Robin Nash Helped Us Wish Dr. Seuss a Happy Birthday!

Last Friday we were treated to a Dr. Seuss read-aloud by the one and only, Robin Nash from My 103.9. She read us "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" and then stayed to answer lots of questions from curious 1st and 2nd graders.

Robin was a ton of fun and the students had a wonderful time interacting with her. Since her visit she has generously invited my class to her station for a tour and to record a real commercial in a production studio for the upcoming "Taste of Sonoran Sky" event. Details to follow very soon...

In the meantime, click below to enjoy Robin's rendition of the Dr. Seuss classic!

Firefighters

On Friday, some firefighters stopped by the classroom in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. They brought us a bag full of special gifts and spent some time talking about safety and answering our (many) questions. We loved chatting with the firefighters and were so excited that they came by!

Google Certified Trainer

As all my students know, I love Google, Google Apps, Google Products, etc! I am so thrilled that PVUSD is a Google Apps For Education District because I love cloud computing and all the amazing (and free) features Google has to offer teachers and students. While at the Google Teacher Academy last summer, I learned about how to become a Google Certified Trainer (different than a Google Certified Teacher) and I made it a goal. To sum up, I passed the six 90-minute, ridiculously tricky exams, created a video about myself, created a screencast about Google apps, answered a bunch of essay questions, wrote a case study, filled out the application and submitted everything to Google a few months ago. This weekend, I received my acceptance letter!

I am so excited to be a Google Certified Trainer! Google is a huge passion for me and I was actually surprised at how challenging it was to achieve this goal. Hooray for Google! :)

Planting a Truffula Tree

This week we read the book The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss in preparation for Dr. Seuss' birthday! After reading the story, students planted their own truffula trees and then wrote a sequel to The Lorax.

Truffula Trees!

March Scholastic Book Order

Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: GK9BF

Hi Everyone,

October Scholastic book orders were sent home today. Here is a reminder for the online ordering instructions:
Go to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs and log in using your user name and password.

If it’s your first time ordering online, use the Class Activation Code shown above to get started

• SIGN UP at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the “Register” button in the “First Time Here?” section. Register for your own user name and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.
• SELECT the books you’d like to order—choose from thousands of titles—many more than in our monthly flyers.
• SEND your order to me online by the due date and your child’s books will be delivered directly to my classroom.

If you are interested in ordering, please submit your order by Wednesday, March 8. Please let me know if you have any questions! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Amidst the craziness of celebrating Arizona's 100th birthday all day, we also managed to squeeze in a little bit of Valentine's Day fun as well. 

We have been working the last week or so on a special Valentine's Day project. First, students had to write a message in Google docs. Then they cut and paste the text into this cool site to turn the text into a heart!

Next, students worked together to create a festive background on the whiteboard. I recorded each student wishing their parents a happy Valentine's Day. Some of the students worked with me to create a Keynote presentation, which we converted to a Quicktime movie. We added each individual student recording to the beginning of the Keynote "ending" and created a personalized movie. Each movie was uploaded to YouTube and the privacy setting was changed to "anyone with link can view" (meaning it can't be searched or found, so the movies could remain a bit of a surprise!) Finally, we created a QR Code to the link for each movie and glued it to the Valentine greeting. 

A QR Code is a type of matrix bar code. QR stands for “quick response” and the code is able to hold significantly more data than a traditional bar code. Additionally, the code can link directly to text, a website, a telephone number, a vCard, a video and more!

We have been learning about QR Codes in the classroom. The QR generator we’ve been mainly using is from qrcode.kaywa.com and the app we use in the classroom to scan the codes is the i-nigma reader but there are MANY other free QR scanner apps available.

QR Codes can be scanned using any smartphone which includes Droids, Blackberries, iPhones and Palms. QR Codes can also be scanned using iTouches or iPad 2s. If you don’t happen to own any of those devices, they can also be scanned on a Mac or a PC using QReader or QuickMark QR Code Reader.

Although originally created by Toyota to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, they have become increasingly common and you will notice them on everything - magazines, packaged food items, boarding passes, cups from fast food restaurants, menus, clothing labels, etc. Using QR Codes in the classroom is a highly effective and engaging teaching tool! Not only do they enhance the interaction in class, they also make learning more fun.

Each student created a special QR Code message for you, for a 21st Century Valentine’s Day card! Please let me know if you have any challenges scanning it.

Save the Date!

Join us at Sonoran Sky Elementary School on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 6:30pm for the first ever Technology Night!