Category Archives: CHALLENGE2011

Challenge2011 #6

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ani-3Blogging is as easy as 1…2…3!  That’s exactly what we did and enjoyed every blogging minute of it!  The Challenge2011 #6 invited us to visit various blogs. Our students stepped up again this year!  One of the blogs that we visited was created by Hannah. First of all, we loved her background! The jellybeans were awesome! We were very interested in her tradition that she wrote about. Be sure to visit Hannah’s Hacienda!

The next blog that we visited belonged to Jazz.  We read about a tryatholon that they had at school. Congrats to his team, they came in 3rd place. Read all about it and more at Jazz’s Blog!

Finally, our third blog to visit was the interesting blog created by Kylee. She told us all about Courtenay in Canada where she lives.  It sounds like a fun place to visit on a vacation. Our students really liked taking part in her poll voting for the most interesting thing to do in Courtenay. We pretty much agreed…go rock climbing! Be sure to vote when you visit Kylee’s Blog.

Challenge2011 #7

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One of the activities in Challenge2011 #7 was to write about how we commemorate those who fight for our freedoms.  Well this could not have come at a better time. We have a fifth grade student whose father is serving in the Navy in Afghanistan. The fifth grade language arts teacher, Mrs. Ganong, arranged to Skype between this student’s father and the entire fifth grade level. Students gathered questions and made the plan. Newspapers were called and local reporters came to document the event. Our superintendent, Mr. Gilbert, also attended the Skyping session. He made the statement:

“It was great to see our students using technology to solve real world problems. Having a parent on the other side of the world is very difficult for our military children. Mrs. Ganong changed a problem into an educational opportunity for the fifth grade students at White Oak Intermediate. Not only did a family get to connect via Skype but our students received lessons on geography, time zones, military life, climate and the list goes on. All of this took place in 45 minutes! Thank you to the Boudreauxs’ for sharing this moment with the fifth graders at WOISD.”

We recorded it all on our Flip video camera and edited it in iMovie. Please watch the entire clip as his wife is the final person to whom he speaks. It was a moving experience for everyone involved.

Challenge2011 #5 – Zoom Out

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From the Challenge2011 #5 and Miss Wyatt’s post we read:

Checking out many of the posts from last week, I noticed that quite a few students are starting to include images in their posts. Images certainly make posts more interesting to read especially when the image relates to the information in the post.

Can you use any images that are on the internet? The answer is definitely NO!!

But can’t I just go to Google search and use images from there? The answer is definitely NO!!

Sue Waters has an excellent post that provides direction and information regarding COPYRIGHT. She has also posted the image below  that explains the Creative Commons variations.

Image provided by Sue Waters

Image provided by Sue Waters

Another source of invaluable information comes from Kathleen Morris‘ classroom blog. We have added her site to our blogroll.

If you need pictorial directions for inserting images into your blog, Sue Waters gives a step-by-step visual guide in her blog post.

We have chosen as the second part of this week’s challenge to do the Zoom Out Activity 5.  Mrs. Odom and I have posted our pictures on the right sidebar of our blog under the heading of C-O Creators.  Mrs. Odom came to me and said that we needed to post a new picture.  After giving it much thought, we did exactly that, but using the Zoom Out technique.

2011-05-04_1002Mrs. Odom and I have a very special friendship that compares to another partnership of times past. Click on the small snapshot to see what we could be our alter egos.  If you recognize the people in Zoom Out picture, please leave us a comment and tell us why you think we might have chosen this pair.

Challenge2011 #3

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globe internetOur class is not unfamiliar with global collaboration activities. Per the Challenge2011 #3, we will list and link just a few:

Included on the left sidebar is a translation widget that our readers can use to translate our page into 37 languages. We have used a widget similar to this when reading and commenting on Stora Ines classroom blog from Portugal.  Our students have been amazed at how this translator works.

