But I’m moving again. It’s rather exciting, actually. I decided to purchase the domain for my blog, so from now on you can find me at:
I have some work left to do to get the blog completely set up the way I want it, but I’ll have to do that a little bit at a time…at least until the school year is over. I hope to see you over at my new place!
Before you head over there, check out this wonderful Google Search Story from one of my seventh graders:
My seventh graders and I went to “The Big City” yesterday on a field trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). A side note: have you ever tried explaining modern art to a group of middle schoolers? Not an easy task, let me tell you! Of course, it doesn’t help that I often have trouble understanding modern art myself. Ah well. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day in the city for any kind of field trip!
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
So, it’s time to start planning our next field trip. Since my credential is for social studies, I think our next trip should be to someplace historical. Somewhere that my students can hopefully gain an appreciation for the difficulties faced by their ancestors. I was thinking about this while out running errands this afternoon when I had what can only be described as a lightning bolt to my brain! Of course! The perfect place for my students to experience history is right in our own backyard:
For the Historical Record
But seriously…how many of our students have actually used one of these?!
Tags: field trips
Tonight (Monday, April 19th), the PBS series American Experience will premiere the Robert Stone film Earth Days: The Seeds of a Revolution. This Thursday, April 22nd, marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and this film provides an excellent starting point for a discussion about Earth Day and the history of the environmental movement around the world. The following is a brief trailer for tonight’s film:
Teachers may find the Earth Days Teacher’s Guides particularly useful, along with:
Earthcast is a 24-hour global webcast held on Earth Day that hopes to foster a global conversation on the issues that face all of us. To find out more about the webcast and how you can get involved, visit the Earthbridges wiki. Other information and ways to get involved can be found here:
Here are some other Earth Day resources I’ve been collecting:
[I'll be adding more links to this list, so check back! If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. Thanks!]
[cross-posted from Just A Thought blog]
I’m just sitting here in my nice quiet classroom trying to do a little reflecting on my day, and I’m really not sure what to make of it. Today had moments that made me want to pull my hair out (which I’m really trying to avoid as I’m letting my hair grow out right now), moments of joy and laughter, and moments of total embarrassment for the teacher. Well, just one embarrassing moment, really, but it was a good one!
Where to begin…
I began my day by introducing the seventh graders to a new website that I think is pretty slick for research, and showing them a quick video that explains some of the new changes in Google Docs. I’m not sure which one we were more excited about! Google has finally added a chat feature for Docs, so now my students can chat while working on a document. You know middle schoolers will love anything that includes the word “chat”!
We’re also very excited about now having real-time collaboration abilities in Docs. My students will be able to see the changes their group-mates are making on a document as they’re making them. We’ve had too many issues with students writing over one another in Docs because they can’t tell where another person is writing at any given time. That has been changed! This is the video I showed my seventh graders this morning that explains these changes as well as the addition of Google Drawings:
I’m not sure what it says about me, but the fact that Google is adding rulers and tab stops to its documents made me happier than the new chat feature made my students. [It is NOT necessary for any students of mine who may happen upon this blog to offer their opinions of what this says about their teacher! Thank you.]
What I showed the kids next is a website I can’t wait to start using with them! I’d heard about this new search engine when it came out, but the best I could do at the time was to bookmark it for checking into later. Late last night I watched one of the videos posted on the WolframAlpha site that explains how teachers can use this new tool. I found my way there after clicking on the link that Shannon Smith shared on Plurk. Turns out, Shannon and her mom, Nancy Brachbill, are two of the teachers in the video which I just thought was too cool for words! You can find the videos at WolframAlpha for Educators.
After watching one of the videos last night, I decided to play with the site a little bit [it was almost midnight...I really should have been asleep by then, but you know what they say about us edtech geeks and our new "toys"!] One of the first things I searched for was my date of birth. I know, I know…it’s all about me, isn’t it! So, I typed in this:
And the first thing I saw:
Oh, come on…you know it’s the first thing you’re going to do when you check out the site, aren’t you!
Well, one of the first things that Shannon mentioned in her video was using WolframAlpha to search for vocabulary words. What a great idea! So, this morning when I was demonstrating the site for my seventh graders, I asked one of them to give me one of their words; you can see the results here:
As someone who enjoys writing poetry, I was especially excited to see, and show my students, that the search results include a list of words that rhyme with the search term. [Stick with me...this will come back to bite me later in the morning.] Of course, mentioning to my seventh graders that it provided rhyming words led at least one boy to call out, “Type in ‘orange’!!”
Oh brother.
My seventh graders are currently finishing up giving their presentations about Africa. Each student researched a different African country and created a powerpoint to share what they’d learned in their research. I’m so proud of my students; they have done an amazing job with their presentations! But it took me all of about 30 seconds using WolframAlpha to realize that their research time probably could have been cut in half if we would have been using this wonderful tool. Here, try this and see what information just one search can provide you:
I’m sure you’ll have roughly the same reaction that my seventh graders and I had this morning. Whoa! “Dude, that’s totally awesome!!” Yeah, thanks Devin.
