Mrs. Lyon's Blog - Teaching: The Art of Possibility

Website Wednesdays (errrr....I mean Thursday): Mangahigh

2012-02-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

Okay - I realize I'm a day late. However, I was super swamped yesterday and could only get one post in and the Leibster Award won.....literally! ;-) BUT, I'm back today with my Website Wednesday post. Today's website I want to discuss is Mangahigh. If you haven't had a chance to check out this FREE math game website, you need to get on it! I stumbled across this site last year and I can honestly say it is one of my students' favorite websites. When we do math stations and I list Mangahigh as one of the activities that needs to be done, the kids are always excited. And hey - what's not to love about students being excited about math? Nothing...that's what!

This fabulous resource allows you to create a personalized account for your school. You can have just one teacher use it or multiple teachers can create class lists (which the more students learning and playing the better!). Each student gets their own personalized login and password (and the site allows you to print out easy to handout login information slips). Once you have your class list in, students can begin to search through math games and play. But even better, you can begin to assign game challenges to either individual students or to the entire class. Students have an opportunity to earn medals (bronze, silver and gold) depending on their score.

Another fabulous addition to this already awesome site are the Fai-Tos. At some point your school may (and probably will) be chosen for a Fai-To. A Fai-To is where two schools have an all out battle.....math battle that is. When students login in and their school is up for a possible Fai-To, they actually vote on which school out of two that they want to challenge. Then, through the games they play, they earn points and win rounds. The winner receives the virtual Fai-To trophy. These school vs school challenges are so motivating to the students! They never want another school to show them up.

When it comes to setting challenges, you have a variety of a games to choose from for your class. One thing I have noticed is that the creators of Mangahigh work very hard at aligning their games with core standards and making it easy to search for a particular skill set you want your students to work on. With a couple quick clicks of a button, you can easily find a game or games that suit your students' needs. You have the ability to set multiple challenges for your students.

There are so many other neat components of this gaming website, that it really is impossible for me to list them all in this brief post. Along with having awesome games , they really also make it easy for a teacher to see individual student results. They also are super about responding back to individual questions and about organizing the site to make it really easy to use. You definitely need to check it out today and get your class mathematically challenged!

The Liebster Award!

2012-02-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

Today, I was honored when Michelle at Teach123 awarded my blog with the Liebster Award! Thank you Michelle!! I'm so excited to have been chosen. :-) Please check out Michelle's blog and pick-up some great freebies, as well as read some interesting posts relating to the primary grades.

I'll admit, I was extremely curious as to what the word "Liebster" means. During my quick Google search (and I do mean quick!), I discovered it is a German word that means dearest, beloved or favorite.

Anyway, here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank the award presenter and post a link back to their blog.
2. Proudly put the award on your blog.
3. Pick 5 blogs with less than 200 followers, let them know about the award, and encourage them to pass it on.

My nominees are:

1. Jordan at Life is Better Messy Anway! - This blog is great. Filled with excellent ideas from a fellow 5th grade teacher. Excellent photos to spark ideas too.
2. Pennies for Luck at Teaching with Grace - be sure to check out the adorable Groundhog cupcakes that her class made!
3. Linda from Tales of a Fifth Grade Teacher - fabulous ideas and photos. Check it out!
4. Victoria from Jasztalville - Seriously - I look at her photos and read the ideas she implements in her classroom and I want to be back in 4th grade.....in her class.
5. Lana from 4 The Love of Teaching - She is another example of a teacher whose class I would love to be in. Plus she has so many pics, you can't help but be inspired!

I hope you enjoy the above blogs as much as I do. :-)

Grid Art Masterpiece

2012-02-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

Cut-up pieces of original piece

Every school year, I like to begin my art lessons with a collaborative project with my students. I begin with finding a popular piece of art online and copying and pasting it onto an 8.5' x 11' piece of paper. I print it out in color and on the backside I divide the paper into 63 equal pieces (it takes a bit of math but somehow I do it). Before I cut the pieces out, I number each of them on the non-printed side so I can collect them back from the students and put the picture together in numerical order. I then take a white piece of paper that is 18" x 24" and divide it into 63 pieces and cut it up.

2011-2012: Starry Night Recreated

Now the fun begins, I start by giving each student a blank piece of the paper and a piece of the cut-up picture. I do not tell the students what piece of art we are recreating, and throughout the process you can hear them guessing as to what it might be. I instruct students on how they enlarge the image on the paper they received and we talk about tips and strategies they can use to help them (we talk a lot about scale). Before students turn in their final square piece that they created, they need to make sure they write the number in the same direction as on the original piece that was given to them.

