Facebook Fan Page~~What? What! So Excited!

I just made a facebook fan page for Lifeloveliteracy. I hope you will HOP ON OVER and click LIKE to follow along with all things Life, Love, Literacy and Tarheelstate teacher. I'm excited about the fan page because in addition to the ways you can already follow along with me, a facebook page gives me a fast way to share resources that I find and may not have time to write an entire post about. Come follow along. Come on, I know you wanna :) Just click the image below!

Seriously, thanks for your support!

New Series: 1-1...with Class-Getting Started in Reader's Workshop!

In a few weeks, I will be a 5th grade teacher with a 1-1 classroom. Wow! That sounds like a lot of responsibility and a lot of change. But, I am SOOOOOOOOO ready for it. Well, ready, but not exactly prepared I guess. As I was planning over spring break, I couldn't help but think how this or that lesson or unit would be so much better (or different) if I had easy access to laptops in my classroom. (We have a computer lab and a few classroom computers, but the ability to differentiate is just not the same as it will be with EVERY child having access to a computer within seconds.)

So, I'm going to start blogging about my journey through the 1-1 classroom initiative. Sometimes I will talk about how I see things changing (like how reader's workshop will look in my 1-1 classroom), while other times I will highlight a website or resource that I have found. (For example, in upcoming posts, I will share and evaluate websites that I will consider foundations in my 1-1 classroom.)

FIRST UP....Online Conferring Notes and Student Reading Logs

In my 1-1 Reader's Workshop, my students will complete their reading logs in a google spreadsheet and I will log my conferences with them on a separate tab in the same document. In the above pic, I will use the list of reading areas (highlighted in mint) to note the student's main reading goal(s). Moving these documents to an online format will be fantastic for collaboration (the AIG teacher comes in to confer with some of my students) and for sharing conversations around books with parents. My student reading logs tend to drop after first quarter, and I'm fine with that as long as I know students are reading, but with an online spreadsheet, students will be required to either complete it at night or in the morning before the bell rings.

Benefits of an online conferring form and student reading log:
* Increase collaboration and documentation of AIG/inclusion teachers' work with students
* Given that students have completed their reading log, you can take a quick scan of what they have read before starting the conference (make observations like range of reading choices, progress through books, how much time is being set aside for reading at home, and compare pgs the child is able to read at home with their school stamina)
* Students now have access to your confering notes and ideas that you expect them to continue thinking about (this also means that you have to make sure you write all of your comments in a kid-friendly, positive tone)
* The document can easily be shared with parents so that they stay in the loop
* How about upping the ante on your informal record keeping--you have documentation for report cards
* You have access to your "conferring binder" everywhere that you have internet access WITHOUT having to carry around a chunky binder (WIN-WIN-awesome!)
****I can already envision myself adding a tab for documentation of a student's progress towards a specific goal (I use CAFE-ish goal setting in my reader's workshop). How easy to chart some fluency or words per minute progress in one of these files :) ****

If you like this google spreadsheet, you can go to file, make a copy, and have it for your own students. When the year begins next year, I will share the spreadsheet with students, teach them how to make a copy, and then have them include their first name in the title. I also have a classroom laptop, so when we confer, I will be typing notes instead of handwriting.

If you kind of know your way around google docs, here's how I plan to organize these files. I will have a "Reading Conferences" folder in my google drive that I share with the AIG teacher and any other staff members who work with my students in reading. Next, I will place the spreadsheet that I have already made in the "Reading Conferences" folder. Then, I will copy the spreadsheet and add student names until I have made a spreadsheet doc for all students. Last, I will share each individual spreadsheet with the student it belongs to (they have google drive accounts!).

Is your school 1-1 yet? What are you thinking about? How did your implementation go? What "must have" sites have you found? 

 

Purpose Games: Human Body System Links to Matching Games

Have you seen the purposegames.com website? I found it when I was planning for human body systems (but it has a million other concepts on it). Link this website NOW!!!!! I am especially excited about it because we will be 1-1 next year and with all of the concepts included (like 13 colonies), I will surely be able to find things for my students to practice daily. I love the idea of giving them 5 minutes at the beginning or end of each class period and watching them improve in their knowledge.

We are currently in the computer lab working on our Human Body System books. I took the time to link all of the following labeling games on my classroom website. (Lucky for you, if you want them, you should be able to copy them from my blog, paste them into your own website, and the hyperlinks will stay intact.)

Label the Skeleton Game

Label the Heart

Label the Skull

Label the Muscular System

More Heart Labeling

More Skeleton/Bone Labeling

Simple Skeletal System Bones

Face and Neck Muscles

Brain Anatomy

Human Organs 

Digestive System

Label the Kidney

Label the skin

Label Circulation

Hope this website is a winner for your classroom! My kids are highly motivated to increase their accuracy percentages and reduce the time it takes them to complete the labeling. Happy Wednesday!