Timpanogos Storytelling Festival

A friend of mine got a family pass to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. It was in connection with her blog, Because Babies Grow Up. She offered the ticket to our family if I would write a post for her blog telling about our experience. Here is an e-mail, and the post:

Amber,
You know the story telling festival began today, and I am amazed at how blessed we are that you thought of us to take your ticket. We went to the "Look Who's Talking" event. We heard six storytellers. It was the best entertainment we've seen in, well forever. From touching to hysterical we were enthralled, and tonight was only the"taste of what's to come." Steve's favorite was Bil Lepp who told a story of being chased by 5 wild dogs and 500 prairie dogs while he tried to run away on the 12 ft high stilts he'd built to stand on while he painted the second story windows of his home. Every time Bil would say, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you......." the story became more and more crazy and unbelievable. Steve was banging his head on my knee he was so caught up in the ridiculousness of it all.

Heather Forest told a Jewish folk tale that is the beginning of the phrase "words like feathers fly." Her song has the lyrics "cruel words like feathers fly." I hope she has recorded this story. I want to use it in my elementary school classroom.
Barry and I enjoyed all the tellers but were especially delighted with Carmen Agra Deedy. She told a story that could have happened to any of us, parts of which have happened to all of us, with voices and faces that were.......I can't think of a description, partly because her performance was beyond words and partly because my past-bed-time brain is beyond words.
The kids are especially looking forward to hearing Bill Harley tomorrow. I'm excited for them to have an experience so rich. I was teasing Steve and asked if the show wasn't better than playing PS2. He surprised me by having to debate about which he would rather do: Play PS2 or listen to stories. This tells me that he NEEDS to hear stories.Thank you for the perfect medicine.
I will use part of this email in the blog post I promised. Or if you want to post some of it now feel free. It's not to late for your readers to get tickets. And you can see just one event if you want.http://www.timpfest.org/
Thanks again,
Rebecka
PS I hope you are well, miss you and your sweet girls

Hello again everyone at Because Babies Grow Up! You know that Amber gave our family her weekend pass to the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. I'm trying to decide how to tell you how incredible it was. If you read my email about Thursday night's performance and multiply it by 100 you would have the essence of our experience. The festival definitely has something for everyone. Some tellers are funny, some are inspiring, some are both. Some tell stories from their own lives, some tell beautiful folk and fairy tells, and some tell outrageous tales that started from the truth of their own experiences but grew to the unbelievable.

Story telling is a great way to bring your family together. When you listen to a story together you're changed together. Later when a family member sees a connection between your family's experience and a story you heard together they will make a joke or share the connection and you are drawn together by the experience again.

My girls are 12 and 14, and my son just turned 11. The girls wanted to be at every event. They loved everything. Steven however got tired quickly. A few of the tellers just grabbed him and drew him in, but he was not very patient when he had to listen to tellers who didn't. So I let him stay at home for many of the daytime events. The event that is best suited for young children is Friday night's Bedtime Stories. If you have small children you may want to only take them to that event. If you do take children to the daytime events they might like the puppet shows better. This year there was also a mime and a juggler.

The weekend was jam packed and we were totally exhausted by Sunday morning, but it was worth it. A great thing about the festival is that it begins Thursday evening on labor day weekend, but the last event is Saturday night so you still have Sunday and Monday to recover before you have to go back to work and school. A weekend pass is only $100, which for a family of five or six is a bargain. We are definitely going to make the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival a family tradition. We think you'll like it too.

Differentiation Reading Response

Differentiation in Practice, pp. 1-14
Morning Meeting Packet

My favorite part of the Differentiation in Practice section was the hallmarks of differentiated curriculum. Many of the hallmarks are concepts we've been learning all through our courses: strong link between assessment and instruction, clarity about learning goals, using a variety of student groupings, and purposeful planning. I love how this section could be used by the teacher as a tool for self reflection or assessment.

Morning Meetings are one of the most exciting strategies I've learned about. As a parent I've become increasingly aware of the great importance of class unity, but I have been uncertain how to help students develop it. Last Friday I was able to visit the classroom of a friend who is an intern. I joined their Morning Meeting and was so impressed with the feeling when the students greeted each other by saying, "Welcome, Joseph." I love the idea that MM can set a happy tone for the day and get the children ready to learn. I like the idea of sharing and how it lets children practice showing interest in each other. I can see how it can guide them to caring about each other. I'm sold!

