The Origins of Halloween

For my virtual field trip I decided to incorporate the different origins of Halloween and how it was celebrated as well as for my students to compare and contrast Halloween in America to Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico.  Since we live so close to the border of Mexico, many of my students celebrate Mexcian cultures and traditions, so I thought it would be a good way to incorporate reading and social studies through this virtual field trip.


Goals:
Social Studies:  TLW learn and discuss on the history and origins of Halloween from different countries.
Reading:  TLW compare and contrast Halloween in America to Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico.  TLW create a venn-diagram for Halloween in America and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. 
Art:  TLW create and design their own ghost as a symbol of Halloween and a calaver (skull) as a symbol of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).  


Within this lesson I've planned for the development of the students respectful and ethical minds. 
The Respectful Mind:  TLW respect the different celebrations and customs from various cultures. 
The Ethical Mind:  TLW understand and identify the different point of views of Halloween from the different cultural celebrations of Halloween, including their own. 


Halloween Origins

5 Minds For The Futute

Blog:  More lessons taught with technology

After reading this blog, I sat back and wondered... wait a minute that's exactly what I'm doing and what I need to do.  I try to use as much technology as I can in my instruction and I would say that yearly the amount of technology I use in my classroom increases, and I keep on learning and implementing new resources (many thanks to what I've learned at Wilkes).  My school district also implements the PowerSchool for parent and teacher access, and just this week we have a new web page through collaboration with sharpschool.net, it has new tools and resources and has a section where educators throughout the district can collaborate with each other through online discussion boards, which is very interesting to see what it will do for us!  The one thing that I really enjoyed reading on was a teacher class web page.  Currently I don't have a class web page, but I would greatly enjoy creating one for my students and their parents, although I'm not very familiar on that subject, but I plan to learn and create one for this year.  After seeing the reaction of my students while using Glogster I found that they really enjoy collaborating amongst each other and unraveling their creative mind.  I think if I want my students to succeed developing their five minds, I must first strengthen my five minds and use it to foster my students. 

References

Bonnie Washuk, S. W. (2010, September 28).  More Lessons Taught with Technology.  Retrieved October 12, 2010, from Sun Journal: http://www.sunjournal.com/city/story/916594

Blooming the Respectful & Ethical Minds

After reading the article it is to no doubt that we as educators can collaborate technology with global projects and help what I would say as modifying curricula.  When we talk about changing curricula, almost everyone trembles, I say if it's been working for you, implement it just modify it and tweak it up with technology and in this case collaborating global projects.  I was overwhelmed to learn about so many things that I can use in my class to implement global projects.  The respectful and ethical mind I believe go hand and hand, and play an important role for our students future success.  As Reed mentioned, "Today’s students face a future where boundaries are abstract and global learning is critical.  Tomorrow’s citizens must be global communicators, must be able to participate successfully in project-based activities, and must have collaborative skills." As I read, all I did was nod my head in agreement, there couldn't be a better statement to say it all!  So, the question is what is my design for developing my students' respectful and ethical minds?  I sit and think there's no better way than to use Glogster, it has all I need.  To blossom the respectful mind, first students need to respect themselves before they can start to respect others.  


Glogster is an outstanding way to emphasize global learning through projects in a respectful and ethical mind development.  I plan to connect with a class from the 5th grade campus in our district, so that students can collaborate amongst each other from different grade levels about their campus and what they study.  Because students spend most of their time on campus, it is easier for them to reflect towards it.  The students on both ends will talk about their routines and what goes on at their campus. 


Respectful Mind:  TLW respect each other by accepting what goes on in each others daily routine and value what they have.  Because in the future 3rd graders will become 5th graders, and 5th graders used to be in 3rd grade, the act of positive collaboration can develop their respectful mind by accepting each others age group and differences, and instead of having an age division of two groups they can become one.  


Ethical Mind:  TLW construct glogs on specific topics and lessons and post to show to one another.  This will develop and construct the notion of good work amongst the community, which in this instance is Glogster.  If students express his/her knowledge to each other they are not only performing good work as individuals, but they are reflecting it amongst each others where they can learn from each other any make their individual work even greater. 
I think that this may seem to be a lot of work, but once students are guided by their teachers, they can then flourish on their own and with their help as individuals.