So off we go to visit blogs from ten different countries. Below are listed the blogs on which we have left comments as part of the Challenge2011 #3:

  1. Ric MacDonald – Australia – Great Avatar Picture Trail
  2. Sue Williams – New Zealand – Excellent use of Wikis to set up an online learning environment
  3. School in Paranaque – Phillipines – A little difficult at first to find the posting, but some really unique ideas.
  4. Jayme Johnson – United States – A third grade teacher who is obviously building 21st century learners in the classroom. Kudos.
  5. Section 6-Sabanci University – Turkey – An interesting mix of ideas and a good use of Glogster posters in blog postings.
  6. Laura Chesebro – Thailand – What a wonderful idea to include pictures of parents from parents’ night right on your blog! Doing that!
  7. Climb High – Canada – Focused on Students.
  8. Brilliant Bloggers – United Kingdom – It is fun to read beginning bloggers. Good job here.
  9. Aurora Risdon – Malaysia – I particularly loved the “comment scale” rating on this blog and the resources for students with special needs.
  10. Jon Hoff – Vietnam – A small American school in Vietnam. It is intriguing to read about other schools

Challenge2011 #2

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Rules for Commenting and Posting

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Our outstanding Computer Lab Teacher, Nina Peery, has established the Intermediate Students’ Rules for Commenting for our campus.

Mrs. Peery’s Lesson on digital citizenship is published in her Moodle Course, Technology with Mrs. Peery, under Digital Footprint Lessons. As a reminder of what she has taught, you may want to watch a review of Get Cybersmart with Phineas and Ferb.

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Before posting a comment on someone’s blog or creative work, read the comment and ask yourself these questions:

(If you cannot answer each question according to the answer given, change your comment or do not post!)

1) Would I say that to the person face-to-face? Yes

2) Would I say that to the person’s parent? Yes

3) Would I say that to the principal or teacher of this person? Yes

4) Does my comment make sense? Yes

5) Is my comment useful? Yes

6) Is my comment kind? Yes

7) Did I read over the comment and correct spelling and punctuation errors? Yes

Never include your last name or any other personal information about yourself when you leave a comment!

We hope that the students and classes involved in the Challenge2011 will benefit from some of our guidelines.

Challenge2011 #1

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blog challenge 2011

We joined the Challenge Yourself to Blog but have gotten off to a slow start. Our state assessments are upon us and we have been concentrating on some required skills. Today we begin to play catch-up with our challenges beginning with Challenge2011 #1.

We were challenged in the fall to change our theme, and after giving it great consideration decided to give it a face change. Each month we create a customized header to reflect both our class personality and the season. It has really brought an interesting aspect to our blog from our perspective, and hopefully it has attracted new visitors to our site.

Our “About Page” is entitled Meet Our Class and is located across the top of our blog page.  We really would love for you to visit and read a little bit about the history of our beginning with our most recent students. We have so many helpful widgets on the sidebar that we have decided to utilize the page tabs across the top of the page instead of a Page Widget.

Why should you visit our blog? There is just not enough space here to list all the reasons. First of all, the pages across the top tabs.

  • Assignments – On this page students are given opportunities to use a student database for online research. They visit our subscription site after printing out their questions. Students are self-guided and actively engaged while learning to use the web to find information.
  • Commenting – Our computer lab teacher, Nina Peery, does a fantastic job of introducing our students to internet safety. Her course has earned a spot on our blog pages. If you do not have a plan for keeping your students safe, I highly recommend her site.
  • Games – Sometimes our students have a few minutes at the end or beginning of class and we have found a way to use every spare moment for engaged learning. On this page there are over 85 games and educational sites in all core subjects. Our students love it and know that as long as this page is present they never have a reason to be “bored” —at school or even at home.
  • Holiday Heyday – This page is quite unique. We discovered that some of the basic calendar skills which we assumed our students knew, they in fact did not. This page gives them an opportunity to review these by using a printed pdf and the current calendar. Also by following the hyperlink for each month, the students (and teachers) have uncovered some unusual national holidays. Seasonal games sites are also linked to this page to accommodate those students who work and finish more quickly than others.

In short, You should visit our blog because it is full of educational opportunities that go why beyond the regular blog posts. All you need to do it just turn the page.

Thank you, Miss W, for a chance to share our blog with the world.