"The Paperless Classroom"

Classroom websites are an amazing way to keep your students, parents, and others connected to what you are doing in the classroom.  But what if your website was the hub for all that you teach and plan to present?  What if it takes the place of your filing cabinet and allows you to store and post all of your lesson plans and activity sheets with the click of a button?  Mark Barnes discusses the "Paperless Classroom" in this linked video.  From podcasts to message boards he covers a plethora of web 2.0 tools and how to embed them into your class website to enhance student learning and digitally organize all of your teaching tools.  I was amazed by all of the wonderful information and resources he shares in this video.  You have to check this out!
My goal is to try and work to organize my classroom in a similar digital fashion.  It will take a great deal of time and energy in the start, but will greatly pay off in the long run.  I think everyone will eventually be driven to this type of organization, especially with so many virtual classrooms coming into view.

Check out/Subscribe to Mark Barnes' Blog page

Are your students engaged and motivated to learn?

The best compliment I get as a teacher is when parents tell me how their child loves coming to school and that I make learning fun and exciting for them.  I think the biggest part of my students motivation for learning comes from our reading and writing workshop time.  To me the most important element during workshop times is sharing.  It is so important that we make time for kids to talk about what they're reading and writing with enthusiasm.  My enthusiasm for reading and writing carries down to them and then they motivate each other through activities such as book shares and author share time.  Students learn so much from each other when they have the chance to listen to another child's thoughts on what they're reading or writing.  My students look forward to getting to the next book on their "Books I want to read next list" and enjoy giving their book recommendations to others.
Setting up specific procedures and practicing what this share time looks and sounds like is key.  It's important that students are taught how to listen and reflect on what their classmates are saying.  This is not something that just comes naturally for most children.  I always post some guidelines for listening/sharing during these times for students to continually refer to on my Activ Board.  I have also been known to video tape the discussions and share sessions for us to reflect on as a whole class.
Take a listen...
The author of the blog site Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller, discusses in this Choice Literacy podcast how she defines 'engaged' reading and her role in motivating students.  She talks about how she thinks one of the most important things you can do to motivate student reading is by taking time to conference with each child on a one on one basis in the beginning of the year to find out what their interests are and helping them get excited and engaged in a book.  
What do you think is important and necessary to engage the students in your classroom?

Sites to try for helping kids find a just right high interest book:
Access book talks and trailers on this blog site:  http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/
Have your kids check out "bookcasts" to find a book that interests them:  http://www.readinginaction.org/

Conferencing Time Constraints

One of the most challenging things for myself and colleagues during reading workshop time is spending one on one time conferencing with my students.  We all know how important this time is in goal setting and monitoring each students reading growth, but meeting with (give or take) 25 kids during even a weekly period can seem overwhelming and impossible.  How do you manage conference time, yet make sure you are getting it all in? 
I have found that organization is the number one factor that helps me to keep up with my readers and which students I need to meet with and when. Keeping binders with individually labeled sections where I write anecdotal notes, goals, and needs for future meetings are key to being prepared for each conference and staying on task.  Using a conference calendar is also an essential organization tool, where I can see at a glance where I can add students to days and where I know I just won't be able to fit everything in.
In the Quick Take: Time for Conferences Video by Aimee Buckner she discusses how she limits her time with her conferences.  She says that she uses time to guide her future planning for mini lessons.  If her conferences are taking longer than 5 minutes she reflects on what she is discussing with the student and how she can address it in a whole group mini-lesson.

The following links are resources that I've found helpful on conferencing:

This site has tons of printable forms and rubrics that you can use in your conferences and that can help you stay organized and make your conferences purposeful.
http://www.readinglady.com/mosaic/tools/tools.htm

Best Practice: Formative Assessment Done Right

Best Practice: Formative Assessment Done Right
Reading this article and comments made me think a great deal about my own process of formative assessment and what my ultimate goal is for my students.  It is so true that the focus should be on learning and not scores.  It's so important to take time within the daily assessments we give to provide our students with feedback and motivate growth.  A letter grade on a report card or percentage on a test isn't going to help a student reflect upon their current understanding of a topic or subject.
I also think the power of collaboration and building a community of learners is a very significant part of the reflective and growing process.  Formative assessment in this way is not necessarily always gaged by the teacher.  For example instead of having my students simply write a reflection on how they think their literature circle groups did that day, I involve the whole class in providing feedback and reflecting on how to become a better communicator and listener.  I choose one group to videotape their literature discussion and then play it back the next day for the group and entire class to evaluate.  Student's have to be actively engaged in the process of assessing their peers and the chosen group is able to see firsthand what they are doing well and need to improve upon.  Author's Share Chair time is another equally beneficial way to use formative assessment, where the evaluation is done amongst peers.

Are you a teacher in Indiana and need technology support for your classroom? Ask Erica

I am supporting the Ball State Teacher's College in the role of a virtual GA and online technology savvy teacher to provide support for the needs of teachers and teacher-educators.
What can Ask Erica do for you?
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