I tried to avoid the gazes of those students who were shooting me death glares. “You couldn’t have found out about this before we spent 50 gazillion hours on this project???”
Sorry.
Fast forward about two hours…time for eighth graders. They are currently working on a research project about the Civil War, so I wanted to share with them this same website. I shared with them the birth date search…middle schoolers just love hearing how old and decrepit their teacher is. Then I asked for someone to give me a name to search for. “Bob.”
Sigh.
I think I need a little more than that.
“Robert.”
No, seriously. I swear I live in a cartoon. I’m just waiting for that darn anvil to drop. [It's coming, by the way.]
I decided to show them how to search for their vocabulary words. I asked an eighth grader to give me one of their words, and the first one that came to mind was “vex.” [Don't get ahead of me, here.]
Now, picture me standing there in front of my ActivBoard, sharing this wonderful new website, thinking it’s just the coolest thing since the invention of the modem; I haven’t a clue. No, it doesn’t even enter my mind that I am about to show a list of words that rhyme with “vex” to 34 soon-to-be giggling eighth graders. No, no…I proceed with “so if you’re writing some fabulous poetry and you need to find a word that rhymes with ‘vex’…”
That’s when I saw it. The word that shall not be named. At least not in my blog that would eventually be spammed by who-knows-how-many who-knows-what-kinds of websites. I kept my face turned toward the board for a moment or two, but I’m sure the bright red glow from my face bounced right off that board toward all of my now-giggling students.
I tried to make like I had planned that all along by quickly adding, “Of course, I’m not really sure any of us wants to see what kinds of poems you can create with these words.” But my brain was already composing a limerick or two while they continued to giggle.
Ok, one last search…somebody give me the name of a battle. [Quick!!]
“Wilderness!”
God love ya, George and Zane!
Joy and Laughter
There were at least a few moments of joy and laughter today. One of my favorites occurred during lunch recess. No, I wasn’t shooting hoops, although I really wanted to. I had my camera in hand, and didn’t feel like risking dropping it. I was taking some pictures when Kate ran by me, chasing after another student and yelling in a “we’re just regular kids having some good old-fashioned ‘tag you’re it’ kind of fun.” Well, she nearly took out the teacher as she ran by, so I yelled out “Kate!!” That’s when this quietest of quiet, reserved to the point of being almost hidden, students stopped, turned, ran back to me, threw her arms around me, and yelled “I love you, McTeach!!”
Oh, geez. “I love you, too. Now, get off!”
Laughter ensued.
“Oh, McTeachy!!”
Sigh.
Just another typical day in middle school.
Tags: GoogleDocs·Students·WolframAlpha
Students aren’t the only ones who like to pull April Fool’s Day pranks, you know:
Tags: YouTube
Or do any other middle school teachers find themselves faced with correcting the spelling of “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”? Why is it that seventh grade boys, especially, are obsessed with being able to use this word in their writing? Is it just because they can?
Well, I’ve come up with a plan. It may be considered student abuse, but I’ll do anything to make my students BETTER writers! So, here’s the plan…I’m going to play this video over and over and over until they cry Uncle!! Bwa-ha-ha!!!!
Tags: Mary Poppins·videos
I thought I would share a few more text poems that were written by my seventh graders. Some of the poems I’ve read were surprisingly beautiful! Is texting a valid form of expression? After reading these, I dare you to say “no”!
Luv
Thy look at echoter
Trn awy.
Look agin,
Turn awy.
Thy act lyk thy don’t lyk echoter,
But u can c it in their i’s.
She 
’s
He :)’s.
Ths is their rutine.
It hppns evryday/
Thy act lyk thy don’t ntice echoter,
But thy rlly luv echoter.
it’s tru n u c it evryday.
by Adriana
Sounds like the perfect description of a middle school crush, doesn’t it? Please excuse the all-caps of this next poem, but it was just too amazing to not share.
TXT POEM
LITNIN STRIKS FROM THE BLANKET OF DRKNESS
BRINGIN A FLASH OF LITE
A REDWUD TREE IS ITS NXT VICTM
SPLTIN IT INTO 2
THE 2 SPLT SIDES REACH 4 THE SKY OPENIN IT’S ARMS 2 HEVIN
ANTHER LITNIN BOLT FALLS FROM THE SKY
HITTIN A GRASY FIELD
A FIRE SPROUTS FROM THE LONG YLLOW GRAS
SENDIN UP SMOKE AND ASH
THE FIRE TWIST N TURNS IN THE NITE
IN A REDISH ORNGE LITE
THE FLMES LIC THE EDGS OF THE DRKNESS
WHILE THE FIRE QUICKLY SPREADS
THE FIRE REMAINS TO BURN
WHILE THE STORMS SEEMS 2 NVR END
CHAOS STRTS TO SPRED THRO THE FOREST
WHILE THE ANMALS RUN N HIDE
CUZ NO ONE WNTS 2 B IN THE WAY WEN A FIRE COMS OUT 2 PLAY
by Megan
I have some deep thinkers in this class…many deep thinkers, actually. It’s exhausting. My brain often hurts.