Back to School

So we're back in class. We've been to all of our classes now and here are a few things about the first week:

Dr. Waite, ESL Methods- I've been waiting for this course since I was taking intro to education and exceptional students. I can't wait to know more strategies for helping students who speak a different language. I was hoping to have the same instructor that I had for foundations of multicultural education. I loved the way Dr. Patch let us hash things out among ourselves. He was always reluctant to tell us his personal opinion even though we knew he has strong beliefs. Dr. Wait is much more in your face and I've promised my self not to let that make me feel contentious. The thing I like most about Dr. Wait is how excited he is about his courses. When I had him for into and now for ESL methods he makes us feel like this course covers the most exciting material he's ever taught.

Donna Smith, PE- in the elementary school- Ever since we had art integration methods I've wanted to have more resources and ideas for helping children learn through movement. My favorite thing from the first chapter of the text is about helping children move more during their recesses.

Elaine Tuft, Math Methods- I'm a little nervous about teaching math, but also very excited. I'm looking forward to all of the things we're going to learn in this class. I hope I can be the kind of teacher that helps children be excited about and feel confidant doing math.

Nancy Peterson, Differentiation- It was so much fun to be back in Dr. Peterson's sphere. I bought the Morning Meeting Handbook this summer and couldn't put it down. I believe that fostering unity in the classroom and helping the children to build a community is at the core of being a successful teacher, and I want to soak up everything I can that will help me do that.

Ann Adamson, Classroom Management- "I'm Drat the rat and I wear a yellow hat. If you don't like the color you can change it like that (snap), Because I'm drat the rat...."

Stan Harward, Literacy II- I'm really excited for the professional study groups. Each group chose a book from the list and will read and discuss it over the course and present ideas from the book to the class. My group chose Revisiting the Reading Workshop.

Great Giveaway

Enter to win Free children's museum Tickets at Because Babies Grow Up
http://www.becausebabiesgrowup.com/2009/05/discovery-gateway-childrens-museum.html

Writers Workshop

For our last class periods with Dr. Peterson we had a writer's work shop experience. Here is the book I wrote and published!

I’m hidden underneath the leaves that fell last fall. No longer do they shout for everyone to notice their bold and vibrant colors. Grey as the sky they squish when people pass, a sad murmur compared to the crunching and rustling that filled the air some months ago.

I’m silent and still, no sound escapes my skin. Safe from squirrels and birds, I’m waiting, longing, and resting; dreaming of my secret purpose.

Thoughts fill my mind of warm days to come, bright sun and warm air.

Snow has fallen and melted, fallen and melted, making me worry that it would never be warm. You can no longer tell where last fall’s leaves stop and the soil starts.

The warmth of the sun increases and my body swells as it soaks up the moisture around me.

Roots and leaves come first. I stretch and sigh, finally sharing my secret:

I'm becoming a plant!

Body Bio Ideas

Dr. Peterson brought these examples and ideas for Body Bio projects. Some teachers have the students do body bios of themselves before they do famous people

George Washington with fact or fiction flips


George Washington Carver Grab Bag


Queen Elizabeth I box time line


Eleanor Roosevelt Emotions time line (Left column says Happy, Content, Neutral, Melancholy, Despair)

Abraham Lincoln

Self Selected Activities

For my last 2 hours I visited the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum and checked out thier website. They offer a special program for each grade level that ties into the state curriculem. For each of the programs they have an outline and suggested extension activities. First Grade's can be found at this address: http://mlbean.byu.edu/home/Education/PlantsandPlantGrowthShow.aspx

You can take you class to the museum at no charge or the show will come to you for only $35.

Some interesting things I learned at the museum:
A Giaraffe's gestation period is 450 days!
There is such a thing as a giant clam. It's big enough that it's shell could be used as a small hand sink.
The butterfy collage is made of 1,026 butterflies.

Self selected activities

I searched Orem Public library's catalog for books that go with first grade science topics and add the list of books to my files. I will need to go another time and review the books at the library. I searched for and added more science activities to my blog.

3 1/2 hrs

Self Selected Activiteis

Today I created a digital file of science lesson plans and resources to teach first grade science. I really like first grade, and although I think I will enjoy teaching any grade, first may be my preference. The three main areas of science from the state standards are: Health and Safety, Plants and Plant Growth, and Water. I made a file for each subject and searched on line for lesson plans and resources. I also added a list of links to this blog of science activities and teacher resources for future use. I want to extend the files and add children's literature resources to them.