2011-2012: American Gothic Recreated

Students continue to recreate and enlarge pieces until all 63 pieces are done (I collect each piece as it's completed to be sure none are lost). Once finished, I hand out all the recreated pieces in a random order to the class. One by one, I call up the pieces in numerical order and glue them down on a piece of butcher paper. Students watch as the famous art piece that was once a cut-up piece on 8.5" x 11" paper is originally recreated by the class on a larger scale. It is one of our favorite pieces of artwork and we prominently hang it in the class. Additional, I also upload it to each students' online portfolio on Artsonia.

Try it with your class and share with me pictures of the final product!

Market Mondays: Gumball Machine - Without the Gum!

2012-02-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

Unexpectedly, this year I found away to supplement my classroom economy to promote good behavior from mystudents. My class earns classroom cash (affectionately calledKenzie Kash named after my daughter) for a number of things including doingtheir classroom jobs, scoring well on certain assignments and earning medals inMangaHigh (don't know what that website is? Check back on Wednesday, when I'lltalk about it in Website Wednesdays!). While searching theProteacher.net forum boards this summer, I was reading all aboutthese neat little capsule activities that teachers were creating. Intrigued, I thought about creatingthem myself and was looking for a unique way to store them. While walking through the grocery storyone day, I noticed the capsule machine by the doorway. That got me thinking! Going home, Istarted to search for vending machine dispensers and was shocked at how muchthey actually are. However, duringmy search (I searched on Craigslist and on Ebay, which is where I eventuallybought from) I came across this fabulous gumball machine for $50. The price was right, the size ofthe machine was right but unfortunately, after doing some more research, Ifound out it would not hold the capsules but only small gumballs.

I was so taken with this machinethat I vowed to find an idea so I could buy one (and reason it out to myhusband). I knew the kids wouldjust love the idea of having a gumball machine in the classroom. BUT – I knew I did not want it to befilled with gum (not allowed at our school anyway) or candy of any sort. After thinking about it for a few days,I thought about using it as a way to reward students who didn’t earn anybehavior points for the week.

After ordering the machine oneBay for only $50 (which included shipping – hey I’ve spent more on things thatI barely ever use in my classroom), I started to brainstorm what I could put init. When the machine arrived, Itried a couple different ideas. Myfirst idea was multi-colored marbles. They worked but when you turned the handle A LOT of marbles would comeout. I wanted only one to. So I tried bouncy balls but they weretoo big. I almost gave up and purchased candy to go in it, but while I waswalking through the Dollar Tree, I came across the little puff balls for crafts. THEY WERE PERFECT! Different colors,the right size, and mimicked the look of gumballs without actually beingthem. Plus, these could berecycled and put back into the machine which made my pocketbook (and husband)very happy!

So, my classroom is now the proudowner of our very own Puff Ball Machine. If students are good and don’t receive any points for the week, they getto take a turn of the handle. Depending on which color puff ball that comesout, they get a set amount of class cash. The students get pretty excited when they know they get to take a turnon the machine.

Here’s the breakdown:

PROS:

* Price – seriously $50 not that much for such an awesomeidea!

* Size – it does not take up a lot of room but is big enoughto be noticed

* You can use any size coins or you can turn the handle tothe left without any coins

* Easily refillable

* Light enough to be shaked when needed (see con below)

* FUN FUN FUN

CONS:

* Easily jammed – if you aren’t careful the coins can getjammed which is why I no longer use coins

* The puff ballssometimes aren’t heavy enough to come out with every turn which means I have toshake the machine.

Based upon all of this, I award this particular machine 5stars! I love it and so do my students!!

Website Wednesdays: Classroom Freebies Too

2012-02-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

It would be a shame if I didn't make Classroom Freebies Too my website for this week. As a contributor (one who feels very honored to be apart of it!), I find it my job to promote this amazing blog that was started by Charity Preston from The Organized Classroom Blog.

Originally, Charity began the first Classroom Freebies blog back in September of 2011. Within just a few short months, it has reached over 1,000,000 page views!!! Why? Because it has FREE STUFF on it. Let me explain - a hundred different teacher bloggers post products that they have created and want to share with other teachers for free. The criteria is that the items need to be free forever. Bloggers cannot lure you in, only to charge for the product later. :-) So, after seeing how wildly successful the original Classroom Freebies blog was Charity decided to start another one. So now there is a Classroom Freebies Too.