Wat Wud i SA
Evry1 wants da chnce 2 b herd,
4 ppl 2 lisen, when dey speek deir wurds.
i’ve said it mslf, mny tyms b4,
Bt now i think, wat wud i speek 4?
i have so mch 2 get out, if i ever come 2 da day.
Bt if i do get da chnce, i wunder, wat wud i sA
Wud i speek of my God, and his all healing pwr.
How he wants us 2 trust him, nt cwer.
Or wud i speek of understanding
Da pwr of listening 2 my surroundings.
Or mayb of love and hope and faith.
Or how i have ben changed by da goodness of da human race.
Evry1 wants da chnce 2 be herd,
4 ppl 2 lisen, when they speek deir wrds.
i’ve said it mslf, mny tyms b4,
Bt now i think, wat wud i speek 4.
i have so mch 2 get out, if i ever come 2 da day.
Bt if i do get da chnce, i wunder, wat wud i sA?
by Colleen
Feel
I wlk alng the old nd rsty railrd trcks,
Kckng stns whle wlkng silntly witout a thght in my hd.
I c the lke 2 my lft glimr in the snlite,
Bt I do nt stp to behld its beuty, 4 I hve a mtting.
Instd I kp on wlkng,
yt no thght in my hd.
Nd as I grw closr 2 the forst,
Drknss sprds ovr the lnd as if a blnkt.
Bt yt no thght in my head,
Jst a…. Feelng.
1 tht no scientst cud xplane,
Bt I knw tht ths feelng ws ldng me somwhr.
A plc of whch I do not knw.
Bt I do knw tht ths gut feelng tht I hve is no ordnry feelng,
Bt yt it is.
The strng thng is, is tht I knew wht it ws,
Nd as I grw clser 2 tht drk forst, with no nd to its drknss,
Ths feelng bilds 2 the pnt of no nd.
Bt as I look bck I reliz tht I hav trvled no whr.
So now I wait 4 the drknss to grb hld of me,
Because ths feelng hs no mrcy.
The feelng tht 1 mst lt go of,
1 I can’t ovrcom
….Fear
by Nick M.
Of course, not everyone is skilled at texting. Jack can explain why:
Jus a fone
Evry1z got a fone
Itz as smpl as that
No mattr where I look
Im da only1 w/out
Common mom n dad
Plz I beg u
Just 60 buks a munth wont kill u
it’s a teenage necessity
I shuldnt need 2 giv any mor xplanation than that
Wen u pay urself day say
But by the time I reach in my own wllt
It just mite b my 30th bday!
by Jack M.
One more before I go…and this one is just plain fun! Thanks Dominic!
Tags: poetry
My students and I have been having some fun with poetry lately. I provided them with five of my all-time favorite poems and then proceeded to discuss with them what we look for in poems, how to interpret poems, how to read poems out loud. I waited for their eyes to start glazing over and then I sprang the assignment on them!
“You need to re-write one of these poems using text lingo!”
There was a “wait…is she serious?!” pause, and then they erupted! “NO WAY!!” “OH COOL!!”
I paired them up and set them to work. It got a bit loud in my classroom that morning, but it was a fun kind of loud! And, as I wandered around the room, it was all pretty much on topic. They really needed to understand the poem and what the poet was saying before they could re-write the piece. I was stopped a number of times by students who said, “But no one will be able to understand what these say!”
“That’s okay. The point is you REALLY know what the poet was saying!”
The Road Not Taken...sort of
If you stop by my classroom anytime soon, you can see all of their text poetry hanging in my classroom window. It’s gotten a lot of attention! But…on to phase two of this assignment!
After working with a partner, it was time to write a poem on their own. And, yes, they were using text lingo for this poem as well. An original piece of their own creation…all in txt. The first question I got was, “Can we text it to you?!!” That one was met with a rousing chorus of “Oh yeahs!” and “great idea!” My response:
“I am NOT giving my cell phone number out to 36 seventh grade goofballs!!”
“Oh, come on, McTeachy, you know you love us!”
Bah!
Anyway…they’re supposed to be adding their text poems to their blogs this weekend. I think it’s going to be tough to compete with the very first poem I read this morning by Annalee:
i run az fast az i can.
tryin 2 get away frm tha crazines.
i hear thm bhnd me
hu u ask
erasers
tha demns on erth
i stp at tha end uf tha clif n jmp
tha erasers hv cot up 2 me n r clawin at mi ft 2 pul me bak down 2 hell
i unflded my wngs,
feelin tha cool breeze go thru my fethers
i fly
i am a mutnt
bt i am myslf
anale
Oh, how I do love this assignment! Fun with poetry…and it’s not even April yet!!
Tags: twitter
Your planet has a special Valentine’s Day message for you…
Special thanks to @jackiegerstein for sharing this on Twitter this morning.
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