Blogical Minds

A Tribute to the Blogicians

Every year for the past five years  I have been most fortunate to work with students on blogging and how it affects their literacies. You all have been a fantastic class and I have admired your perseverance and your joy in learning.

Last week when we were having the Gizmo Talk with your high school Canadian blogger friends I loved the way Aichelle ended the session. She asked this profound question: 

"How does blogging advance your learning as a fifth grade student?"

Now Eddie gave an excellent answer on the  podcast. (see previous post for the podcast) I was soaring inside though because I knew each of you could answer that question so well. I am so proud of you.

 You have been a most amazing group! I know that in the future I will be reading something you have written or something written about you and your accomplishments. It may be on blogs or other media but I think you will make your voices heard in good ways that will make a difference in our world.

Here's my prediction for the future......

 

Remember to read, read, read....
Then reflect, think, contemplate, and ponder.....
And write,write, write or blog, blog, blog!!!

I would like to say a special thanks to every parent. Your children have been an absolute pleasure to teach.

Shane's Wish

Clarence Fisher points us to Shane's wish. Shane is seven years old. He has been diagnosed with acute leukemia. Shane's wish is to break the world record for the most birthday cards ever received. His goal is 350 million. Let's get on board and help him break that record! His address is listed on the site. Tell your friends about Shane.

I hope all of you reading this blog will join in the effort!By Ardenn at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons

Podcasts Surprises!

Wow! I was so impressed with your blogging documents! You came up with some very thoughtful and creative views of blogging. The previous post shared a few but today we will be taking a look at all of your answers and begin some discussions.   I can't wait to hear your voices!

Then I have two podcasts to share with you. This is indeed going to add to the conversations and a deeper understanding of what connecting with others can mean.

So (drum roll please).......

Here is a podcast from Seattle Washington. M.V has been communicating with Mr. Ahlness and some of the students. We will have lots to talk about after hearing this podcast.

Download ssrpodcast.mp3

The second podcast is from Canada and Eddie is going to be in for a big surprise. This will create a whirlwind of a discussion.

Download AboutEddie.mp3

First today we will answer comments.

Second we will post your news article.

Then let the podcasts begin!

Let's celebrate!

You have been working hard and learning so much. Today is a day to celebrate! I know you will be off all of next week for a wonderful week's vacation. Enjoy every minute!

Today you will finish your persuasive pieces. You will do your new post that you have  created and everyone  will answer as many comments as possible. We are also going to try to visit some student blogs and comment on their learning.

And we are going to mix in a little fun with all this by learning some new tools- get ready to meet a talking squirrel, a cool cat, an amazing flower, a dazzling tomato, and an awesome owl! It's going to be a great day. Can't wait to meet up with you!

Proud as a peacock

This is a quick post to let you know how proud I am of all of you. In fact I am as proud as a peacock!
We have had network problems at the school for the past two weeks. You have not let it deter you though. You adapt, find solutions, and go right on with your commenting and blogging. You're storing it on Word for the time being but we will get it moved over to your blog.

Flickr photo credit to Dom|M

Mary made a great podcast thank you to Lani and it even includes music.  Let's listen!
Download MaryThankYou.mp3

Michael created some dynamite idiom sentences. His are not posted yet but hopefully will be soon displayed on his blog. They need to be celebrated on the class blog right now. Here goes:

Cut your eyeteeth on them: To acquire wisdom in blogging. I cut my eyeteeth on blogging.

Old Hat: Out of date. My October posts are a old hat.

Sweep you off your feet: To make an impression. I always sweep the audiences who read my post off of their feet.

Take off your hat to someone: To admire someone. My commenters take off their hat to me.

Walking on air: to be very happy. People are walking on air for my posts.

These are fantastic! The kicker is that Michael is going to do a post at home about a creative way he and his mom came up with to help him with his learning at school.

You were all having a blast writing your idiom sentences. It was so much fun walking around and joining your conversations and having you share your work.  Terrific!

