We also learned how to post a comment on our blog and reviewed what makes for a quality comment (from the video by Mrs. Yollis' 3rd grade students from Los Angeles, California: How to Compose a Quality Comment, http://vimeo.com/15695021about.) The students then wrote a rough draft of their own comment and posted it on our Rotation D blog. They did a wonderful job! If you have a moment, check out their thoughts.
I explained that our blog is an academic blog and should not be used as a social network. I want to avoid students spending large amounts of time just socializing here. I want them to post comments on their learning and "Ah Ha!" moments. The source of their learning and revelations can be from within or outside of school. Ideally, I would like to see students post a comment from home once or twice a week. In the beginning, their comments may not be very sophisticated. With instruction, practice and encouragement, your child will gain a desire to share their ideas and opinions with others and the skills to do it through our blog. Blogging provides a real world platform for students to improve not only their reading and writing skills, but also the technology skills 21st Century Learners will need.
Please encourage your child to share their enthusiasm and experiences from rich learning moments. At this age, they will need your support and assistance with proof reading their comments prior to clicking that "publish" button. In the next week or so, I will try to get a screen cast tutorial made on how to post a comment to our blog for those parents and grandparents that would like directions. By all means, encourage your child's grandparents, aunts, uncles and other interested adults to post their thoughts on our blog! I am looking forward to hearing from you all!
We have struggled with problems between Internet Explorer and Blogger. From my research, Safari and FireFox seem to be a good match to Blogger, but IE has had problems working with it. Many of you may have tried to post a comment only to have it erased, without your post going through. Thanks to our IT department, I think we have finally found a "fix." Please let me know if you are ever having difficulties with the blog. A lot of this is new for me too, so in some cases, the kids and I are learning together. (I hope you don't mind being dragged along with us!) If you have a working knowledge of blogs and have any suggestions or ideas, please pass them along to me!
The students continued their individual work in Math Rules, TOPS Math and Exploratory today. Ask your child about their current task. I continue to encourage them to take their time for their personal best effort. In the afternoon, they learned/reviewed the rules for brainstorming. They individually "things you might find in a pocket." They were very fluent and original in their ideas!
We ended our day with a Quirkles Science lesson on Inquisitive Inman. Check out our new vocabulary words and our experiment in the slide show I am posting today.
Have a great week!
The students continued their individual work in Math Rules, TOPS Math and Exploratory today. Ask your child about their current task. I continue to encourage them to take their time for their personal best effort. In the afternoon, they learned/reviewed the rules for brainstorming. They individually "things you might find in a pocket." They were very fluent and original in their ideas!
We ended our day with a Quirkles Science lesson on Inquisitive Inman. Check out our new vocabulary words and our experiment in the slide show I am posting today.
Have a great week!
My aha moment was when I was in my basement. I found out I can walk under the stairs. My dad is rebuilding the basement.
ReplyDeleteCaleb
Hi Caleb,
ReplyDeleteTell me more about what you learned. Was the space below your stairs opened recently? Was it closed in before the remodeling project?
Well, there was a bathroom, so I couldn't get under the stairs. We tore out the shower in the bathroom and how I can walk under the stairs. I want to install a secret door between the new shower and the space under the stairs, but my dad says, "No way!"
ReplyDeleteCaleb