Besides offering free resources for teachers, these blogs also offer another great feature. It is being able to search through the freebies based upon simple keywords which are Pk-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12.

So - search away and I'm sure you'll find some treasures awaiting you there. And make sure you check out my first freebie posted and leave me some feedback. :-)

Building Elements

2012-01-26T08:31:00.000-08:00

My students have been working hard completing their interactive Science notebooks for our chapter on Classifying Matter. The first lesson in our Unit was on learning elements and atoms. We read the lesson in the book and then I go over a PowerPoint I created on how to break down atoms and to know exactly how many protons, neutrons and electrons a particular element has. We talk about how each of these components have a different charge of positive, negative or neutral and some ways to remember which goes with each one. Students are always amazed that how just one proton makes the difference between whether you have Hydrogen or Helium and so forth.

One of my favorite "quick" activities for this chapter is when I have my students build an element out of string and sequins. Before they can do this, they must figure out how many protons, neutrons and electrons the element has. Since they need to find matching sequins to represent each of these numbers, I typically only assign them elements 5-15 on the Periodic Table. They can quickly determine the number of protons in the element by simply looking at the Atomic Number. And from there, they know that the number of protons is equal to electrons. However, in order to figure out the number of neutrons they need to use the formula we created of p+n=aw (p = protons, n = neutrons, and aw= atomic weight). This is fabulous because they have been learning all about different formulas in math class and how to isolate a variable to solve the equation. They need to show their work on the back of their project.

Once they have figured out all the required data, they then cut a 8" string to form the barrier of the atom (in the future, I think I'll make it 10"). They then choose three different colored sequins to represet each of of the three different areas of the atom. They cluster together the protons and neutrons together in the center of the string which they know is called the nucleus. They then put the electrons on the outside of the string. They need to create a key on their paper to tell the reader which sequin represents what and put the name of the element and its abbreviation on top.

Math, Science and Art all combine together for a cool and quick project where the students are able to learn a lot and apply what they've learned. :-)

Website Wednesdays: Artsonia

2012-01-25T20:18:00.000-08:00

ARTSONIA - If you haven't heard of this amazing website then you need to! Where else can you find a plethora of amazing art projects for students.....by students? Chances are, if you are a "pinner" on Pinterest, you have come across Artsonia. You could spend hours on this website looking at student art work to pin and try in your own classroom at a later date.

So easy to get started!

Still confused? Well, let me explain. Artsonia is an online database of uploaded student artwork, which is organized by schools and individual student portfolios. Basically, as a teacher you sign up your school and enter your student roster (after getting parent permission of course). Afterwards it's time to begin uploading work. As students finish artwork throughout the year, you either snap a picture or scan their work and upload it under an exhibit. It takes about 24 hours for student work to show up on the site. When it does, it is available for online viewing to everyone. This allows family members of our students, who may not be close, to still see the artwork that is being produced in the classroom.

Doves Of Hope Exhibit
Student Work

However, not only can people cruise through these online portfolios, you can even purchase items (bags, postcards, magnets, temporary tattoos) with the artwork actually printed on it. The best part - the school gets a percentage of all sales back to use on art supplies. This is a fabulous opportunity for schools that are looking for ways to boost their art program, but weren't sure how. Students also have an opportunity to win Artist of the Week. If their artwork is voted as the best for the week, they receive a $50 gift certificate and the school a $100 gift certificate to Blicks Art Materials (they also have amazing art lessons on their website - check them out here).

From the teacher login, you can quickly
view your school's stats.

Our school has been using Artsonia for three years now (the first year only two of us used it but now all our teachers do) and every year our payout continues to grow and personally, I think the artwork gets better. Parents love that they can see their child's artwork and share it with friends and students love to see their work online and students are proud to have their work up for the world to see. Another cool component are the fan clubs, where family and friends can leave comments on any art project they see. Students can also submit an Artist Statement that explains how they feel about their art project, what inspired them, what they would have changed, etc.