Other highlights today -

Victoria and Tina are also working on extra posts that they want to share - all of this is about their learning and the fun they are having with that learning.

Emmy and Johnny took home CDs full of pictures and other goodies highlighting the good work they did at the legislative event.

We missed Eddie who was absent this week. Hope to see him next week!

Well I said a quick post so I need to get back to work. I'll close with one of Victoria's idiom sentences:

"I get a shot in the arm when I am blogging."

I couldn't agree more! How about you?

 

 

Review, Reflect, Retell

Today is a day to review, reflect and retell. It is also a time for you to be in charge of your learning. The first thing we want to do is review our "Safe and Responsible Blogging" wiki. Then you are going to take it from there! Oh the places we will go!

Agenda for our last day before the holidays

I'm afraid the proof was not in the pudding but that tells me that we need to chunk these skills down and work a bit more. While errors were corrected, in some cases you simply repeated the first story with a few minor changes. More was needed. Proofing is a hard skill and takes practice. I think the podcasts helped you but you didn't always apply what you noticed and learned. Don't get down, we'll just put our shoulders to the wheel again and work together to improve. We'll talk in class and brainstorm some more. I think together we can come up with solutions to become better proofreaders. It is a skill you will use your entire life. We teachers still proof our work and have others help us.I want you to be a part of the solution! This is something we need to spend more time on but since this is our last session before the holiday we will address this in the new year.

Today we are going to celebrate and acknowlege your efforts over the past few months. I am proud of how much you have learned in such a short time. We're going to have a little fun with language, learn more on the parts of speech, and create some Wacky Web Tales. We may even visit some other student blogs and do a little commenting.  Let the fun begin!

Still hazy about Scotland?

Are you still hazy about where Scotland is located? Check this out and tell me something you learned tomorrow as I walk around the room while you are blogging your photograph stories. I'm looking forward to reading your stories. 

Another tip of the blog hat to Chris for providing this link!
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotland

I also want to know what you think of wikipedia!

I like this word "hazy." How about you? Can you use it in a sentence for me? Here's mine.  All the kids in the Blogical Minds will NOT be hazy anymore about Scotland.  Now if you don't know the meaning you know what to do before I start that walk around the room.

See you in the morning!  I can't wait to see you!

A day to vote, blog, and have conversations!

The previous post is a celebration of our bloggers. We wish we could show the faces but policy  does not permit that so  use your imagination! These picture people will  hang around in the lab for a week or so to let others recognize the good work these bloggers are doing!

Today is going to be a great day! I just got back from voting and wanted to make a quick post before I take off for the school.  I was thinking how wonderful it is that we have the right to vote and make important decisions about our country. We'll talk about that today.

We're going to touch on character traits, how to hold your reader's interest, and "bumping up" our vocabulary.

Also, I have a wiki surprise for you. I am so excited about this project and I think you will like it. It is another celebration of you creativity. Be ready to step to the plate!

The plan for today is to answer comments and continue to stretch our minds in that area. Then you'll post your personal technology stories.

I'll be meeting with you one on one for some conversations and to get your input about all that we are doing.

It's going to be a marvelous day in "Bloggerland!" See you soon!

Let's blog!

How was the Halloween parade this morning? Were you scared? Did you enjoy the music? I know the Kindergarten children were excited as they marched around the halls!

Now we're ready to blog! The first thing you want to do today is check your comments and reply. Make sure to answer all of them. Remember to use the person's name so they will know you are writing back to them. You sure have some good comments going back and forth. Then try using a comment starter with one of your peers. Try to end your comments with good thought-provoking questions that will continue the dialog.

Then you will spend time on your news stories and maybe even some Halloween stories will be written. We are at a good point now and can really get into the practice of blogging. We'll learn how to add pictures and links. It's going to be fun!

Take a moment and review the task part of our webquest. I am going to be working with you one by one so you can see how easy it is to add to the class wiki. Take a very careful look at the guidelines and in particular the traits of a successful blogger. That's what you really need to think about and be pondering what you can add to the conversation.  I can't wait to see  what you will add to the wiki!