Literacy Project

I am a full-fledged blogger! For my literacy project, I used Kidblog to create a class blog to use with my fourth graders. I began the project by discussing blogging with my students. Many of them already comment to each other using online tools, but having a class blog seems new to them. I decided that for now, I will pose a question of the week. For my first question, I asked my students to write about their favorite animal and practice posting it to their blogs. Each student posted on his or her own blog page. I am excited to get my students more involved in blogging, and they are beyond thrilled. My next steps for my students are to teach them how to add pictures and videos to their posts, as well as comment on each others' posts.

Check out my class blog!

My First Voki!

Voki has been a fun tool to learn to use, and I know my students are going to love it when I share it with them. This course has been so useful to me as a fourth grade teacher. My students absolutely love anything that has to do with technology, and they are really enjoying using the tools I have introduced. Many of my students have created extra credit projects at home using Glogster, and I introduced my classroom blog today. My students are excited about these new opportunities for sharing their personal ideas and things they have learned.

Updates to Diigo

I have added several new links to my diigo account! Feel free to check it out and follow me if you would like! I have also added tags to several of my links, but I like the organization of the list feature much better.

Bucket Filling Digital Story

Have You Filled A Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud is a great way to build positive character within your classroom. My school has taken on bucket filling, inspired by the picture book. Students are acknowledged by demonstrating kind or caring behaviors with a certificate. In some classrooms, students have personal buckets where other students might place notes thanking them for acts of kindness. I have noticed a positive change in the way my students care for others and our classroom. Allison and I created this digital story to share how bucket filling has had a positive impact on our grade level. We used Windows Movie Maker to import pictures of our students demonstrating bucket filling. Importing and arranging pictures was very easy. Adding music was the hardest part, but we were able to figure it out eventually. I thought the project went pretty smoothly since it was our first time using Movie Maker. I will use this digital story to introduce and reteach the value of bucket filling to my students. I hope you like it and can use it in your classroom as well!

One More Story

If you are looking for a way to spice up your read aloud time, check out www.onemorestory.com! I used this site often when I taught first grade. My students loved seeing the pictures on the smart board and being able to follow the words. It was also exciting to hear a different voice reading to them!

As I explored the site this week, I realized that a few books I read aloud to my fourth graders are also available. There is probably something for every grade level, and I know the students really enjoy it. It's worth a try!

Have you filled a bucket today?

We have taken on a "bucket filling" initiative at our school to create a more positive school atmosphere. Students imagine that everyone has imaginary buckets they carry around. They can fill each other's buckets by being helpful or caring. In some classrooms, students earn certificates when they do something to fill a bucket. In other classrooms, students write down compliments to other students when someone fills their bucket. We began teaching about bucket filling by reading Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. Then we discussed ways students can be bucket fillers at school.

Allison and I both teach fourth grade, and our classes are very involved in bucket filling. We have decided to create a digital story about bucket filling to teach teachers how to introduce it in the classroom, and to teach students how they can become bucket fillers. We will be taking pictures of our students being bucket fillers and explaining some of the ways students can become bucket fillers. We have noticed a positive change in our classroom environments since we introduced bucket filling, and we think it's a great way to acknowledge positive student behavior!

To learn more about bucket filling or purchase the book, visit the "Bucket Fillers" website!

Diigo

I am beginning to feel more comfortable using Diigo, and I am realizing the value of it as an educational tool. I figured out how to create lists, which has been helpful for me to organize the sites I have been bookmarking. Creating lists seems more organized to me than using tags. I am excited to connect to other people's Diigo accounts to begin collecting more resources for my classroom! If you would like to share your Diigo account with me, please share your link so I can try to follow you!

Here is the link to my account if you want to check out some resources I use in my classroom. Happy bookmarking!