It's Been A While...

It seems like a long while since I posted here. I have been rather busy with my day-to-day teaching responsibilities and my Kindergarten class blog. I've enrolled in an online course...continue work on the Kindergarten Curriculum...plan for courses for teachers....contiue to explore Web 2.0 options...and try to have a life! ;-)

It feels like time for some reflection.

I feel as if things are still going well. The kids remain excited about seeing our blog grow and develop. They absolutely LOVE seeing themselves on the computer. I know they check the blog from home because many of them come to class and tell me the saw the latest post. I get positive feedback from parents as well. I expected more comments on the posts, but maybe that will come with time. I hear from parents when they are picking their kids up, and in Email, but many are not yet comfortable with commenting directly on the blog. Even so, I am happy with the way things are going. We have established a good dialogue with our Blog Buddies in New Zealand. We have exchanged video questions and the videos spark interesting discussions among the children. It's AWESOME that we connected with them!

Blog fever is making it's way through several classrooms around the District. The Early Learners blog continues to expand. Mr. Schroeder has created Spring Trail Tiger Times, to communicate with parents from the Principal's office. Brenda, good friend who teaches 2nd grade, launched 2nd Grade News a class blog earlier this week and Julie is another 2nd grade teacher in the District who recently launched her class blog, What's Happening in 2nd Grade, as well. It's exciting to see all of this blogging. We've only been in school a month and things are looking great. I can't wait to see where we are by the end of the school year!!!

I remain inspired!

One Blog Leads to Another...

Well...my last post showed how anxious I was about opening up my Class Blog. I read comments of support left here, thought about it some more..talked it over with a few friends a bit more..... took a deep breath and decided to GO FOR IT!

It's going so incredibly well, that I can't believe I almost set this venture aside!

The kids are LOVING the posts we have made. They are excited about making new friends across the globe. The parents all seem comfortable and excited. All is going well. I look to our new friends in New Zealand for both guidance and inspiration. We were so very touched to see the post/video by our friends at Manaia Kindergarten. Right now my district blocks Google Video, but many of the children watched the video from home. Thanks Tania & Beverly. (Thanks also for help with that "other matter"...you too Tony!)
I exchanged emails with several other Kindergarten teachers who blog as well. I didn't know they were out there...but one blog leads to another and with the click of a mouse, we're connected! I was visiting the blog by Rachel Boyd because I shared a fantastic video her students made titled: "Why Should We Reduce Rubbish?" with my students ( we ended up having a nice vocabulary lesson as a result). I wanted to leave another comment, but I got distracted and pulled away to visit another blog "21 Century Skills" by Mark Collinson of NSW Australia. There I found a video he posted from EduBloggerWorld. The video was by Jackie H. (Teacher Hacks) and titled "3 Steps". NICELY DONE!

I believe I always challenge my students to compete with themselves... to do their best and then take it up a notch. I watched 3 steps and felt validated in the fact that I am now opening up my students to the concepts of global connections and collaboration. Watch and maybe you'll see what I mean:

I am on a roll now....not overwhelmed or obsessed (despite what my colleagues may think) ;-) I plan to offer many opportunities for my students to experience these 21st Century Skills.

As we make connections with one resource, we find ourselves connected to another. I am excited, they are excited. Not only are we all learning...but having GREAT fun too!

Global Connections...

This evening I was working on the computer when I got a message on Skype. It was Tania from Manaia Kindergarten, in Whangarei, New Zealand! It was so exciting to see Skype in action! I've had the account for a few days now, really didn't have anyone to call. This is thrilling... to have the ability to chat with someone on the other side of the world via the computer is amazing to me. Again, this goes back to an earlier post where I talked about so many sites, so little time. I know there are people out there who have used Skype for a while now, and for them, this isn’t anything new. They have been on board for a long time. But for those of us that are just beginning to explore the Web 2.0 tools, this is all VERY EXCITING! I would love to be able to have my students witness a live chat via a web cam, but there are a lot of details to work out to make that happen live in my classroom. In the meantime, we’ll keep plugging along on our Class Blog (Kindergarten Tales)…we’ll add some video, pictures and whatever else we come across that will help the world know who we are and what we do in Room 102. :-)

Thanks Tania, this made my day!