When I was a 5th grader, a great field trip was something on the order of visiting a grocery store or a farm. Today, my 32 students went to England. It started like this. A month or so ago I received a very exciting tweet from Joe Dale (@joedale) asking me if I would be interested in joining him in some of his presentations at the BETT Show in London. Read More ...
History, in the fifth grade, focuses on America from early native culture through European exploration and colonization to the founding of the United States and the Constitution. In the past few years I’ve been very fortunate to be able to to participate in American history seminars and institutes which have allowed me to travel to the east coast and learn on location. It has transformed my understanding and my teaching. Read More ...
Today, the DreamExtreme class jumped onto a big yellow bus and journeyed to Oregon’s only National Park: Crater Lake. After hearing sad reports from our partner 5th grade class of their miserably rain-drenched visit to the lake yesterday, we found our seats on the bus with a certain measure of dread. Spending the day cold and wet sounded rather unpleasant. As we entered the park, snow began to fall from Read More ...
As we finish our second week of the 2011/2012 school year, it is exciting to think about what we have already done. We’ve met new people, built a classroom community, established expectations and procedures, and we’ve assessed where we are with our skills. We’ve jumped into the routine of the school day and we’ve begun using technology to create and communicate. 5th grade is athrilling journey and we’re well on Read More ...
Have you ever wanted to see the world through somebody else’s eyes? Get a sense of another person’s experiences and ideas? Collaboreyes is a new project that will connect students from around the country and, possible, from around the world. I’m excited for our class to participate in this exciting student collaboration.
On Friday, June 10, 2011, the DreamExtreme classroom got packed up. Desks were washed with shaving cream (FUN!) and stacked, chairs were wiped off and stacked, books were organized and stacked on the shelves, cubbies were emptied, and yearbooks were signed. Also, lots of hugs were given, lots of tears were cried, lots of “I’ll miss you”s were uttered, and lots of sad smiles were visible. This has been a Read More ...
We recently began a collaborative poetry unit based on Sharon Creech’s wonderful book, Love That Dog. We’re partnering with Mrs. Parisi’s Denton Dynamos class from Long Island, New York to read, explore, and write poetry connected with the selections from Creech’s book. Using Love That Dog as a jumping-off point for a discussion about poetry has been wonderful. It makes the topic less intimidating and more relatable by looking at Read More ...
Today, I get to be a student and a teacher in a different venue: The Southern Oregon Education Technology Summit. We’re on the campus of Southern Oregon University in Ashland, gathered to discuss and explore meaningful ways to use technology with students. It is invigorating to be in the middle of a group of people who are excited about technology and learning. It is inspiring to see examples of what other Read More ...
