Thanksgiving

Last Wednesday I asked my class to think about what they are thankful for, and everyone typed them onto one document.  With the results, we created this wordle.  The students enjoyed searching for their contribution and it was nice to see the things everyone had in common, like food and family.

p.s. The gluten-free brownies were a hit!

Kitchen experiment

With my unexpected free time this afternoon, I thought I'd bake a treat for my class tomorrow both to commemorate the end of my SIT and just to do something special before Thanksgiving.  Baking is one of my favorite ways to procrastinate when I have lots to do.  My class has a few students with food allergies and they usually have an alternate snack when there's a birthday celebration.  Today, I tried to bake gluten, soy, and dairy free brownies for the whole class to provide something that everyone can eat.  As a teacher, you really have to be cautious about what food you bring into the classroom because you don't want to be responsible for someone's child having a serious allergic reaction!  Well, I'm disappointed to say that my first foray into gluten-free baking was not very successful.  It was a mix from my very favorite grocery store and as I put the pan into the oven, I just thought things looked a little...different.  Halfway through the baking, I peeked in and noticed that the edges looked like they were cooking but there were almost pools of oil/water on top of the batter!  Out of the oven, they just seem waaaaay too greasy.  I'll let you know what the all-too-honest 4th grade taste testers have to say tomorrow about the finished product.  Does anyone have more experience with gluten-free baking that could suggest a good brand? 

Wikis and the classroom

Wikis have potential to enhance cooperative learning in the classroom because they are so collaborative in nature.  In an elementary school setting, I would be interested to see if teachers are using them to collect material throughout the school year in anticipation of standardized tests in the spring.  Someone suggested last week using a wiki in this way as a tool for SOL testing.  As an educator, I could see how wikis could be a dynamic way for a team of teachers to plan a unit of study.  When we meet to discuss things like this, the conversation quickly drifts to other topics.  A wiki devoted to one goal would allow each teacher to contribute resources and ideas on their own time and produce a better finished product. 

Picture from http://www.tcnj.edu/~caliend2/index.html

Diane Penrod's "Blogging and New Literacies"

After reading Diane Penrod's chapter from Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, I feel even more supportive of using blogs as a writing tool in the classroom.  Previously, I thought blogs could be a writing option for students, but Penrod makes it clear that blogs can do so much more.  Writing for a blog is a different, more public form of writing than traditional writer's notebooks or student journals commonly seen in classrooms.  Since a blog is on the Internet for all to see, there is more pressure for students to ensure they have the correct information and are presenting their material in an interesting, highly readable format.  Using blogs as a form of writing easily connects with students using the Internet and similarly themed blogs to check their facts and improve research skills.  It seems the "new literacy" of blogs has the potential to help reluctant writers write and become self-directed learners at the same time. 

The chapter highlights the benefits of blogs for special-needs students.  I had never considered that these students may feel more comfortable expressing themselves in an online environment.  It is similar to the protagonist Lisabeth Salander's hacker friend Plague in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is described as an extremely obese man who never leaves his house, but has many friends online where his physical appearance is unimportant.  As for students with hearing impairments, I found this website, Hipcast, a fee-based service that allows users to record video and audio clips for blog postings. 

Unlike the publishing process that other forms of student writing might go through, blogging makes the act of publishing a piece of writing instantaneous.  In fact, I see the "publish post" button at the bottom of my window right now.  I think I'll click it.

First blog post!

I'm looking forward to learning more about blogs and how they could be used as a classroom writing activity.  This form of writing could be fun and interactive for students, especially if we could get family and friends to follow our blog.  My clinical faculty uses a lot of technology in the classroom, and on Friday the 4th grade class is learning to make websites by making a site about our field trip to Jamestown.  Whenever she teaches a new technology tool, she starts with a fun project  before having them do something more meaningful so learning the technology does not get in the way of the intended product later on.