Hop Over to the Clutter-Free Classroom!

What a great idea brewing; The Clutter-Free Classroom Project. Throughout the next year, teachers will be collaborating and sharing wonderful ideas on various organizational topics. As a self-proclaimed neat-freak, this is a great idea!

I look forward to some wonderful ideas from a great Blog:)

Thanks for the Liebster Blog Award

It was wonderful to see that Jenny over at 

Mrs. Futch's Class

has awarded me the Liebster Blog Award:)

I really appreciate this and I look forward to passing on this award.

Here are the details of the award:

The goal of this award is to spotlight up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers. 

The rules are:

{1} Copy and paste the award on your blog.

{2} Thank the giver and link back to them.

3} Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here are my 5 picks:

Tech for Kinders

Preschool Superstars

Podcasting in the Kindergarten Classroom

Teachers want to help their students become life-long learners. Part of this task, is showing students that they are their first teacher. When I first asked my class who was their #1 teacher, they all said, "Mrs. Lembke". It is a shock to them to hear that I am not. I decided to use Podcasting as one of the means to showing students how they control their learning.

Each week, the students will be sharing their goals and activities in the classroom with their families. I will be helping the kids with the topics and comments for the first month or so, but I look forward to turning this activity over to them in the future.

I have embedded one of our first Podcasts; how we were preparing for our holiday program.

Please share any ideas for future topics. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Hoppy learning!

Randi

New Banner

I was visiting blog land this morning and I realized that I needed to spice up my own blog. The graphics on a teacher blog are very important. It is sort of like a first impression; appealing graphics entice the reader to stay.
I have used Adobe Fireworks before, however my experience is limited. I decided to create a new banner on my own as best I could.
Thanks to everyone who provides inspiration by applying colorful, fun, inviting graphics on their blogs!

Sunshine Award 2011

Thanks so much to Marlana at Lil' Country Kindergarten for the adding me to her list of blogs.

Rules for accepting this award:

1.  Thank the person who gave this award and write a post!

2.  Answer the questions.

3.  Pass the award to 10-12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs, and let them know!

What is my....

• Favorite animal?  Dogs: We have four!

• Favorite color?  Green: Just check my blog!
• Favorite number?  26: Our anniversary
• Favorite drink?  Carbonated Water, Diet Coke
• Facebook or Twitter?  Facebook
• Passion?  Family, Friends, and Teaching
• Giving or getting presents?  Definitely Giving
• Favorite day?  Friday: Everyone is so happy and excited
• Favorite flower?  Hydrangeas

It was hard to narrow it down, but here are some of my favs:
http://barrowshodgepodge.blogspot.comhttp://imbloghoppin.blogspot.comhttp://larremoreteachertips.blogspot.comhttp://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.comhttp://fabulousinfirst.blogspot.comhttp://frogsinfirst.blogspot.comhttp://kinderpond.blogspot.com

Fun with ebooks!

Viewing my Google Reader account each day in the summer months took a lot of time. I found so many wonderful things! It is interesting to see the changes in our blogging habits when the school year starts. I am reading a lot less and posting only once a month. It is a bittersweet change!

One item that I had found in a previous blog post was a link to Flipsnack. My kindergarten students were just starting a unit on change. We were discussing the past, present, and future. I had a difficult time finding resources. So, we decided to create our own book for this unit. Creating the book in a digital format was a great way to show how times have changed.

I have heard of the kiddos using iPads to create the illustrations. I wanted to give my kids a little more drawing room, so I had them create the drawings on our SMARTBoard. Each student illustrated a page. We had written the text together as part of our group work. All that was left was to upload the PDF version of the document. 

We had a great time. I hope you enjoy our ebook and have the opportunity to create one with your group. It is a lot of fun!

Plagiarism in the Elementary Classroom

I have begun my second masters degree program. I am attending Boise State University and working towards a technology integration masters. My first course has covered various topics, including plagiarism. Being a kindergarten teacher, I have not given much thought to the students' side of this subject. I use clipart that is free for educational purposes and site the resources when necessary. However, students should be taught about plagiarism from an early age.

Since kindergarten students cannot/should not navigate through the internet on their own, I decided to gear my recent plagiarism topic towards upper elementary age students. I have created a short movie about plagiarism in the classroom. Feel free to view it if you feel it may be of interest to your class.

This is an important topic, even for young students. Let me know if you have any thoughts or ideas!