American Gothic -
A Collaborate Group Project

As if all of this wasn't enough, there is even a section for teachers to browse and look up art lessons plans. And if they so choose, they can submit their own to share with other teachers out there. And just like last week's website, Artsonia is ALSO FREE!!!!! Sooooo.....what are you waiting for?
Go - browse - pin - create! Who knows - you just might have the next Picasso in your class. :-)

Market Mondays: Store More Chair Pocket Deluxe

2012-01-23T19:21:00.000-08:00

It's another Market Monday product review. This week we are focusing on Really Good Stuff's Store More Chair Pockets. Prior to having these chair pockets, I had handmade pockets that consisted of two hunter green table mats sewn together with think string coming from the sides to attach to the side of the desk or chairs. They weren't anything spectacular but the did the job.....kind of. However, with the amount of books that our students have at our school and the fact that I make an organizational binder for each of my students (iPod Binders), I knew I had to get something that held more. So, this year I chalked up the money and got real chair pockets.

I originally opted for the Store More Multi-Pocket Chair Cover with a spot for the water bottle. They were a bit more costlier but I did it while they were offering a 15% off special. I was so excited to get these pockets....but disappointment hit when they arrived. They didn't fit my students' chairs. They were way too small. So, I sent them back. To make matters worse, I had to pay return shipping which was close to $20. I wasn't happy about it but I still needed chair pockets. So I exchanged them out for the Store More Chair Pockets XL. My students have been using them for about 5 months.

Here's the quick pro/con breakdown.

Pros:

They fit our extremely large chairs
Spacious pockets
Comes with a pencil case that velcros to the back
The primary colors match my room

Cons:

Price and shipping cost (However, I will admit I haven't been able to find other chair pockets for much cheaper
Colors - even though they work for me, I sort of wished they had other choices
Only one pocket
No place for the water bottle
Must purchase in sets of 6.....because we all have perfect multiples of six classes, right?

When it comes to an overall rating for these chair pockets, I give them a 4. Mostly because of cost. I was lucky, I only had to buy three sets.....I can't imagine being able to purchase these if I had a typical class of 30+.

Do you have chair pockets for your classroom? What type and what do you think of them? Share down below in the comments section.

Website Wednesdays: Edmodo

2012-01-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Today is the first of many Website Wednesdays, in which I will introduce and discuss fantastic websites I use in my 5th grade classroom! The website in which I want to talk about is Edmodo (www.edmodo.com). I'm a huge fan of Edmodo and have been using it with my students for the past two years. They have earned multiple awards, including the Award of Excellence in 2011 from Tech and Learning. However, I will admit that I have not probably utilized it to its fullest capabilities. My goal is to continue to explore this website and improve my students' learning with it.

In case you don't already know, Edmodo is an online learning platform which allows you to build classes and provide students (and parents) with individual logins. According to Edmodo's website,

"Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices. Our goal is to help educators harness the power of social media to customize the classroom for each and every learner."

Seriously - by reading that, what's not to love? :-)

When you create an account with Edmodo, you have the ability to create as many classes as you want. So for example, I can (and in the past have) create different classes for Social Studies, Math, Science, Writing and so on. Or if you teach multiple groups, you can create classes and have only a select group of kids join. Seriously, the possibilities seem endless. Oh....and have I mentioned the best part yet???? IT'S FREE!!!!!

A teacher view.

My students and I both enjoy using this site. This year, I created just two classes. One for me to assign work, quizzes and polls and another class that we called "Talking" for the students to use to have their own discussions. Edmodo allows me to monitor their posts so I can be certain nothing inappropriate is going on. And because of its "Facebook" like look, students get really into it. They create profiles and upload avatars. And I don't have to worry about someone who doesn't belong being able to see my students.

Let's review some 10 of Edmodo's capabilities. They have much more than 10, but we'll start there.

# 5 - Built in quiz creator!

1. Able to create multiple classes for students with access codes. This way, only the people you want to be in the class can join with the code.
2. You can allow parents to login to the classes you create for students or you can even create one for just parents and communicate with them.
3. You can assign and collect assignments and provide due dates which show up on the built in calendar.
4. You can create polls!

# 6. An example of my library.

5. You can create quizzes and tests that the students take right on Edmodo.
6. You can build a library of documents and websites and share them with students.
7. You can award "badges" to your students. (I haven't done this yet but the ideas seem endless.)
8. You can join communities with other educators. I enjoy visiting these and sharing ideas with other educators. Plus, I have found many great websites from this awesome community!
9. Edmodo hosts webinars all the time to help educators maximize this site.
10. They have a great app, so you can access this site even on the go. This helps a lot because my students use this website as a means to communicate with me. I have the ability to quickly respond back if needed.

