Webquest and Reflection

My webquest was fun to work on. I enjoyed finding resources that would help my students with their project. I have been studying Utah history with my 4th graders so this project fit in perfectly. My link is:

http://ia.usu.edu/viewproject.php?project=ia:12980

You may need to click on student and type in Brown.

I like Instructional Architect. Some of it is tricky but I just need more practice. I would have liked to add more pictures. My picture is actually a song which is mostly for fun. I do like how easy it is to access the links though. I suppose I wish I had more time to make this better. I would have liked to have done a second one because I had some great worksheets on packing a covered wagon. A lot of my original ideas I had to set aside.

The planning sheet was helpful for me because it gave me direction and helped me narrow down my ideas. The peer evaluation was helpful because someone else can spot things that you as the creator might miss. I've learned that the instructional planning process can take a lot of time but if done right it can make your lessons more meaningful and fun.

Decade Dress Up Day at Mount Logan Middle School

Since we talked about digital photography in class today, I wanted to share what some of the teachers at the Middle School do. Of course they use them for yearbook staff, but some of the teachers also use them to make bulletin boards and end of the year slide shows. They had a fun day yesterday with Decade Dress Up. This is my daughter and her best friend. Bet you can't guess which decade? :)

This is my Geometry book from Technology class. Annie and I did an awesome job, don't ya think?

My Geometry Book

Web Applications

Today in Technology we talked about web applications and how they can be useful. I found a fun one that I would use in 4th grade when we learn about dinosaurs in science. It is: http://www.funbrain.com/scramble/index.html. It is a dinosaur name scramble. I would have them do this in the computer lab when we are doing our fossil/dinosaur unit. This is a fun way for the students to learn their names and facts about them. This will fit in with Utah Core Curriculum Standard 4
Students will understand how fossils are formed, where they may be found in Utah, and how they can be used to make inferences.

The web application I found for math is: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/

This is such a fun site. There are several academic games but I love the race cars that give the students multiplication fact practice. They can play against themselves, their classmates, or whoever is logged onto the same game via the internet. This game will help them gain accuracy and speed with their math facts. I would use it once in awhile in place of their math facts timings. It goes along with Utah Core curriculum Standard 1

Students will acquire number sense and perform operations with whole numbers, simple fractions, and decimals. Objective 3

Model and illustrate meanings of multiplication and division of whole numbers and the addition and subtraction of fractions.

The thing I like best about this web application is that it is really fun!! And math is fun!

Spring Break

I am loving Spring Break! So far I've finished two great books, had fun with my kids, and substitute taught. It's nice to be in the classroom. I am so anxious to have one of my own. I never thought I'd tire of school because I love it, but this semester I have. I still have a lot to learn but I'm so ready to teach. I'm sure next year will fly by but until then I really enjoy taking those rare moments to sub. Some of the middle school students thought I was crazy when I told them I do it for fun. It really is fun though! Oh, and this weather has been wonderful!!!! My children are actually playing outside. YAY!!!!

Educational websites

So today I learned of some great resources. Smithsonian and Eduhound are great places for teachers to look for additional info on a certain topic. I found more lesson plans on Smithsonian than I did websites which is great. Eduhound had a lot of websites though. I looked at one on El Nino and why there is hot air over hot water. It was very child friendly with pictures and applicable projects they can do. It passed Cathy Schrock's test for being a good site for children because it had the authors name and colorful pictures. It was also easy to get back to the original site after exploring it. It was a bit outdated though at 1997. Considering the subject matter I think it's still acceptable. It also passed the WAVE test because it only had three accessibility errors. It was very easy to navigate. I really like the WAVE and Cathy Schrock tests. They make it simple to test a website for accuracy, safety, and accessibility.

This is it! (and technology)

Well, this is it! The beginning of my future career. I have been going to school for almost 3 years and now I am finally in my practicum. I've been excited and fearful at the same time. Not afraid of what some of you may think though. I have substitute taught for a few years now so I wasn't nervous to be in the classroom. I was afraid of what my life would be like and wondered how I could be away from my little boy for so long. (He was used to me only going to school for a few hours a day.) It is as hectic as I feared. My son has bravely endured the past two weeks thanks to many bribes of new toys. He started at a new day care and wouldn't take his coat or boots off the entire day. He also wouldn't eat or use their bathroom. It's hard to be brave for your child when you are a mom. When he cries, I cry inside. But, he finally did it! He took off his coat on Thursday and ate lunch. Progress!!! As for my practicum, it is going well. I would like to be busier but I am learning a lot and I love the middle school students. That age group cracks me up. Technology was insightful this morning. I am really excited to use uen.org and thankful Utah has so many resources for teachers. I loved how it provided a template and you just plug in the information. Lesson plans will be so much easier now. I plan to start using it right away. We are so lucky to be teaching in the age of advanced technology.

Teenage moments

I can only call my daughter a tween for a few more months because then she is officially a teenager. We have definitely experienced some real teenage moments though. This photo was taken Saturday at my sister-in-laws wedding. I was happy that she would still sit by me even though her cell phone got taken away that morning. Don't get me wrong, she's a great kid. That's why I expect so much out of her. She gets excellent grades and loves school but we were trying to teach her committment and she let her team down by skipping her basketball game.

I can't believe how quickly she has grown. I'm grateful for such a beautiful daughter that is wise beyond her years and often times smarter than her own mother. The other day I caught her giving her friend some words of wisdom. Most of her friends are boy crazy (as was I at that age) and I was so proud of her. Friend: "I'm sad. I love him and now I have to tell him I can't be friends with him." Madi: "Love?... We're in seventh grade. Love is a figment of your imagination." :) I know. She won't think like that forever. I just need to be grateful while she does. It's such a joy to watch her grow and experience life.