KAHOOT!

This was not an assignment, but I had to share that I used KAHOOT! with my second graders.  They loved it.  Our class is still struggling with our addition and subtraction facts.  So for a Friday treat for Math I made an addition KAHOOT  based on the flashcards we use in class.  My students played the game three times. I only planned maybe twice but they begged to do it one more time.  I found that a student who does not like math and is very reluctant to participate in math drills or fact races was all about the KAHOOT!  I have already started working on a KAHOOT Quiz to review Social Studies for the year.  I guess for the rest of the school year we will be having KAHOOT Fridays.

Assignment 4--Pinterest

I have been using Pinterest for a while.  I love to use it find recipes, knitting patterns and other craft projects.  I do use it for school too. Now that I have the Pinterest button on my tool bar I am noticing that I am pinning more and more as I search for classroom activities and ideas.  Now that I have the button on my tool bar I am using pinterest more efficiently, before I would log on and then I would start searching for 1 thing and hours later be looking at something totally different.  Now with the button if I am searching for something and I find something I might need in a few weeks I pin it and get back to the task at hand.

I am now also following more boards of fellow second grade teachers from all over.  I like that new pins appear on my page each time I open the site.  I am now trying to use pinterest each week when I start my planning to see if I can find some new activities to do it the classroom.  Anchor charts have been hard for me, after seeing so many on pinterest I am using more in my classroom.  Pinterest is really helping me keep the fun aspect to teaching while trying to make sure my students engaged in their learning.

Assignment 2- Twitter

I have been attempting to Tweet everyday.  I tend to forget on Saturday.  Saturdays are my catch up days where I do not do anything to do with schoolwork if I can help it.  So far I am enjoying tweeting each day.  It is also encouraging me to find something positive to focus on each day instead of the things that can get you down this time of year.  My students have begun to ask me at the end of the day what am I going to tweet that day.  They have enjoyed being part of my homework.

Now that I have been tweeting a week, I plan to continue.  I hope more of my parents will start following our classroom tweets.  As a parent I follow my daughter's cheer squad on twitter and find it a great place to keep up with events and last minute changes to the schedule. I am hoping my parents will feel the same about my classroom tweets. I also want parents to use it as a conversation starter to ask their child about their school day. I have been trying to mention something specific that our class is doing that day, so that parents can ask specific questions to engage their child in discussing his or her day.  After I am more comfortable with daily tweeting I can start having the students tweet too.

Assignment 3-- DIIGO

 

I have started using DIIGO.  Now if I can remember to click the button every time I find a new sight and to go back and bookmark all of the sites I use on a regular bases.  I would have loved to have had all of my sites marked when my old computer CRASHED!  I feel that once the habit is established for me to always book mark with DIIGO.  It will be great to be able to find all of the great sites you encounter when looking for ideas.

After watching the video.  I am very interested in the social networking aspect of the site.  I have 2 teacher friends who live some distance away and I can not wait to get them to start DIIGO the sites they find.  I think this is the aspect I wish to continue to explore.   It would be great to be able to share sites with them and them with me.  You don't always remember where you saw that idea but being able to find it again and instantly share it would be a great time saver and sanity saver.

Assignment 6-- Sharing Google Docs

I just made a list on Google Docs and shared it with a few people.  Nothing Earth shattering just a grocery list.  I can see using this to work on lesson plans with co-teachers.  Especially now that the new plan we are using is so very detailed.  Being able to share , collaborate and edit could save time in writing plans that we all use.   I like the comment feature.  Sometimes when you write you assume the reader know what you mean, but using the comment section lets someone comment if you are clear in your writing or if you need to add something. 

Assignemnt 5-- Google Docs

We have had a recent inservice about google docs.  It was presented in such a hurried manner I didn't really get the point of using google  docs.  After viewing the video I decided to give google docs another try.  So this week during our grade level meeting we did our minutes using google docs to collaborate on lesson planning ideas and sharing of ideas for future units. It did help make our meeting go faster.  The hardest part for me was getting use to more than one person typing on a document at one time. 

So I decided to use google docs to share a document I needed for a cheer booster meeting.  I shared it with the other mom I was working with and we were able to make a document to send out for donations.  I liked that we could both work on the document and leave comments.  This was much easier than our old method of emailing back and forth working on one document.

Using this with my second graders would be a challenge, but I do think it could be done with forms and very simple writing.  Second graders often get frustrated trying to type. For a more elaborate collaboration I would borrow some fifth graders to serve as typist for second grade.

Assignment 1 -- Blogger

I follow several 2nd grade teachers' blogs.  Most of this has come from searching for activities and finding links.  My favorite blog is Step into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons.  Amy Lemons discusses what her class is studying, sharing neat ideas and her journey through adoption of her daughter.  Right now she is sharing her journey through a book study with other bloggers.  Through following her, I have found several other blogs to follow.  Now after taking a closer look at blogs and blogging, I want to start blogging about my own teaching experiences.  

After looking at student blogs, I think these would be a great way to get parents involved with school.  One of our goals this year on my school's school improvement plan has been more parental involvement.  I  think that if students were making daily post to a classroom blog, that parents would be quicker to check and read about the daily events of the classroom.  It might have a side benefit of saving paper.

After searching google for other 2nd grade blogs, one of the things I discovered was that some blogs are merely nothing more than a way to try to sell products on TPT.  Most blogs have links to TPT but still manage to convey some of what is going on their classrooms.

Benefits of Blogging

After reading the 10 benefits of blogging I can agree that blogging could replace a classroom newsletter that parent do not read.  It can also be used to add videos and class materials for students who are absent.  This would be great when the flu strikes.  I like the idea of using smart phones being able to access the blog from anywhere to be kept in the loop.

Adding Images

I went to Google and found this image of google blogger.
Then click the image and save the image to pictures.
then click the photo icon and click select image.

How to add a picture

Choose the picture icon.
find a picture on your computer
click the photo and selected
then add the picture to your blog

How to link to another page

I went to the Scholastic News website. I highlighted and copied the url.  This site is the 2nd grade site for Scholastic News. 

1. Go to the website
2. Copy the url
3. Go back to the dashboard
4.  click the pencil
5. Type in a few words about the site in the blog.
6. Highlight the words about the site.
7. Click the link button.
8. Paste the url and click ok
9.  Yeah! you did it!