought of that as one of my passions until I found myself head first in this big project and a child pointed it out to me.
I DO LOVE TO HELP! But, I must be honest. I get more out of it than I am able to give. It is truly satisfying for me to see a need met because of an ability I have. Does that diminish the deed? I almost feel guilty saying that. But, maybe that's why it's a passion.

All that to get to this...my husband and I went to Pleasant Grove yesterday to deliver backpacks and supplies that were donated by a school in Georgia. PGES is fine, but they have over 100 families in their school that are displaced. They said the kids have toys and schools supplies and backpacks to choose from. Every child skips the toys and goes straight to the back packs. I wonder why that is. My guess is that it is part of their identity. They are students and that is a unifying symbol. Bless them.

The principal told us that the barricades are down, so we should go see some of the damage. I felt that I was intruding on the community, but I think it is important to take in the imapct first hand.

It was horrible.



Complete widespread destruction.

Praise the Lord they didn't lose any children from that school.

I also received an email from the principal at Cullman Christian school with a list of items they need. The school is a complete loss. They teach pre-K through 12th grade there, so they need everything.

Here is the list...please let me know if you can help:

So, this is my own passion project. I want to help people, I have connections with other compassionate teachers, and I have a room full of kids who want to do their part. I'm researching, learning, and teaching along with my children. Ain't the teaching life grand?

My Own Learning

In my classroom, we are working on Passion Projects. We started by talking about things that make us exctied, what we are good at, and what we want to know more about. I gave them the example that I love to be creative and build relationships and I am good at working with children, so I combined my passions with my talents and now I'm a teacher.

After each child brainstormed their passions, talents, and interests, we started interviews. Each child talked to teachers, parents, and friends about what they thought. Based on all of that information, they each chose a topic based on their passions, talents, and interests. Then the research began! Teaching 1st graders how to research has been very interesting, but very fun! They are so excited each time they find new information. I think they are starting to realize how much learning there is to do! I looked up at one point and there were at least 6 kids gathered around a computer learning about predator/prey relationships and describing their learning to each other. They are so engaged!

Once we have gathered all of our information, we are going to present our learning to each other in any way each one chooses. One child is going to do a news report about September 11th. Two girls are working together to learn about baking. They are going to do a demonstration a la Martha Stewart! Another child is learning to play a song on the guitar and yet another is creating a billy goat habitat!

I can't wait to see and report the final results!!!

Spreading the Love

So much to report!

First of all, I went to Concord with several other Hoover City Schools teachers on Wednesday. We helped cook about 1,000 hamburgers and hot dogs, played with kids, and delivered food in the community. Blue Bell Ice Cream even provided dessert for everyone. It was nice to watch the kids have fun, but difficult to go into the devastated community. We saw first-hand how powerful that storm was. We saw how tornadoes have no reason to them. You could seeuntouched houses standing next to blank foundations. And houses completely destroyed with a perfectly untouched mail box out front. There is no way to prepare for what you see.

Seeing these things can only give you more resolve to help. I realize how very blessed I am to be one of the citizens of this area who is able to provide support. As I said in a previous post, it truly is better to give than to receive right now.

At school, we are collecting baby items, cleaning supplies, food, and backpacks for tornado victims. The kids get out of their cars during carpool and see this:

They are so thrilled to be part of the solution to this HUGE problem. They bring their items to our safe little school so that we can send them to temporary classrooms in areas like Tuscaloosa and Pratt City that no longer have their schools. I am so proud of the little philanthropists we've got at Trace!

Jennifer Wagner in California has done a FABULOUS job of putting together a website and networking teachers around the country who want to help. We have recieved emails from teachers who have so much to give. We've already received cash donations and boxes are on their way full of school supplies. It is amazing and humbling and exciting to be part of it! We are still looking for teachers who want to give and teachers who want to receive. Please check out our website and spread the word. We don't want there to be a single classroom, teacher, or student who does not have what they need to thrive in school. What one person does is just a drop in the bucket, but what we can do together can fill a bucket!

The local Fox affiliate found out about all of you who want to help and wrote this article. They call it my project, but it is OURS! I'm just a contact person.

We went to a church in Tuscaloosa County that is now a relief center for tornado victims. We were looking for something we could do with my husband feeling under the weather and stumbled on a facebook post that said they need supplies. We showed up with a car full from Sam's and stayed for most of the day. We unloaded trucks, cars, and even this bus all the way from ILLINOIS!!!

There was a table full of backpacks from a school in Georgia. They are now in my car and headed for precious students who need them!

Thank you all who have already given. Thank you all who have been thinking about and praying for the victims. Thank you all who will find it in your heart to give in the future. We will be keeping an eye on the flooding along the Mississippi River. If there is a way for us to spread the gifts towards them, we will!

I will try to update as we deliver. I'm sure there will be several stories of hope!

Overwhelming

It is overwhelming how much help is needed.

It is overwhelming how many people are willing to help.