Glogster+Perez = Glogsterez =)

Glog Project Link:  http://seperez.edu.glogster.com/main-idea/

     GLOGSTER... The only word I can think of is WOW!  I'm amazed on the comments I got about Glogster!  I loved working on this project, I couldn't keep my mind off of admiring the project I had created and went back a numerous amount of times just to tweak it up (LOL).  Because this week marked the end of the six weeks grading period, it was to no doubt that my students and I were bombed with six weeks tests.  I thought about creating my first glog on the topic I will be covering this upcoming week for reading, Main Idea!  So I thought long and hard on what I really wanted to do for this Glog to help me inspire, teach, and motivate, as well as take my students breath away!  Unfortunately I was too anxious to wait
(LOL)!  As my students finished their exams I quickly assigned them the glog project as an individual learning center, and boy were they amazed and WOWed (we call it the WOW factor in class)!  Each day after that they kept asking me for more, and if they could use Glogster, and I nearly cried of excitement!  Which leads me to develop the Glogster Plan of Action.  As I mentioned before I have a PowerPoint project that my students create on different skills for a comprehensive review to use before the state assessments in April.  Now I think, I can take it even further, and accompanying that PowerPoint they can create a Glog to share with their classmates on that same topic, but with "the skies the limit" activities on the web.  As I type, I'm jubilant about the idea, and so want to see their faces when I tell them it's their turn to Create and WOW (they love when I WOW them)!  This project will express and define their each unique creative mind, with a whammy of fostering and innovating, YAY! :)  The purpose of this assignment will incorporate the mastery of the content studied as well as stepping outside the BOX and creating and synthesizing knowledge to express their mastered content!  I will focus on the reading standards that are not only important, but essential to their everyday life. 

Reading Standards:

1. Main Idea
2. Story Elements: Character, Character Traits, Setting, and Plot
3. Cause and Effect
4. Predicting Outcomes
5. Inference
6. Drawing Conclusions
7. Context Clues
8. Summary
9. Author's Purpose
10. Sequence
11. Supporting Details
12. Compare and Contrast
13. Fact vs. Opinion

Creativity Outside Classroom Walls

I'm new to the whole blogging thing like Blogger and Glogster, but in creating my project this week through Glogster I had so much fun I couldn't wait to take it to my class.  My students were overwhelmed and they kept asking me for more, so "I've got to get on the ball and create more," I thought!  I'm planning on creating a business card for my class Glog and give them all the information they need on that card to access it from home or any place outside the classroom.  I think Glogster is an inovative way for students to not only express their individual uniquness of creativity, but it's a link in which they can use to connect and collaborate their ideas amongst each other!

Creativity in the Classroom: PowerPoint Uniqueness

A class project in which I do after all reading skills have been taught, learned, and mastered is Introducing (Skill Name) (Student’s Name) Style, (ex: Introducing Cause and Effect Sara’s Style).  Because I introduce each weekly reading skill through an interactive PowerPoint presentation, I now turn the table and let them create their own to present to the whole class, they become the teacher and the rest of the students and I become the audience.  Each student is assigned a different reading skill and they have to explain it, define it, show examples, and create a short story (a few paragraphs long) where the skill is incorporated and assessed through two to three questions.  Because my students have seen and been exposed to the different PowerPoint layouts in which I have designed, they each choose the format they like best and start their own.  This is a phenomenal project that not only explores each child’s creative mind, but fosters their synthesizing mind as well!  In Five Minds for the Future, page 84, Gardner states, “Youngsters are not only intrigued by a wide range of phenomena…they persist in exploring, even in the absence of encouragement, let alone material rewards.”  Thus, children are natural creative innovators, and as an educator we should let their sense of wonder play its part, let our children be creative and make and design concepts in their own perspective, of course not neglecting the importance of content mastery achievement.  At the end, this becomes a great interactive review before the state assessment (TAKS), and my students become even more confident of themselves and their accomplishments! 

Sequence: A Media Infused Presentation/Learning Center

Below is the link to my media infused presentation/learning center for sequence.  Enjoy! :)


https://prezi.com/secure/eb79d59934db9415a6e97529f59a454c32124969/

The Question:  In what practical ways can a media-infused presentation like the one you created help foster the development of both the disciplined and synthesizing minds?

I believe that a media infused presentation and or learning center can foster the development of both the disciplined and synthesizing minds.


The Disciplined Mind:
     On page 33 of Five Minds For the Future, Gardner states, "The teacher reaches more students, because some learn better through stories, others through debate, works of art, or identification with a skilled practitioner...Any individual with a deep understanding of a topic or method can think about it in a variety of ways."  Thus this media infused presentation on sequence will help develop the deep understanding of the topic and the student will think and contribute to sequence in a variety of ways.  Differentiated instruction and the understanding of the topic "content mastery" play an important role and go hand-and-hand for the success of students and teachers.


The Synthesizing Mind:
     On page 51 of Five Minds For the Future, Gardner states, "Any efforts to synthesize entails four loosely ordered components: 1. a goal, 2. a starting point, 3. selection of strategy, method, and concepts, and 4. drafts and feedback."  In this media infused presentation these four components are met as follows:

1. Goal:  TSW achieve mastery of the term sequence. 
2. Starting Point:  TSW use prior knowledge to make a connection to the meaning of sequence.
3. Selection of Strategy:  TSW will build his/her taxonomies on sequence through the analysis of mutliple digital medias and create his/her own examples.
4. Drafts and Feedback:  TSW collaborate with a partner and share their ideas, after this students will provide feedback to one another and propose a second draft.  Students will then write their second draft and turn into the teacher for a second feedback, and then after create and design their final project.

