Back to School Night

Please join me and the rest of the Ellen Thompson staff from 5:00-6:30 tomorrow night for "Back to School Night." You'll get a chance to hear from Ms. Johnson, the principal, as well as hear from me about what we'll be working on in school this year. I'll be providing a detailed description of the fourth grade curriculum, as well as highlighting some of the work we've already done. Also, you'll have a chance to sign up for learning team meetings...which start next week!

I hope to see you tomorrow.

Podcasting 101

Yesterday's technology project involved making a podcast. A podcast is basically a digital sound recording that can be uploaded to the web. Then, it can be played via the internet or downloaded onto your computer or mp3 player. Podcasts seem to be everywhere nowadays; there are thousands of podcasts available to search and download (most for free) in the iTunes store. They are fun to make with kids and the kids absolutely love making them.

We were able to spend about two hours creating our "Alligator Pie" podcasts yesterday. A few groups still have some finishing up to do today, but I think I'll be able to work on uploading them this weekend so they'll be ready to premiere sometime next week.

Why do I have students create podcasts? Well, like I've already said, students really enjoy them. And I've found that when students enjoy their work, they tend to do a much better job on them. Sometimes they're so much fun that it doesn't even feel like work! I also use them because it incorporates so many different skills: writing (I always make them write a script first), reading, and speaking. They're also a great thing to have groups of students work together to create, allowing them to build cooperation skills, too. In the future we'll be using them for reading projects (they are great alternatives to book reports), writing and poetry projects, social studies projects, and even a weekly podcast about what we've been learning in school. On top of all that, podcasts last forever...the podcasts they create with me will be available for download when they're 60 and want to listen to what the "good old days" sounded like.

So I think that about sums it up. Keep an eye (or ear) out for a post next week that explains how to listen and/or download them.

We did have a final "Tech Camp" project planned for today which was even more awesome than podcasts, but we will have to postpone it. Our laptop lab is being used for the MAP test the rest of this month and they needed to set them up this morning. All-in-all, though, I'd have to say my first ever "Tech Boot Camp" was a total success!

Please don't forget to vote in the poll on the left side of the blog and don't forget to come to Back to School Night next Wednesday the 15th from 5:00-6:30.

Have a great weekend.

Please Vote

In the left sidebar of the blog, I've placed a poll about homework. Please vote so I can have a better idea of your opinions. I know that some parents want things to get started right away, while others believe students should be "eased" into a heavy workload. I'd like to know what you think, so please vote in the poll!

Edmodo Experiment

Edmodo is a special networking site designed for teachers and students. Basically, it creates a "facebook-like" environment (minus the profile pictures, the photo albums, the silly games, and the friends from junior high you have no interest in talking to) for teachers to post assignments, files, and discussion questions. However, it's completely secure. It is only used for people in the class to interact with each other, not with the outside world.

I learned about it from some literacy training that the staff attended in August. We plan on using it for students to post writing and reading assignments. Today we logged onto it for the first time and I let the students explore. I created a group called "friends" for them to interact with each other and get the hang of things before we start using it for our real work. I even gave them some an extra credit assignment tonight--post an answer to my question, "What did you have for dinner?" There's been a lot of activity already tonight.

Using the login information I sent home today, I encourage you to have your child give you a tour of the site so you can see how it works. The way they're using it now seems a bit silly, I know. But, trust me, it has lots of educational uses.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.

Coming Home Tonight

Just a heads-up so you know what to look for tonight:

• Another memo from me (this one goes over the specifics of the fourth grade curriculum)
• A letter from Ms. Kelly Ritter, the new music teacher.
• An overview of our "Technology Boot Camp" so you'll know what cool computer skills the students are learning this week
• A list of the main sites we'll be using and your child's username and password for each one. One of our internet safety rules that we're discussing today is "I will not give out my passwords to anyone (except my parents). I believe it's a smart idea for parents to have access to all of their children's account. This is my way of helping out with that. Oh, and if you want to see the other rules we're discussing, click here. 

I think I have one more note after this that will go home tomorrow. After that, I'm done--for a little while at least.

Best First Day Ever?

I have to be honest. I've had a few "first days of school" as a teacher. At least 10 by my count. Today might have been the best. It was a really good day. I have a great feeling about this group of students and we really got things off to a good start.

What exactly did we do? Well, we had our first Morning Meeting, went to our first Art class, learned the classroom procedures and expectations, and set our "Hopes and Dreams" for the year.  And that was just before lunch. We also had a short reading and writing workshop and read one of my favorite poems, "Alligator Pie" by Dennis Lee. Click here to read it. (Tomorrow we'll write our first poem using this one as our inspiration.) Then---yes, there's more---we used the laptop lab to explore the class wiki.

The class wiki is a website that the students can edit. We learned how to post information to it today. The kids took what they worked on in Writing Workshop and started posting it to their wiki page. The great thing about wikis is that they can be edited from anywhere. Several students, including Selena, Kaelyn, Keturah, Armani, and Danielle, have already worked on theirs from home tonight!!! Parents, look for more detailed instructions to be posted here about how to access and edit the wiki. If you want to check out the students' work, please go to the class wiki by clicking on the "Links" tab at the top of this page. Then choose "Class Wiki."

A detailed note came home from me today. It says "From the Desk of Mr. Curran" at the top of it. There will be another one coming home tomorrow, too. And then one the day after that! I try to spread them out so as not to overwhelm you. :) If you have any questions, please let me know.

There is lots more to do tomorrow, which could very well be the best second day ever!

Welcome to Fourth Grade!

We are less than a week away from the start of school. I could not be more excited than I am. I hope that you are, too. One thing you're probably wondering is: "What does my new classroom look like?" Well these aren't the best pictures, but take a look:

Like many things, the room looks much better in person. We have lots of work to do together in this classroom, and many successes to achieve. I can't wait!