It is overwhelming how many ways there are to show support.

It is overwhelming how many people will try to stop something good.

The good that is being done cannot and will not be stopped. Teachers from all over the country want to find a way to send money, supplies, and cards to those hurting and in need. Children are finding ways to provide for other children.

I am overwhelmed that I am in the position to help. It could have been me. It could have been my home. It could have been my school. It could have been my students. The saying "it is better to give than to receive" couldn't be more true. How fortunate are we as donors?

In This Storm

As I'm sure you know, much of Alabama was ravaged by terrible storms and tornadoes on Thursday, April 27, 2011. The state has now been declared a category 1 disaster area much like Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and New York after 9/11. Several are dead, more are injured, and many are still unaccounted for. The state is in shock, but banding together to make a difference.

Several schools, students, and teachers have been affected in unimaginable ways. They need our help. Teachers are naturally big-hearted people. We do what we do because we love our jobs and we love our kids. It is time for us to work together and help our colleagues and their students that they love.

Jennifer Wagner of PBJ has created a website with several ways for teachers to help. There are so many needs and so many things we can all do. There is a way to donate cash, Scholastic bonus points, teaching materials, and gift cards. We would love to receive "thinking of you" cards from children to children as well. These items will be sent to me and I will work with my colleagues to get these gifts to the appropriate places. I plan to contact as many school officials as possible to make sure we are meeting every need we can in the best way we can.

Something else you can do is let me know when you hear of a need. We want to know of teachers who lost supplies, schools that were completely destroyed, or teachers who have lost personal property, such as homes, that could use support from other teachers. We all know how much of our energy (and time, emotion, money, etc.) goes into our jobs, so they will need support in many ways.

I know of 2 schools that need EVERYTHING for their children, including snacks, underwear, shoes, and clothing. Please decide what you can do and DO IT. Please spread the word.

You can find me on twitter @TeachingMcD.

#EdCampBham

Cybraryman websites - what a fun presenter! He really loves education and loves sharing!

Session 1 - Room 229 Jennifer Barnett - book published at Amazon and B&N

Youtube video

• "teacherpreneurs" BE ONE!
• creating a dynamic and flexible learning environment
• transforming public education through digital technologies
• re-imagining teaching as a well-compensated career - What if organizations like United Way or Big Brothers/Big Sisters helped compensate???
• "Fine line between those who teach in schools and those who lead them."

www.teaching2030.org Link to blog from here.

What do we want to see in 19 year?

• Best person teaching kids where they are (geographically) - no matter where YOU are
• more than 1 adult in the room - more one-on-one, sharing strategies, collaboration/professional growth
• Teachers having a voice in legislation - they need info. from the classroom to base decisions on, must balance their concern for student safety - address their security online
• No more pigeon holes
• Who does the responsibility of solving school problems belong to? US!
• Teacher led school????
• Daily transparency in our classroom - if we all do it on a daily basis, it become the norm and others are expected to follow suit.
• Teachers need to be marketers! Who is the marketing expert at your school? What can they teach your faculty about getting the word out?
• Every school has so much untapped potential that can solve the real problems.
• Educate parents at the beginning and keep them updated - then they aren't afraid to speak up for their own child.
• SHOW each other what we are doing - convince principals to have a SMACK DOWN session :)
• What is hindering us? We know what to do correctly, but what's in the way?
• Check out Sir Ken Robinson!!! TED talks, etc.

Session 2 - Room 317 - Student Presentation Tools

• Interactive Noteboook - first day project, create a Glogster to introduce yourself and print it out
• WEB 2.0 - Somebody has created a tool online to use for free!
• PREZI has a meeting button now.
• Xtranormal ...seeing things on the edu site that wouldn't be good for my babies though!
• Virtual Field Trips for research
• Presentation Tools: Mix book, photostory, Wix, storybird, zooburst, tikatok, Our Story, ZFlip
• A project is just the result, not the lesson. What are they DOING??? NOT what are they making???
• edmodo

Smackdown!!!

Session 3 - Today's Classroom - Amanda Stone, Dana Joyner, Mandee McDonald

Global access, connecting, collaborating, creating, and LEARNING THEIR WAY!

What defines a classroom of today?

• mutual respect
• flexibility
• student-driven
• risk taking

Inquiry Based Learning - now What we know, but HOW we come to know...replace lesson plans with facilitated learning plans

• natural progression of differentiated instruction
• questions
• thinking
• facilitating
• ownership

Technology: Not about the tool, must inhance curriculum, technology has become default for "effort", IS about connecting, collaborating, social networking, PAPERLESS

Student Centered:

• Their needs?
• Design their own assessment and assess each other
• Where are they going?
• They tell you what they know and need to know
• They can be experts too - they teach us

Collaboration site - Lisa Parisi in New York

TWEETS from other sessions:

Let kids create videos what school Means to you #edcampbham @ideaguy42Reshape the image of school for the public.

Can you describe what your (school, classroom, yourself) in 140 characters?