Again, Edmodo can do so much more....these are just the basics. If you haven't checked them out, I highly encourage you to do so. And, in my opinion it's not just for upper grades. I envision primary grades using this as a way to communicate with parents. Perhaps even more!

If you use Edmodo, what are some ways you utilize it? Share down below in the comments section.

Market Mondays: Art Drying Rack

2012-01-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

Here is the first feature of Market Mondays, in which I pick a product that I have used in my classroom and offer up a review. Today's product is geared toward any teacher that teaches art or uses paints or other things that need to be able to dry in their classroom.

This year, I was determined to get a drying rack so I no longer had to have papers strategically placed throughout the classroom to dry after the students used either paint or something other medium that could possibly smudge. Plus, I can't stand having miscellaneous papers left on a student's desk unless it's being used. I like things to be very neat and organized, so when I got the Sax Stack-a-Rack Drying Rack for my classroom, I knew it would be perfect! This awesome product can be found on Amazon or at the Learning Outlet for under $100.

In order to better assist you, I broke down the pros and cons of this product for a quick review:

PROS:

25 shelves
stackable so you can buy more than one and stack them on top of each other
Can be hung on the wall or put on wheels (I have my on wheels so I can move it about the classroom)
The perfect size for art projects on paper 11x17 or smaller
Doesn't take up a lot of room which is a huge plus when you have limited space in your classroom
Only $85.49 on Learning Outlet and you get FREE SHIPPING!
It came already assembled - all I had to do was throw the wheels on.

CONS:

The shelves do not lift up. Sometimes it is hard to see what shelf you are using and if there is a smaller piece of paper already there.
It only comes in red. This worked for me since my classroom I use bold primary colors. However, there are a lot of teachers who use softer pastels. But upon further inspection, I believe you could easily spray paint this to match your color scheme.

Despite those cons, I still award this product 4.5 out of 5 stars. It would have received 5 stars in the shelves were able to flip up. But hey - for $86 this is one awesome product!!

Next week's product: Really Good Stuff Chair Pockets

Wiki With Us

2012-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

After taking some time since my beautiful baby, Kenzie, was born in July, I have finally decided to hop back into the world of blogging and sharing teaching ideas. In order to keep this resolution of updating my site regularly, I have created a couple days a week in which I will have themes. This is what I have come up with (and feel free to give me more ideas in the comments below).

Market Mondays: I will review and post my experience with products for teachers.

Website Wednesdays: There are SO many great websites out there for me to share and discuss.
That's it for now....as time goes on I may add more and of course I will post ideas or other things as they come up.

In the meantime, I just wanted to take a moment to share with you my wikipage, which holds many resources that you just may find beneficial. Some of the popular items are located under the "Classroom Posters" tab. It is there that you can find posters that I have created for Genre, Literary Elements and Reading Strategies to name just a few. Why pay close to $20 on teacher websites when all you need to do is print and laminate? I hope you enjoy! All I ask for in payment is that you follow my blog and share it with a friend. AND - while you're there, be sure to join the wiki and Wiki With Us!

Be sure to check back tomorrow, Market Monday, when I review an item that any teacher who teaches art should have!

Extra"ordinary" Science

2011-07-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

Every year I try to incorporate a new project to add to my arsenal of teaching ideas. Usually, it is in an area that I feel I need to work on and for the past couple of years that has been Social Studies. However, this year, I decided my Science Class needed something cool that the students could look forward to besides the typical labs from our textbook. Hence my idea for Space Mission began to take root.

In our science book, we study a bit of astronomy and that includes the planets and their features and characteristics. After completing the unit in our book, students were then introduced to their Space Mission with a PowerPoint I created. The mission was to recreate the Solar System of planets out on the playground using colored chalk. Groups were formed and mission badges were created which would be worn the day of our "mission". Each group was assigned two planets - I tried to arrange it so each group had a large and small planet. They began to research their planets and draw an outline of what their planet looked like using the Planet Information Sheet. In addition, the students had to come up with a scale so their planets were the correct size in relation to each other. This was probably the most difficult part since the planets vary in size so greatly but after they came up with something that was agreeable to everyone, they cut string in the size of the radius of each planet to assist with the actual mission. We did not worry about distance though - otherwise it would not have fit on our playground. :-)

After a week of research the class embarked upon their journey. I had ordered a bucket of colored chalk from Discount School Supply for only $2.99 per bucket (Chalk). The day of the mission, students proudly wore their mission badges and took their radius string and packets outside and showed their artistic side while recreating the solar system. They definitely enjoyed wrapping up the unit with this fun (and messy) project.

