And It's Smooth Sailing!

I've never been on a sailboat, but it sure does look like something fun to do!  Since last week was Thanksgiving, we did not have class.  With such a long break, I was able to get lots done! :)  Our IT History Project is complete, we are just editing it for our presentation this Wednesday.  I am almost finished with my PLN- the last project on my contract!  Which leads me to say....and it's smooth sailing for the remainder of my first sememster of Grad School!

Even though last week was such a short week of school, I was able to accomplish most of what I wanted to at work!  We completed Unit 2 Week 1 in Reading, even testing on Wednesday.  Our Reading block is in the morning, and I think my students really benefited from that.  By the afternoon, they were in no mood or state to be tested!  The only negative to testing right before the break was the fact that I had about four students out.  Four students who now have to make up all of those tests! 

Here is a link to an article I found about the time of day your brain works best.  From the article, I kind of got the jist that the time of day your brain works best really depends on the person.  My class definately works better in the morning.  They are mush more on task and less talkative.  Is this really because their brains work better in the morning or just because they are still sleeping in the morning?!

Grades and AEW

So this week is a busy week in first grade!  Grades are due this week and its American Education Week, so that means parents will be stopping by on Tuesday and Thursday this week.  We have lots in store for our parents that will be coming in. We will be doing a math lesson, a reading lesson, and we will even be putting on a Thanksgiving Play! :)

We did not have class last week due to the convention (which I attended and receieved a few freebies!).  With next week being Thanksgiving already, we don't have too many classes left.  I can't believe it.  This semester really flew by. 

November, November

I can't belive November is here already!  It's going to be Thanksgiving before we know it!  Last week in class, I presented my Tool Time project on Spelling City.  That was my second to last project for the semester.  The only project I have left to do is my PLC. :)  This semester really flew by!

On another note, the convention is this week, which means no school on Thursday and Friday. I'm planning on attending the conference on Thursday to do a little exploring.  I'll post what I found next week.  I've never attended this conference, but I did attend a Math Conference while I was still in school.  I got a lot of freebies from that!

While I was searching for a graphic to add to my post, I came across the one at the top which reminded me of a great website that I had forgotten about - Pete's PowerPoint Station.  There are a lot of great Power Points for every subject and some great interactive activities for each subject. 

And It's November!

Well today's the last day of October and tomorrow's November!  This month really went by so fast.  Today was a crazy day in first grade.  The kids were so excited to go trick or treating after school.  We did some pumpkin math and read Pumpkin Pumpkin today.  After we read Pumpkin, Pumpkin, I had the kids do a sequencing project.  Sequencing the life cycle of a pumpkin from seed to pumpkin.  This lesson came from A to Z Teacher Stuff.
 

Last week in class we had some great presentations.  We also went over many of the courses in the MAIT program.  Everyone did a great job enlightening us first timers on what to expect from each class!

Take Your Time and Double Check Your Work!

Take your time and double check your work!  I find myself saying that to my students often (especially the take your time part of it), yet I really need to take my own advice.  Recently, I've been handing in my work and included in the feedback is often a point to a spelling error or some other simple mistake.  A simple mistake that if I'd taken my time and double checked my work wouldn't have been there!  So my advice to myself for the week is TAKE YOUR TIME AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR WORK!

                                        

   
Last week our class was held at the ETTC (We got to see a lot of new faces!). We also saw three great presentations- one on the SmartBoard, one on movie maker, and the last on custom google search engines.  I was familiar with both tools, but still learned a few new things from the presentations.  A familiar site that was mentioned in the SmartBoard presentation was Smart Exchange.  There are some great SmartBoard presentations on there!

Webquest Check! Tutorial Check!

I completed my webquest this weekend! Here is the link to my Habitat Webquest.  I also completed my tutorial.  Yay!  With these two completed, it's almost smooth sailing from here!

Last Wednesday in class, we had some great presentations.  Julia, Angela, and Kathy gave a great IT presentation.  From three separate locations may I add!  Susan also gave gave a great presentation on Facebook.  I learned some great things from her presentation- like optimizing space by the size of your profile picture.  Melissa gave a great presentation on Prezi.  I must say I was really excited for this one, since I have never used Prezi before.  Unfortunately, at the end of her presentation, I lost my picture for some reason, and I could only hear her presentation.  I definately have to go back into the archive and watch again!

Technical Difficulties

This week in class, we had the privilage of listening to a presentation about Stockton's Online Library System.  The presentation was very informative.  We also had our first IT History Project Presentation.  Robynn did an excellent job!  She had a lot of great videos in her presentation which made her project fun and interesting.  She also told us how to create a google reader...which I still have to set up!  It is on my to do list though!


The rest of my week went well - minus the Phillies terrible loss on Friday night.  We had our Fire Prevention Assembly in school.  The kids loved seeing the fire truck. Here is a link to Sparky the Fire Dog's website.   I also started Guided Reading this week.   Which brings me to my "technical difficulties".  Our Reading Program and our Math Program are both available online.   Students are able to view their Guided Reading books, play games, view Math videos, and so much more. Since navigating the website is new to some parents, I've decided to make an online tutorial to help.  I was trying to get it finished today, but I am having technical difficulties with my Internet.  The only spot in my house that has a strong signal is right in front of the router which is right in my living room where everyone is watching the Eagles game.  So long story short, I have to put my tutorial creating on hold!

Week Number 4

This week we did not have class, but I did get the chance to meet with my group for our IT History Project.  We split the work up, and now all that's left to do is get to work.  It seemed like this project was going to be a lot of work, but after going through the rubric and splitting up the work, we realized it really wasn't that much! I was lucky to have off this past Thursday and Friday from school, so I was able to get a lot of work done.  My goal for those two days was to complete atleast one project (mission accomplished!) - possibly two (still working!).

On a side note, the Phillies have their first playoff game tonight. :) Go Phillies!

Week Number 3

Well I am happy to say that week number three of Grad School is complete.  Unfortunately though, I was unable to go virtual this week. :(  I was really looking forward to this, but there's always next week!  After signing on and viewing the archived class, I came to realize that I also missed a big event on campus - Stockton's 40th Anniversary Ceremony.  As I was navigating the website, I came across a very nice documentary of Stockton's first 40 years. As a graduate of Stockon, I was able to see some of its growth throughout my five years there.  I saw the reformation of the outside of big blue, the construction of the new campus center (and now that I'm back I get to see the completed campus center!), and even the change of school colors!

A week of Firsts

So this is going to be a week of firsts!  This is officially my first time blogging.  It will also be my first time virtual!  I'm really excited to be virtual this week in Wimba.  So far, the blogging seems fairly easy.  It didn't take long at all to set this up.  I'm hoping Wimba (on my own) will be just as easy. I must say I feel comfortable using Wimba.  Going to the first two classes helped me a lot.  I'm just hoping for no technical dificulties!! :)