Our second STEAM Friday was a success (thanks to Teachers are Terrific)!! The kids worked in groups to build bridges using only toothpicks, marshmallows and one piece of paper.  This was their second attempt building suspension bridges (last week they used straws, paper clips and 2 index cards) so …

I can’t believe summer has already come to an end!  It went so fast, but I have to remind myself that not everyone gets two months off so I need to be thankful for the time I did have!  :)

I am excited to start this year because we are …

This week we read the story of Perseus and Medusa.  While it seemed a little gory for some of the girls, the boys all loved it!  I asked the students to write about their favorite person so far and as you can see, Perseus is the favorite!
My favorite person…

As we near the end of another school year, I decided I wanted to branch out from our current curriculum.  I remember learning about Greek Mythology when I was in 5th grade and how I loved every second of it.  I figured if I love something this much, maybe my…

Chimpanzees and Gorillas                 Do you know a difference between a Chimpanzee and Gorilla? First, Chimpanzees and Gorillas both don’t have hair on their faces.  Second, Chimpanzees have brown fur, but Gorillas have black fur. Third, Chimpanzees have flexible arms, but Gorillas arms are longer than their legs. Have you…

Basking Shark and Great White Shark You will learn about what Basking shark and great white shark looks like. First, basking shark has no teeth but great white shark have sharp teeth. Next, basking shark and great white shark are both 14 feet big. Then, basking shark swallows his food…

The last few weeks, the students have been researching two animals and writing compare and contrast essays about those animals.  We’ve also been discussing blogging and how when we blog, the whole world can see our work, not just their teacher and parents.  We’ve discussed how motivating it can be …

It’s been way too long since my last blog post, which can only mean one thing…we’ve been busy! The past few weeks the students in my ALD class (academic language development) have been working on research projects.  They first picked their groups, then which topic they wanted to research based …

Wow I can’t believe this journey is over!  It was definitely a course filled with ups and downs, with a lot of frustration but a lot of satisfaction as well.  This final reflection and portfolio showcases my work through the last seven weeks in CU Denver’s Learning with Digital Stories course taught by Professor Remi Holden. By completing this portfolio,…

How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments?

This week, I completed all the assignments and they were on time!  My feelings towards the final chapter were mixed but in the end, I do see how they tied it all together and I really liked…

For this week’s DS106 assignment, I decided to stick with the visual assignments because they are my favorite.  I chose one that might be boring for some, but the application to the classroom could be very powerful.  It is a backyard photo safari that takes viewers on a photo journey …

While reading this chapter I had a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions running through my head.  While the concept of social learning through a masters and teaching cohorts is intriguing and forward thinking, I would be upset if I was paying for a class and I had to learn…

How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignment This week was a little rough for me traveling and being out of the country.  I managed to get all the assignments completed but one was a little late and I wasn’t able to engage with my peers as much…

Let me preface this post by telling you how nearly impossible it’s been to blog from Spain…so much for being global…I couldn’t get wifi to work in the hotel with a computer or an iPad.   I apologize about the lack of links but that’s asking a lot apparently. For…

As I was reading chapter 7 this week I kept thinking how glad I was I became a teacher when I did. Chapter 7 seemed like a play by play of many classes I took through CU Denver’s Urban Teacher Program.  It also tied in nicely from last week’s conversation…

I was worried when I first saw today’s Daily Create that I was going to have to Photoshop a picture in order to get ‘magical light’ but then it said you can just take a picture, much better for me.  I took this photo last week when I was in …

Nice

For this week’s DS106 Assignment we got to choose a topic based on our interest.  I enjoyed the visual assignment I completed a few weeks ago, so I decided to try a new one.  There was one assignment that caught my eye last time but I didn’t take the …

How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments? This week I completed all the assignments but I was a little late posting my Lankshear and Knobel chapter response.  I still received good comments from others so it all worked out!  I was better at…

I was holding out for my last Daily Create and I think they saved the best for last this week. Apparently Benjamin Franklin created The Drinker’s Dictionary which has 228 synonyms for being drunk while he was sitting in a tavern around 1737.  Some of them made me laugh out …

…that is the question!

I chose to respond to Lankshear and Knobel’s chapter 5 this week on blogs and wikis.  I was familiar with blogs from years past but never had my own until recently.  However, I was not familiar with wikis, other than Wikipedia obviously, so that was interesting…

For this week’s digital story critique I decided to keep it upbeat.  I have critiqued some fairly serious stories in previous weeks but Lisa’s Taylor Swift parody inspired me!  I was also looking at Emily’s critique to get some ideas and read about a site called Trailer Cuts on her …

Wow this assignment took me a lot longer than I thought it would and in the end I am only 80% satisfied with the finished product!  Today’s DS106 assignment came in the form of a mashup.  I spent way too long clicking through the choices but I finally chose one.…

I woke up this morning (Happy Monday everyone) and decided to get right to work.  I started with checking The Daily Create and I was so excited by what I found!  Last week I struggled with the idea of remixes and the digital age taking over and possibly replacing the …

Week 4 Reflection How well do you feel you completed the requirements of the week’s assignments? This week I feel like I completed most of the assignments well.  It took me a long time to find a digital story I wanted to critique but in the end I was happy…

Ok, so I was holding out this week for a Daily Create that didn’t involve drawing (in case you missed it, I did a beautiful drawing a few days ago) or making a video.  I was disappointed that there was no fun 4th of July assignment like filming fireworks or …

for my beautiful Daily Create drawing.  Yesterday’s option was to draw ‘your favorite day with your best friend‘ and here it is!

If you couldn’t tell from my wonderful artwork, one of my favorite things to do is hike with my friends and dog, Tag.   I think it…

In the last few weeks, people used photographs for their digital story critiques.  I thought they did a nice job, and I mentioned I wanted to critique a picture myself.  It definitely seemed harder than a video based on Jason Ohler’s criteria, but this week we are focusing on Lankshear …

Chapter 4 Response I remember years ago hearing the word remix and thinking it was strange…why would someone “remix” a song?  I didn’t realize how much the concept has taken off.  It is an interesting argument that Lanskshear and Knobel make, when they say on page 97, that remix is…

I had a lot of fun with the “Dog It Out” DS106 Design assignment this week.  It was frustrating at first to find a good photo editor program…I tried fotor but I couldn’t  figure out how to add clip art and then I tried pixlr but that seemed way too …