As always, I reflect back on the project and wonder......what changes can I make to enhance it for the future? Any ideas - let me know.

Fake Facebook - Endless Possibilities

2011-04-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this website called My Fake Wall and am in love. While this site promotes the ability for people to create fake profile pages "just for fun", I see it as a way to have my students research people and present their research in a whole new format!

What's cool about it?

1. Students can create a profile - picture and all for the person they are researching.
2. Fake "status updates" can be made. Just imagine your class doing this for people of the American Revolution. I can already see a status update for Paul Revere saying "The Redcoats are coming - must warn the others!"
3. Fake friends can be added to the profile, so students can create an accurate friend list of whomever they are researching. Even better - these "friends" can comment on the status updates or post a message of their own on the page.

These are just a few great things about this tool that I have seen. In addition, I'm glad I can create just one generic login for my class and have multiple students sign-in under my login and create different pages. I can't wait to use this resource with my kids.......now I just need to think of who I'm going to have them research and create. Truly the possibilities are endless. You could have kids do famous scientists, mathematicians, past presidents, etc.

What are some ways you would use this website?

Flubaroo - It's for You!

2011-04-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Teachers around the world will agree with me that grading papers is one of the most time consuming components of our job. Enter Flubaroo - a new script that coincides with GoogleDocs that makes grading quizzes and tests a snap. This great tool was introduced to me by our Technology Genius at our school. However, the day he sent the email to a bunch of us about it was on April Fool's Day. As you can imagine, I thought it was a big joke. Either his idea of one or since it involved Google, I thought it was their joke of the year. WRONG - it's real folks! So, stop sitting here and reading my blog and go to Flubaroo and play around with it. You'll be thankful you did!

Summer - a time to reflect and refresh!

2010-07-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

As I spend my summer relaxing after a grueling school year of assisting with our school's accreditation, finishing my masters program in one year and tackling the task of being director of our school's after school program, I am once again being reminded about how much I love the upcoming month of August. Nothing gets me more pumped up about the new school year beginning than the numerous ads that are out advertising back to school sales. While many parents cringe at the thought of receiving the upcoming teacher's supply list, I gleefully go from store to store to find the best deals for my buck!

After all - what other time of the year can you get 12 pencils for a penny?!? (Staples people - check it out) However, I have come to find out that over the past few summers I tend to over buy on these amazing deals. Upon last check, I discovered I have about 1000 pencils that have never been sharpened. Or about 100 folders that are simply collecting dust in my school closet. So this summer I have turned a blind eye towards these amazing deals and am simply focusing on ideas for my classroom.

Speaking of which, I was lucky enough to have another one of my ideas accepted into Mailbox Magazine for intermediate teachers. Funny - it's an idea that I submitted almost 2 years ago and upon seeing it am reminded as to what a great idea it actually was! And saddened by the fact that I haven't used it for quite sometime. This summer's goal? To pull out and dust off those old ideas and to find some new ones!

Bringing Music into Science

2010-05-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today I began one of my favorite lessons which I just started last year. Since we are headed into the end of the year and we have completed all of our Science lessons, I now have my students write and produce their very own Science Song. The only requirements - they must have three verses and have the chorus repeated at least twice. Oh and of course it HAS TO TEACH A CONCEPT. :-)

Last year I had kids do songs on the layers of the Earth, the ecosystem, and my personal favorite translucent, transparent and opaque. (Best part about the last song is they recorded their whole song mispronouncing opaque......it just added to the character of their song!)

The students write their own lyrics using their Science book as a guide in groups of two. Each group needs to chose their own Science concept as I don't allow them to repeat. Once they have finished writing their song, they create their music and melody in Garageband (however, you could download the program called Audacity for free online or use Acid Xpress 7). Once they have their music created I send them into the "Recording Studio".

The "Recording Studio" all set-up.

Now this is the fun part - I turn my closet into the recording studio. Now....I know what you are thinking. Students together....alone....in a closet. Yes. BUT I set-up a camera which is linked to my desktop so I can see them in real time. Works perfectly and I haven't had a problem. In the closet is a laptop with their music, headphones so they can hear their music while singing and my RockBand microphone stand and mic which is connected to the laptop to record their singing. I have even rigged a light outside that has red paper strategically placed over it near the top of the door for them to switch on so the rest of the class knows when recording is going on.

