Dear Diary...

"Dear Diary --

It has come to my attention that the humans in this place have lost their minds completely.  Not only do they eat things that look suspiciously like plants, but the real madness is that they don't play with it first. And then, unlike sane humans who gather in dignified circles to discuss the books they read, these humans stand around and flail their limbs while listening to a raucous din that issues from the ceiling.

There is no wisdom in this room."

These cats could learn a lot from Michelle's workshop on using Blogs to disseminate their reflections!  Michelle offered some great tools and loads of supporting research in her presentation, and I for one am looking forward to trying out a thing or two.  Don't forget to comment on her blog and take advantage of the great resources there.  Marianna proceeded to educate us in the pitfalls of executive function, especially in relation to writing.  This highly informative workshop should spark all of to pay closer attention to helping our students learn and use strategies to help them be successful writers -- to keep them from succumbing to the opinion of Renee's young student: "I hate writing."  

During TMT this morning, Patricia introduced us to Teaching Channel , and Renee told us a bit about how she uses Blogger as a class page for her students and their families.  Some of the great resources available on Renee's blog are Spelling City and Storybird.  In the afternoon, we will hear from Tisha, Julie, Mary and Alan.  Can't wait!  At the end of the day, we will "sing the song of our people."

Bee Blogging

Here is the link to my blog, beemusement

Please explore my blog site then choose one to which you feel compelled to post a comment in reply. Your reply might be a reaction to the bee happenings discussed or you might have clarifying questions. Many thanks!

Additionally, here is the link to a survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VMXBC7D

Please give me your feedback about my blog: recommendations, comments, questions!

Again, many thanks.

Professional Writing Path

I have shared my first teaching and learning post with my staff!  Recently, we gave a narrative writing prompt at my elementary school.  Many teachers were wondering how they could take the assessment and feedback and use it with students in a meaningful way after the prompt had been given.  This inquiry led me to write about some ways that I could envision doing this work with young writers.  I used a tech tool called smore.com to make a flyer that I could electronically distribute to my staff and send out via Twitter.  So far, I have received positive feedback from teachers at my school!

Closing Moment: Thoughts to keep us all going...nevermind the other guy!

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."


In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:


1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason.  You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue.
For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off."

Reading Comprehension "Fix Up" Strategies

• Pg 51: “Fix Up” Strategies when students get confused on what they are reading from I Read It, But I Don’t Get It:

• Make a connection between the text and your life, knowledge of the world, or another text
• Predict what’s going to happen next
• Stop and think about what you’ve already read
• Ask yourself a question and try to answer it
• Reflect in writing on what you have read
• Visualize
• Use print conventions
• Retell what you’ve read
• Reread
• Notice patterns in text structure
• Adjust your reading rate- slow down or speed up

I just wanted to share a very cool thing about one of your fellow-Fellows:  for her non-fiction portfolio piece, Alisha wrote an op-ed on the importance of teaching students digital citizenship skills, which she submitted to the Portland Press Herald.  The paper's editor(s) chose to run Alisha's piece!  If you didn't see it, click here for a link to this great success.  Congrats, Alisha!