thing 18: online learning & personal learning plan

Well I had a rare opportunity to sit with my colleagues today to work on and learn more about gifted and talented program.  We had a wonderful instructor and now to put what we learned into action.  Well really finding the time to put what we learned into action asap so I don't forget or lose the excitement.  Being with my colleagues is always an energizing experience as I feel they have such wonderful ideas and they inspire me to do better.  Looking at how I teach and what I teach with bits and pieces from their successes has helped me tremendously.  Using them to bounce ideas off of and collaborate and find out what they are doing is a priceless part of my own personal learning plan.  With them I don't feel like I am in my own boat 100% of the time without a way to travel.  They are a wonderful bunch of smart ladies!

My hopes for a PLP are to stretch myself and continue to learn and explore new ideas whether it be through an actual class or just watching a webinar online.  I recently saw part of one on teachingbooks and was really excited to go back to this site as they have updated and added more content.  I love the idea of webinars since I can do them from home and learn about a resource I already have or something totally new.  Plus get credit from the district for PD hours.  Even though summer time goes fast, my plan is to pick a few webinars to watch and use the info this next school year.  If I already have the resource, it makes new ideas and units easier with trying things out.  EdWeb is a great resource for other ideas too.  Just keep digging and there is always something to try out.  Trying at least one new project with each grade level is a goal each year.  If I continue to learn about the world, then I feel like I can inspire the kids to want to try new things too.

New thing year to my schedule is extra enrichment classes for both 3rd and 5h.  I have considered trying both genius hour and makerspace type activities.  Once next years schedule is hammered out I will investigate both of these topics further to see if they will work in the setting I have.  Then I get to experience and grow right along with the students.

I am always willing to listen to gain knowledge for myself and the list of resources you have provided are invaluable.  Online courses and podcasts.... I guess I should set a goal of trying one "new to me" resource a month... who knows maybe I could create a new habit and grow from one a month to one a week over the next school year. 

thing 17: random tools

Tried online video maker Popcorn Maker while it was fun and easy to use, it kept having errors, so I was never able to log in, create an account or save my library movie.  It was simple to use and cool that you can search in one box and get videos, audio clips plus pictures from the web to insert in your move.  I teach the kids movie maker at school and this would be something fun to show them too.  Not if there are continual errors however... plus you need an email account to login... no school accounts that I could see which would be helpful at the elementary level.

Tried in Modzilla and seemed to work without errors.


would be fun to see my fifth graders do a quick module project with their info on Jackie Robinson or another sports figure...

Went on to Twister the place to fake tweet.  Came up with a quick something there... Twist/Tweet from Jackie Robinson.  Would be interesting to see what the kids come up with and print them out, especially after a biography unit.  Pull out an important tidbit or two and put into simplest terms.


Next I went to try out ABCya! Animate.  The kids would certainly have fun with this.  Wonder if I could do a project with body systems and have the characters tell the info about the systems.. Interesting thought.  Here is just a short one I made just trying the program...

 

 

 

Then there is the fun ACME label maker...