The red recording light outside the door.

The kids absolutely adore this lesson and it gives them an opportunity to share what they have learned. As a gift, I record all the songs onto a CD and give it to the kids at the end of the year.

If interested in checking out last year's creations you can visit my wiki at Science Songs: https://mrslyon.wikispaces.com/Science+Songs

You can also download the lesson plan and forms I created here: http://msjensenclass-teacherresources.wikispaces.com/Science

Let me know any comments or suggestions you have. :)

Teacher Appreciation Week

2010-05-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

As 2010 Teacher Appreciation Week begins, I wanted to take some time and thank some teachers who have made some type of impact in my life.

Mr. Wilkins

This man was my eleventh grade Geometry teacher at Streamwood High School. I was not a very good math student.....at all. However, in his mind failure was not an option for me. Everyday he would give me a pass to come see him during his lunch hour (my study hall) and he would provide me with extra tutoring. He wasn't paid to do this. I remember him trying to eat his lunch while helping me. I may not have received an "A" in Geometry but he taught me a gift far greater than just math. I don't think I ever got a chance to say thank you to him. However, 15 years later I still remember his selfless act and hope that one day I'll make an impression upon a student like Mr. Wilkins did on me.

My Co-workers at School

I am lucky to work with an amazing staff at my school. Since there is only one teacher per grade, we don't have the luxury of sharing ideas within a grade level. However, we an amazing relationship with one another and support each other unlike any other group (within education and without) that I've ever worked with. No matter how bad of a day I'm having, I know that I can count on my colleagues to be there to pull me through. I'm blessed to be working with them!

A to Z Teacher Forum and Proteacher Forum Members

These are two forum boards that I visit often (especially during the summer when I have a bit more free time) and post questions and ideas and in return get some insightful responses from other educators. Again, this is a group that if you're having a bad day, you can go and find some comfort with these teachers. I've also been able to get some amazing ideas to bring back into the classroom from these boards. This is a group of educators who willingly share their time and ideas to help make us all better at the jobs we love to do. So I say thank you to all of you!

If you have an opportunity this week to thank an educator in your life, I hope you'll join me in doing it. Until next time, I would like to thank all the teachers out there who work so tirelessly to make a difference in a child's life in one way or another.

Socktacular Day

2010-04-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite activities that I do with students is coming up - SOCKTACULAR DAY! This day is dedicated solely to socks, feet, toes, shoes, etc! The students love it as do I. First let me give a little background information on this annual festivity I do with my class. The original Sock Day was created by Mrs. Pam Seckinger, who I had the privilege of working with back in Phoenix. This teacher always had great ideas and activities and I'm happy to have borrowed this one.

Let me give you the basics. First, prior to Socktacular Day I announce the actual date and discuss with students what we'll be doing that day. Additionally, I send home a note to parents to let them know what is going on. Students need to prepare a sock design (I usually give them a week) in the form of a person, creature, object, etc. I've seen some pretty amazing socks over the years. The students are able to enter their sock creations into a contest the day of Socktacular. The categories that I typically have are:

Original
Funniest
Beautiful
Cute
Crazy
Scary

Students can enter their sock into two categories. I then have other classes come in and vote for which they think is best in each category. The winner of each category receives a generous sum of class cash.

While the voting is going on throughout the day, my class visits a variety of stations throughout the room. The theme of each activity at these stations have to do with socks. Did I mention I decorate the classroom with all of my crazy colored socks? I also invite students to wear their own crazy socks and we spend the day with our shoes off - not too worry....I stock up on air freshener that day.

Some of the activities my students partake in are:

1. Sock It To You Math - this station has math problems that have to do with feet. You know like 12 inches = 1 foot and so on. Students practice their measurement skills while keeping with the theme.

2. Wind Sock Art Project - I found an art project online where students create a wind sock.

3. Big Foot - Students trace and determine the area and perimeter of their foot. After all scores are recorded for the class, they then determine the mean, median and mode of all students' results.

These are just a few of the stations I do and I'm constantly updating and changing them as I come up with new ideas. If you have a great idea for a station, let me know about it below in the comment section!

Literature Circles - Wiki Style

2010-04-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

After exploring wikis a bit for my thesis and during my masters program, I finally decided it was time to work with them more by implementing them into my classroom as a means to do a literature study. Now the idea for this wasn't something I picked up on my own but through the book called Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classroom by Will Richardson. This is a wonderful book and I highly encourage you to get a copy when you can. He talked about his experience of using a wiki to do a literature study with his class.

