Lurking?

There are now many teachers who are members of this blog site, yet most are playing the Lurch role! You always have permission to lurk, but we need to interact too! So, I'm going to get things rolling with a question, and I hope you will decide to contribute a thought, idea or resource to keep the conversation going. All you have to do is click the "comment" link at the bottom-right area below this post. Here we go....

What would you identify as one of your strongest "professional learning moments"? This may have happened in-school, or out-of-school. Please take a moment and write a short comment to share your story.

One moment that comes to mind for me was reading the metaphor of the digital immigrant and digital native set forth by author Marc Prensky. It helped me realize how wide the gap between school and life has become for our students, and heightened my sense of urgency to bridge this gap.

Searching for...

The Eric Carle Picture Writer VHS...
It's referred to in "About the Authors" and sounds like a great resource/activity.
The Eric Carle Museum lists it as out of stock and Amazon has it going for $93.54+ !!!!
Does anyone have it or know if we have a copy somewhere in the district?

Looking for a co-host...

I'm hosting an inservice session on using technology with first graders. Are there any interested first grade teachers who'd like to host this with me? The date is November 6th. I need one first grade teacher who'd be willing to work with me. Jennifer Kling K-5 Technology (coolpen16)

Trying to Simplify with Technology

I am waiting for my first class to come and thinking of first grade at the same time. First graders are so excited about school and learning with their teachers. It's a difficult grade to teach because you are constantly on in the room and there isn't much down time to recharge.

Maybe the computer lab could help. On the school's computers there is an icon of a penguin. The penguin stands for a program called TUX PAINT. It fascinates most first graders. It is also a way for them to respond to their learning. I've used it to complete a math benchmark about patterns because it has so many great stamps. The stamps change size, orientation and are easily erased and fixed so the first grader doesn't have to rub a whole in the pencil to change their mind. I used it with first graders to respond to an author study too. The kids drew pictures of the book characters and setting. Jennifer Kling (coolpen16)