Spring (???) Break

Alright, Spring Break has started and it is NOT nice outside, so I probably should be starting that painting project I said I would. BUT, really, I am having way too much fun doing some recon on some new apps I just learned about (thank you EdTechTeacher videos!).

On my second day of break I got a call to sub in a district I worked in awhile ago.  It was fun to see many of the students I taught and even more fun that they remembered me and were excited to see me!  

Well, I used the opportunity to create a mash up to share with the teacher. I loved that I could create several of the pieces using my phone while waiting for my son at the dentist appointment. It's so easy to create wherever I am, on whatever device I have available.  I sent her a Thinglink of the update.  I created a Google doc with quick recap for each class, included pictures of the students' work on the board, linked audio files of the 7th graders asking questions in Spanish, that I then used with the 5th graders (my Spanish pronunciation is not so great) and I created a ChatterPix of Nemo giving an update for the 5th grade classes.  And finally, I included a corndog (just an image, not the real, tasty thing) for the teacher and the link to Kid President, as a nice reminder  (and chuckle) of 20 things we should say more often, including "Here is a surprise corndog I bought you, because you're my friend."

Check it out:

http://www.thinglink.com/scene/512422514417205249 

Role Models

If we want students to read, to write, to create, we need to model this behavior. I recently attended a conference and came back energized. Well, the day-to-day activities quickly took over. I had a chance to sit in the sun today and refocus. I decided to "create" and "share" what I learned. I used a fun tool that I discovered over a year ago. It's called Powtoon and it is fun, entertaining and it brought me great joy today. Here is my Powtoon creation to communicate 4 things I played with at the conference that I wanted to share with my school. I hope it brings joy to you too!