Let's put our kids outside to do science! Expose them 2 the world, tear down walls so meaningful experiences can take place!#Edcampbham

Yesterday

Was one of the best days of my school year! We had a great day and I can't pin-point just one thing that made it better than all the others. We started the morning with digging in our terrarium. It wasn't even planned that way. I was trying to replant the seedling when the kids started entering the room. They were all so interested, so I just let them gather around the table. We just kept digging and exploring and talking and thinking. It was great learning! The kids got settled into their morning work while I worked with my intervention group. With our new classroom arrangement, we had plenty of space to work on the floor. I looked up about 15 minutes into intervention and saw my students using the new spaces in our room the way they were meant to be used ON THEIR OWN! They've already taken ownership and responsibility of their learning environment. I was so proud! The rest of our lessons went better than I expected! Nobody tattled at lunch! There were no tears when it was time to choose a reading spot...they helped each other all day!!! When recess time came, I played frisbee with them. I'm sure I looked like a nut trying to play frisbee in 83 degree heat, but we had a great time! At the end of the day, a student gave me a book she had made for me. It started out: "Dear Mrs. McD. I love you!" But, here is the kicker...the best sentence a child could write to me... "I know you love me too" GREAT! DAY!!!!

My FREE apps

I just got my first iTouches for my classroom. I spent several hours this afternoon going through FREE apps and loading them on the iTouches. There may actually be some "type A" in me after all. I had to be sure all of the folders were the same on each iTouch. They look great!

Here's what I got...

Camwow

Talking Tom

Talking Ladybug (not sure I love her)

Talking Dodo Bird

Dragon Dictation

Start Spanish Lite

Dictionary

Catchamouse

Angry Birds Rio

Gravity Lite

Pickin' Stix

Hop

Simon Cars

Google Earth

Origami III

Dem Bones

Cartoon Garden

Tap Zoo

This Day in History

Brainpop

NASA

Hubble Site

Sky View

National Museum of American History Cosmic

National Museum of American History Dinosaurs

Stack the States Lite

Touchy Books

Story Maker (Frustrated with this one so far...may delete)

Timed Reading

Whirly Word

Words With Friends

Same Sound

Alphabetic

ABC Phonics

Scrabble

Scrabble Blast

Grade 1 Words

Qrafter

AT&T Scanner

My Math App

ArithmeTick

Kids Math Fun

Rocket Math

Math Blaster

Kids Math

Lets Tans

Brain Game

Coins

Obviously, I couldn't find links for all of them, but you can search the iTunes Store from your iPhone, iPad, or iTouch and find them. I'll add to the list as I come across more. I hope my kids have some ideas for what we need as well.

QR Code Tour

Last week I was working with my former team mates as they decided how to arrange their rooms to create more learning spaces. I was starting to get a little jealous as they were doing things I could notimagine attempting with first graders.

I decided to see what my students thought. After all, it's their classroom too! I told the kids

that we were going to rearrange the room and I needed their help. I asked

them to think of spaces where we already do our best learning and to think of spaces we need to do even better learning. I will admit that I was expecting answers like, "We need more time to play games on the computer" or "We need ____ because it would be fun." I regret having low expectations.

Here are some of the things the kids said:

"We need to keep our library because we do a lot of learning in there."

"We need more space in our library so we don't distract each other."

"All of our books should be in our library. We forget about the science and math books and we can learn a lot from non-fiction." (Those were housed in the opposite corner of the room)

"We need a bigger area for our group time. We don't have room to work when we are all on the floor together."

"We all need to be able to get to the teacher equally."

WOW! I couldn't believe how much thought they put into what they were saying. Nobody said they wanted anything just for the fun of it.

They mentioned technology.

They mentioned small group work.

They mentioned independent work.

We started moving things around on Friday. I spent most of the weekend finishing what

couldn't be done with 17 7 year olds and had it ready for them on Monday morning. I expected Monday to be CRAZY! They came in quite excited, but immediately began using the space as

they had planned. It is truly THEIR room now. It was fabulous!

Today we made a QR code tour of our room. I used Audacity to record each student explaining part of our room. I exported each recording as an mp3. I used www.upload-mp3.com to upload each recording as a url. I then attached each URL to a QR code using www.qrstuff.com.

Here are a few of the codes...

This is the entrance to our room and our first code of the tour. Use any QR code reader you've got to experience part of the tour!

Tornado in my head!

I have so many ideas and inspirations that I don't know what to do with myself.
Have you heard the term PLN? I'm on a PLT (professional learning team), but now I'm part of a PLN...professional learning network. I'm now linked to educators all over the world through Twitter, Edmodo, Blogging, etc. There are more people out there like me!!!!
I'm not the only teacher in the world who has the ideas I've got! I'm not the only teacher who wants to see a change in our learning environments! I'm not the only teacher who wants to move from telling to facilitating.
I'm so excited!!!
Many more over-excited posts to come :)