2 hr

Shannon Hale

One of the exciting things about hosting the "Our favorite books we didn't write or publish" panel discussion was meeting Shannon Hale. I've loved her books since before I even thought to think about the person who created them. They are the kind of book I get lost in, and am totally at home in. Here are three of my favorites:

If you visit Shannon's website you can read about writing the stories, ideas for using her stories in the classroom, Shannon's blog, and a list of books she likes. http://www.squeetus.com/

Where was I when my classmates took this photo? And why didn't I think to ask Shannon for a photo?
Shannon's new book which I can't wait to check out:

http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books_austen.html

I've never met an author before and I'm so thrilled to own my first signed-by-the author book:

Coming up next: The books Shannon shared during the panel discussion.

Check out my guest post at:

UVU Forum on Children's Literature

For Dr. Peterson's Language arts methods class we are required to do 20 service learning hours. One of the things we could choose to do was help with the Children's literature conference. My assignment was to coordinate the "Our Favorite books we didn't Write or Publish" panel discussion. I communicated with the panelists to get their three favorite children's books, created a power point presentation so the audience could see the covers of their choices, and moderated the discussion. This was a fabulous experience. I got to work with many fabulous students in the elementary education program, and meet authors, illustrators, educators, and an editor from New York.

When I graduate and have my own classroom I think I may want this blog to be geared to parents and students. With that in mind I plan on introducing you to the panalists and thier work, and spotlighting thier websites and blogs, and the books they talked about during the panel discussion. Eventually I'll have a side bar with links to author's and illustrators blogs and websites.

Coming up first: Shannon Hale!

10-2 B cohort makes ice cream

Jamie and Erica taught us about....something....diferent states of matter? And we made ice cream in ziplock bags, fun and yummy.

Sara, Dianna, Jenny

Patti, Mary, Caitlyn

Lorri, JJ

Heather, Hillary, Sarah

Gaylyn, Kayla

Dr. Tuft

Leslie, Doug

Ashlie, Allie, Emily

Allie, Emily, Michelle

Expository Writing

Wow! We are already in of field experience classrooms. The semester is so close to being over and I'm disapointed to find that I haven't kept up with the reflections I intended to do.

For our genre presentations my group did expository writing. We wanted to have some examples of student work to show. I asked steve if he would help me. He was at first reluctant, but he agreed and was soon enthusiastic. He made a true false flip book based on his recent science unit on erosion.

Language Arts

Today was our first class period with Dr. Peterson. She was our (Brittany and I) field experience supervisor. I'm so excited for the things we are going to learn in her class. I am especially excited to learn strategies for teaching writing that let students create with out being encumbered by mechanics. Not that I've decided the mechanics of writing are unimportant. Just that sometimes the strategies for teaching them inhibit young writers. So I'm looking forward to "Words Their Way."
I've already read "A Writers Note Book" and found myself itching to start a list, ponder a funny thing my kids said when they were small, or record a memory. The thing I'm going to love about being a teacher is participating in the same activities we encourage students to engage in.
We wrote a poem. First we examined items that Dr. Peterson had brought for us. Then we used a formula to get us started. We could write about any or all of the items.

Looks like
Sounds like
Feels like
Smells like
Seems like
Is (or doing)
? (ask a question of the item)

It one of the first things to add to my writers notebook, a rough poem. That's like a rough draft-it's not "finished."

Plain and unadorned
soft, comfortable, familiar
...of home and work.
You seem less than we know you are.
Have you wondered this yourself?

Books

I bought my books today. I've started reading and am so excited for everything we're going to learn this term. When I went back to school I thought I would do okay with my own classroom then. I still think that is true, but also it is not. I'm learning so much and the ideas in my head are getting bigger and bigger. I'm anticipating the stretching and changing that we're on the verge of experiencing as we explore new ideas, strategies, philosophies, content, and viewpoints.

One of the things that makes me be excited to be a teacher is the opportunity it gives, and will continue to provide, to be constantly learning and exploring.

self selected activities

For our science methods class we are required to spend ten out of class hours on science education related activities. I thought I would log my hours here.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Viewed Planted Earth DVD
2hr

Thursday, January 08, 2009
Explored Discovery Channel/Planet Earth website
½ hr
Puzzles, games, amazing graphics, biomes, all things about the environment, and global warming
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/planet-earth.html

almost finished!

I'm five hours away from being finished with the semester! Woo Hoo!
Check out this blog of a friend of a friend who is a first grade teacher in SLC: http://kristisorenson.blogspot.com/. Her stories of her students are hysterical.