Synthesizing the Mind through Music Analysis

A fun and productive digital interdisciplinary approach that I use in my classroom is an activity based on Music Analysis. Since most songs have a storyline background, with plots, solutions, feelings, themes, and morals, I have my students create and answer questions from the reading process. Through this they must identify the following:

1. Character traits
2. Setting
3. Sequence of Events
4. Was there a moral or lesson learned?
5. Did the character change from beginning to end?
6. What is the main idea of the song (story)?
7. Summary (WWBST: Who, Wanted, But, So, Then)
8. Plot
9. Resolution
10. Author’s Purpose

By doing this my students are aware and recognize the reading process outside of text and they are able to value learning and the world around them, plus listen and learn about a variety of genres and cultural background. Not only do they master their reading skills within, they become more vivid in the English language. Since the majority of my students are ELLs and LEPs, listening to music and analyzing helps them expand their English comprehension as well as acquire and understand new words.

Video Segment Lesson: Miss. Nelson is Back

I introduce and teach a new skill weekly in reading, and as the weeks progress I accumulate the previous skills and the new ones, so that my students are constantly practicing them.  I always like to show them a clip weekly where they can tie in the week skill as long as with previous skills.  My goal is for my students not only to recognize and incorporate the skills in reading, but all around them.  By using video segments from discovery education, they are more vigilant and aware of what surrounds them.  Normally kids don't seem to take their reading skills out of text, and after I show them and we incorporate the skills through video segments, they tend to view their surroundings differently and analyze the majority of their everyday life.  Aside from the video segments, I play songs in which they have to analyze and recognize the reading skills in it, again which demonstrates the endless ideas in which they can associate their reading skills. 

Miss. Nelson is Back

Goals: TSW analyze, recognize, and record Main Idea, Theme, Setting, Character Analysis, Compare and Contrast, and Sequence in the video segment of Miss. Nelson is Back. 

     TSW answer the following questions after the video segment.

• Main Idea--What is the main idea of the whole selection? 
• Theme--What lesson did the students of room 207 learn?
• Setting--What is the setting at the beginning of the story?  Did the setting change, and what were they?
• Character Analysis--Describe at least 3 characters in the story.
• Compare and Contrast--Compare and Contrast Miss. Nelson to Mis. Swamp using a Venn-diagram.
• Sequence--State 5 events in chronological order using a flow chart.

Other Ways to Incorporate This Video:

1. Showing and demonstrating why responsibility is important.
2. Showing and demonstrating why we should respect ourselves and others.
3. Demonstrating the notion of always taking your actions into account.
4. Discussing the notion of what could happen if you skip school.
5. Make predictions for the students of room 207 next time Miss. Nelson is out, would those predictions be vaild for you, if your teacher was out. 

Ms. Sara and Digital Media

Hello to all and welcome! First of all I'm new to this blogger thing, I've never done it before, but it doesn't seem too difficult! Well just a quick recap, I'm a 3rd grade teacher at Valley View Elementary, and this is my third year teaching 3rd grade, it might just be my lucky year with all those 3's! I have a 4 year old son, Jacob, who is definitely a digital native, he's better at using the computer and accessing the Internet than my dad, but my dad doesn't mind Jacob helping him out, and Jacob loves teaching "Grandpa!"

I'm known as the tech-geek on campus, by native and immigrant digital teachers. I implement a wide range of technology from my classroom, and most important to me is my Smart Board and CPU, I just can't live without. I use PowerPoint’s and videos from Discovery Education to introduce new concepts weekly. My eInstruction clickers are one that my students love, they say it’s like the Wii, and I use them to assess my students’ progress through an Internet program called StudyIsland. I also use many links already customized for each concept and grade level by www.internet4theclassroom.com. Furthermore, I use BrainPOP(www.brainpop.com) and BrainPOPJr. (www.brainpopjr.com) to motivate my students, they truly like to watch Moby, and there's always a neat quiz after each clip! Finally, to have fun with my students I create Jeopardy and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire like games on target skills weekly, and we both achieve success, they have fun and I assess!

Why do I choose to use all these types of digital media? It's quite simple, I'm a media person myself, and through my learning experiences I've realized that I learn better when there are different types of teaching methods, but technology is always the most interesting, and I feel extra focused to learn. I know that children in the 21st century are extremely exposed to digital media and well, they just can't live without it! I feel more comfortable teaching when I have so many resources of digital media to help me through my curriculum and help my students succeed! By instigating all these types of digital media in my classroom, I always have 100% participation, 100% attendance, and great classroom management. In my past two years in 3rd grade I've had 100% of my students pass the state assessment (TAKS) in both reading and math, and the use of digital media has assisted me in my accomplishments! I feel the students are more engaged and they have fun and like to attend school, which is something I'm proud of! Saying so, I'd never change the structure of my teaching, I love it and it works not only for me, but for my students!

I've attatched the All About Me video I did in DST, enjoy!