Cornell Notes Template

I recently reworked a Cornell Notes Template I had found to work with my 4th and 5th graders.  We use this template to help take notes as we are researching or gathering information from a video.

Google App Lesson Summary

I have been enjoying participating in a Google class. One of the criteria for the class is to develop a lesson that integrates two different Google Apps. My lesson summary is linked here.  My students will begin studying rockets. Our introductory lesson is to learn about the history of rockets and make a PowToon presentation to present their findings.  Students will use the app, Video.notes to watch a movie on rockets and take notes.  They will then use the PowToon app to make their presentations.

Google Apps

I have been participating in an online Google Class.  This last week we  discussed Google Apps for education.  I am a strong Google fan.  I like the ease of the integration of their different programs. My students love Google Classroom. They like the ease of  turning in assignments made in their drive.  So for me this week of apps has been wonderful.  I decided to use the Powtoon app.  I created a video on the forces of flight to use with my 4th graders.  Take a look at my video. My students loved the video and were very excited about using PowToons for their presentations.  Powtoons is an easy presentation tool that is free.

Google Search Challenge

Google Search Challenge

I recently started taking a Google class to learn more about Google. I love to use Google Drive, apps and add-ons, Blogger, Sites, and Google Classroom with my students. I had taken several classes on Google Docs, Slides, Forms, and Sheets previously from Powerful Learning Practice. This new class is offered through my district. I think after this last weeks session I may finally have Google Search tips down.  I have never been good at search challenges is the past.  Here is a sample of a Google Search I made for my 5th grade students to complete during their Ancient Civilization unit.
Google Search Challenge
I also ran across this Google Search Cheat sheet by Free Technology for Teachers.  It's a great help for students.

Course Reflection: Powerful Learning Practice's Online and Blended Learning eCourse

I have had the privilege of collaborating and learning with a fantastic group of educators through Powerful Learning Practice's Online and Blended Learning eCourse for the last 10 weeks.  I have participated in other Powerful Learning Practice's eCourses in the past.  I have always enjoyed the courses and felt them to be worthwhile. When the Online and Blended Learning eCourse was advertised I decide to sign up.  I have always enjoyed learning from other educators both in the my building and outside my classroom walls.  What I didn't realize at the time was how thought provoking this class would be for me.  I have not only learned of Online Learning but, I also have became connected with educators outside the United States.  I truly have became a connected learner.

This class has offered me some Ah-Ha's. Here are just a few.

My take away Ah-Ha's ....

• Partnership-Teachers and students need to be partners.  I used to pride myself on being a facilitator of my student's learning. I was not a traditional teacher asking students to complete this worksheet with limited choices.  I felt that I was helping my students take charge of their learning. Was I  really accomplishing my goal though?  According to A Rich Seam: How New Pedagogies Find Deeper Learning  I was missing the mark.  This report explains the relationship between teachers and students as a partnerships.  This partnership allows students to take ownership of their learning thus allowing for deeper learning to take place.  A partnership provides and environment of mutual respect and reliance on one another to accomplish student goals.  Students have true ownership of their learning. 
• Community- I have always felt that community was very important to the success of learners. Learners need a sense of security to reach their full learning potential. There needs to be an atmosphere of collaboration,  acceptance, understanding, and mutual respect. The sense of community was reinforced to me during my time participating in this eCourse.  Community was built from day one and continued to the very end. I have never been sad to see a class come to an end before. I truly will miss the Monday discussions that pushed my thinking further and allowed for my professional growth.
• How to write a syllabus-I have never had to write a syllabus prior to taking this course. I must admit I still have a long way to go to being an expert on syllabus writing. With this being said I will say that I gained some wonderful ideas. The most important idea I walked away with was allowing students to have a voice in the course.  As I stated above in my first bullet partnership is critical to the success of a course. Allowing students to assist in what the class becomes is important to the deeper learning that can occur.

Now what....

• Community and Collaboration- Since the completion of this class I have reflected on my professional learning network.  I want to continue to build a community that I can feel comfortable sharing ideas and learning. I have participated in Twitter chats and would love to start a chat of my own.  I want to continue to grow as a learner so I can push my own student's thinking to deeper levels.  I hope to stay in contact with everyone from the class as well.
• Partnership-I have began to be more systematic in my  talk with my students about Growth Mindsets and the need for effort in accomplishing goals. I view our learning time together different. I am no longer a facilitator but a partner. I am hearing commits from my students such as "Wow, This is fun. We can accomplish this on our own, but I know Mrs. Morris is here to help when I need help." of " I am having a hard time finding the information on this can you assist me?"  Don't get me wrong my students always had ownership in their learning.  Now it's just a deeper level of ownership and collaboration between all of us.

Middle School Connections Template

More and more research has been conducted on the importance of student's sense of community and achievement. Students with a higher sense of belonging to a class have been associated with higher expediencies of success and  higher perceptions of class content to be interesting,useful, and important. One area that students often struggle is the transition between Elementary and Middle School.  These transitions can create great anxiety in students. The sense of belonging and community has to start again.  Students are often left wondering, "Will I fit in at Middle School? Will I have classes with my friends?"  I have struggled with this transitions for my Gifted Students. I have asked myself," How can I ease my students transition to Middle School?" Thanks to technology I have came up with a beginning step to help my students transition.

I have teamed up with the Middle School Gifted Educator that my students will have in middle school. We are connecting my 5th graders with her 6th and 7th graders via social networking to allow them to build relationships that will allow my students to have a contact person to go to when they have questions. I have created a simple Google Doc template to start our conversations. Once we have a sense of how to communicate then the goal is to move to a social networking site to further the connections.

I have attached my simple template.