Technology Research Article #2 Dabbleboard

Dabble board is an online white board. It has very basic functions but would work well for making graphic organizers, or simple handouts. If your school doesn't have graphic software you could edit photos in FotoFlex, upload them to Dabble board and create organizers, timelines, and photo stories. Your creations are stored on line and you can share them through email or simply give the url to anyone you want to view it. To view a simple organizer I created click here: http://www.dabbleboard.com/?b=rebeckawright&i=0&c=70bc246df42b0d27a83c8cbfcc4b0c5b337f2b13.

Dabble board also has a good help page. I used it as a quick tutorial and there wasn't anything I wanted to try that the help page didn't cover. This resources is good for all student ages. It is simple enough that a first grader could use it but useful enough that fifth and sixth graders would enjoy using it.

Technology Research Article #1 FotoFlexer

I was at the lab working on our webquest when I wanted to edit a photo. At home I use paint shop pro. I knew this wasn't on the computers in the Loft computer lab. I googled online photo editor and found this great tool. You can find it at http://fotoflexer.com/. You can upload photos from your computer or from several different online albums such as Picasa, Photo Bucket, or Flickr. FotoFlex has an easy to use interface, good basic effects, and some fun and funky things too. For our web quest we wanted to change the contrast of a photo so it would make a better background for text. We were able to do this easily. I also played around with a couple photos to make some interesting photos/graphics that could be used in student online or print work.

Here is our pyramid photo before and after it was turned into a cartoon.

And here are several variations of a photo of my son.

This is a great online tool that I'm excited to use with my students; easy to use with great results.

Ancient Egypt Webquest

Visit my "Teacher" web site to find a webquest on Ancient Egypt.
http://my.uen.org/206243
Look under My Documents, Click on egypt web quest.

My Beliefs

I believe that technology is a vital part of an elementary education. Technology is at the center of the way students live today. Integrating it throughout the curriculum helps them learn and create now and prepares them for the technologies of the future. Technology is also a valuable differentiation tool. Students who struggle academically can produce more work of a higher quality if they are provided technology supports. Finally the use of technology in the classroom is a strong motivator. When students use technology they are more excited about classroom work and learning.

Although I believe technology should be a component of elementary school learning, I believe that teachers must use caution. Students need scaffolding to ensure that technology is not abused and content is appropriate. The other area that teachers need to be aware of is that students need to learn skills and strategies for when technology is not available. Technology is a fabulous tool but should not become a crutch. I believe that an important way to achieve this balance is through arts integration. If drama, movement, music, and visual arts are integrated to the same extent that technology is integrated this balance is much easier to achieve.

Lessons Learned

It was interesting to learn and reflect on how students view technology. They view technology as such an integral part of their lives. This is mirrored in our society where technology is so key. The articles highlight permeation. I am a fan of technology. I love when it saves time, makes tasks easier, helps create excellent products, and makes it easier to connect with others.
I attended the arts infused conference at UVU. Dr. Johnson’s keynote address on teaching iBrains was provoking. This and some of the PDP articles make me concerned with just how much time students spend plugged i

The PDP articles made clear how advantageous technology integration can be. I was interested to see some technologies, such as iPhones and social networking websites, highlighted as educational that I hadn't previously viewed this way. I was also excited to see some advancements that may be coming soon to schools such as digital textbooks and portable student devices.

Strengths & Weaknesses

According to the UNI survey and the NETS standards my technology strength is that I am comfortable using a wide range of technology. I have designed instruction where students utilize technology they already know how to use. However, I have not designed instruction for teaching students how to use technology.

Two Technology skills I would like to develop are creating data bases and using spread sheets. A goal I would like to accomplish as a beginning teacher is design instruction and develop strategies for teaching students to use technology.

I could use this tutorial to help me prepare to teach my students how to use Microsoft Excel (http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/excel/), and this list of student spread sheet activities and lessons(http://www.teach-nology.com/themes/comp/spreadsheets/). This tutorial (http://www.geekgirls.com/menu_databases.htm) would be helpful in learning how to create and use databases. And this lesson plan (http://www.norman.k12.ok.us/092/techscope/languagearts/detectives.htm) could help me teach my students data base skills.

More web quest

I've been reviewing the sample web quests and how to put the web quest together seems pretty easy because we already know how to use power point. The difficult part will be making a cohesive experience and task, which are aligned to standards. Our group seems to be a little out of focus, or maybe it's just me that is out of focus. It is becoming more clear the steps we will have to take to finish the project. When we did digital stories you encouraged us to design the story in a story board first so We're taking the same approach with the web quest and designing a backwards design unit before we begin the actual web quest.