This idea sounded great, as I know my kids (and I) were tired of the same old worksheet driven literature circles and could use something new and fresh. Without much idea of how and what to put on my pages I began with trepidation into this new world. However, within a day it was easy to see how exciting and engaging this wiki was to my students. We chose a book called Sixth-grade glommers, norks and me in which the main character Allie is entering middle school. Throughout the book, Allie creates new words to represent situations she is going through. So I thought that would be a great first page to create on our wiki. As it stands today, on our "Dictionary" page we have over forty words created by my class of only six students!!! However, because I wanted to have my students discuss with one another the book, I also created a "Chapter Summary" page. On that page we have begun discussions regarding our thoughts and feelings on each chapter and the events in it. The students are required to post one reflection per chapter and one response post in which they respond back to other classmates. Despite having only the requirements of two postings, each students had gone way above and beyond that.

While this wiki is only in the beginning stages and over time I see it only improving, I feel that so far my class and I are on a great start to utilizing this cool Web 2.0 tool! Please share your feedback on our wiki? What would you change or add? I'm always open to suggestions.

You can visit our wiki here: https://mrslyon.wikispaces.com/Sixth+Grade+Glommers%2C+Norks+and+Me

Teachers Who Inspire

2010-04-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

As I finish my Masters program this past week from Full Sail University in Education Media Design and Technology, I am now flooded with more free time than I've had in over a year. However, my personality is one of that who likes to stay busy so I've decided I needed something new to spend my time on. Hence my blog - The Art of Possibility for Teachers has begun.

As educators, we always have those fellow colleagues who work with us or who we find online that inspire us. During my years of teaching, I have found many who have helped shape my teaching and continue to do so. I would like to take a moment to pay homage to those teachers.

Brent Coley - Mr. Coley's Class Website

When I first began teaching in 2004, Mr. Coley's website was one of the first 5th grade classroom webpages that I came across. It was because of him, that I ended up creating my own website for my class! Not only did he inspire me to do that but he also provided many great ideas such as Roving Reporters, Club Ed and using a classroom economy. Additionally, he uses his website to showcase student work, which I just think is a fabulous idea! Even 6 years later, I find myself cruising back to his site to just refresh or check out his new ideas. Mr. Coley's inspires me still to this day and was one of the leading reasons I wrote my thesis on using technology to improve parent/teacher communication. He is not only an inspirational teacher I'm sure to his students but also to educators everywhere!

Beth Newingham - Mrs. Newingham's Class Website

Many teachers are aware of this amazing teacher, Mrs. Newingham! Not only does she have a wonderful website, she also is a featured blog writer for Scholastic, Inc. Her ideas are revolutionary and make me wish I was a lucky student in her class. Always willing to share her ideas, she is one teacher I wish could work with to see in action. Whether you are interested in ways to use your classroom library more effectively (check out her page and resources on this!) or you are trying to find a way to make studying the states more interesting for you students, she has you covered! I'll admit - this past week alone, I have purchased the social studies books she uses off of Amazon, the CD from the publishing company and hats galore from Oriental Trading to make my U.S. State tour just as amazing. Not too mention, I'm busy creating travel tickets for my students. All in all - Beth Newingham is beyond inspiring and well worth your time in checking out!

There are so many more teachers out there who inspire me and I could go on and on, however I will discuss just one more. (But of course provide links to all the others). ;-)

Danny Pezzotta - Planet Bravo

Mr. Pezzotta is no longer a classroom teacher but instead has branched out and started his own business on teaching technology to kids. I have been lucky enough to know him since he was hired on to implement formal technology instruction at our school. However, over the past year he has inspired me time and time again to be a better teacher and implement technology in numerous ways in my classroom. Always willing to take the time out of his extremely busy schedule, Mr. Pezzotta has assisted me with numerous projects in the classroom including helping to create a formal excel payroll spreadsheet for my classroom economy and providing tech support for many of my own classroom projects. While he no longer gets to work directly with kids but is more behind the scenes, my own students have been indirectly inspired by him through his brilliance and willing to help me become better at what I do. I highly those that live in the Los Angeles area look into his company and summer programs for kids.

Links to More Inspirational Teachers:

Mr. Roemer

Mrs. Renz

Ms. Jasztal

Mrs. Van Dyke
Özge Karaoğlu

Stay tuned for a new posting on using wikis for Literature Studies...