So, I might be a little late on my game with this one, but once I saw what John @room_ten was doing with his students using Padlets I thought, "This is awesome!"
What a great way to shake up shared writing by having other people across the globe "share the pen...or the keyboard; whichever!"
We first received an invite to add our favourite books to Centennial School's "I Love to Read Wall" for their I Love to Read Celebration. I then thought that the idea was pretty neat, so I created a simple padlet to start. We generated our "Questions About Canada" on sticky notes a few weeks back and posted them onto our bulletin board.
The other night I secretly typed my students' questions up onto a padlet and surprised them with it yesterday!
They were so excited to find out that other people (outside of our school) could add to our padlet and that others could share what they knew, with us!
Some students even went home and did a little research with their families, and added their answers to the padlet. Our padlets are easily accessible through our classroom blog with a page tabbed "padlets."
I think we've just tipped our toes into a exciting and different experience....where students are so excited about school and their learning that they contribute to their learning from home in a more meaningful way!
I'm liking where this is heading :)
-N
Wednesday 28 January 2015
Sunday 25 January 2015
Of Course You Can Bring Your Board Games!!
Recently I began telling my students that for "Fun Fridays" (the last two periods) they can bring board games from home. At first, I'm sure there were some eyebrows raised as to why my students can bring games to school - especially when in September, I had a special section in my classroom outline indicating: "Dear Parents: please do not send any toys or games with your child to school. Thanks! (BOLD and underlined).
One day on a whim, I had my students bring in a game one of the last days in December for something a little "extra" they could do during their choice time.
Choice time is always an interesting time to conduct observations and look and students' social interactions. There would be a group at Lego, a few kids drawing and the occasional group wandering about switching from activity to activity. I started to think that maybe I just didn't have enough games for them in the room to keep them interested. So...bring a board game from home was a new idea. I figured maybe something different and enew might peak their interested and they would be more attentive (aka: cause less wandering and moving from choice to choice).
Well, what have I found with my little "Bring a Board Game To School" experiment???? LOTS!
There are so many social skills being developed through board games that looking back, I would make it a routine event every Friday from the beginning.
My students were so excited for so many reasons!
For the students who brought in the game (maybe 2 - 4 kids per week)
- they felt proud that they had this game to share with their peers
- they could talk about the game, describe the rules, explain what happens if, etc.
- sharing with others & providing a fun experience for their peers
For students who were enjoying the board games:
- they learned how to play something new / acquire a new skill
- trying something new / taking risks
- encouraged students to play with different kids (mixed groups)
- assist in cleaning up (providing help and support to student who brought the game)
- active listening
- thanked the students who brought in their game to share with others
For all students:
- positive social play and interaction
- sharing
- respect for other peoples' property
- turn taking
- learning how to agree, disagree, ask questions, seek clarification
- learning new skills required by the game (counting, problem solving, critical thinking, etc).
As a teacher, this is a great way for me to jump in and PLAY with the kids!
I loved kicking back, enjoying a few laughs (all part of that personal connection and relationship with kids)!
It was also helpful for me to assist others who needed modelling for positive social interaction.
I know that I defnitely look forward to Board Game Fridays - so, I'm sure my kids do to!
With all the learning that takes place- it would be silly not to! :)
-N
One day on a whim, I had my students bring in a game one of the last days in December for something a little "extra" they could do during their choice time.
Choice time is always an interesting time to conduct observations and look and students' social interactions. There would be a group at Lego, a few kids drawing and the occasional group wandering about switching from activity to activity. I started to think that maybe I just didn't have enough games for them in the room to keep them interested. So...bring a board game from home was a new idea. I figured maybe something different and enew might peak their interested and they would be more attentive (aka: cause less wandering and moving from choice to choice).
There are so many social skills being developed through board games that looking back, I would make it a routine event every Friday from the beginning.
My students were so excited for so many reasons!
For the students who brought in the game (maybe 2 - 4 kids per week)
- they felt proud that they had this game to share with their peers
- they could talk about the game, describe the rules, explain what happens if, etc.
- sharing with others & providing a fun experience for their peers
For students who were enjoying the board games:
- they learned how to play something new / acquire a new skill
- trying something new / taking risks
- encouraged students to play with different kids (mixed groups)
- assist in cleaning up (providing help and support to student who brought the game)
- active listening
- thanked the students who brought in their game to share with others
For all students:
- positive social play and interaction
- sharing
- respect for other peoples' property
- turn taking
- learning how to agree, disagree, ask questions, seek clarification
- learning new skills required by the game (counting, problem solving, critical thinking, etc).
As a teacher, this is a great way for me to jump in and PLAY with the kids!
I loved kicking back, enjoying a few laughs (all part of that personal connection and relationship with kids)!
It was also helpful for me to assist others who needed modelling for positive social interaction.
I know that I defnitely look forward to Board Game Fridays - so, I'm sure my kids do to!
With all the learning that takes place- it would be silly not to! :)
-N
Tuesday 20 January 2015
Cheers to 2015!
Hello Everyone!
It's been quite some time since I've posted last! The past few months have been QUITE BUSY with some new side projects at work and an amazing honeymoon in the Caribbean!
It's been quite some time since I've posted last! The past few months have been QUITE BUSY with some new side projects at work and an amazing honeymoon in the Caribbean!
Not only was it a relief to get away from the Winnipeg winter weather, but we explored so many different places, had some new adventures (like a 30ft helmet dive underwater in St. Maarten's) and soaked up A LOT of sun!
All in all, we were excited to get home and see our families and tell them how we are officially addicted to cruises! We're already planning the next one.
So clearly, being all re-energized from this cruise I was excited to get back to work and start up again with the kiddos!
I'm excited as I look ahead to 2015! I anticipate 2015 will bring some new and exciting challenges and opportunities its way! One of those opportunities will be to get the creative juices flowing by making a more consistent commitment to blogging, for my own self-reflective teaching practices.
I've missed my sharing and reflecting the past few months and need to get back on track with it. I'm reminded of a quote below where not only do we need to better ourselves, but inspire out students to better themselves; a self-reflective ripple, if you will.
Last but not least, I am also excited to share that I will be launching by first Teachers Pay Teachers Store!
"Cantafio's Creations"' is set to open the last week of January on TpT and will host many freebies along with a few paid items. I'm finding a true love and flair with digital design and "making things pretty." I'm hoping to add a new resource every week to the store. Feel free to share the link with others!
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