Tech Tuesday --The Walking Classroom

This is a really cool tool for 4th and 5th grade classrooms.  It's called The Walking Classroom.  The materials are aligned with the 4th and 5th grade Common Core Standards for Language Arts.  

This is how the program is described on their website:

The Walking Classroom Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and education of all students.  The Walking Classroom program is an in-school obesity intervention that promotes health literacy and develops and supports lifelong fitness habits for all students while addressing different learning styles.  The method combines standards-aligned academic content and exercise during the regular school day.  Using WalkKits pre-loaded with a year's worth of standards-aligned audio content students walk, listen, and learn.

It is a bit pricey, $3,000 for a class set, but they do have scholarships available to apply for on their website.  It would be cool to purchase and perhaps share with the other classes in your building.  And the teacher blogs I have seen this mentioned on tell about how their students just LOVE it.  After you get things set up, the podcasts are only about 15-20 minutes.  Perfect for those inclement recesses or an afternoon break from the walls of the classroom and their desks.

Tech Tuesday -- FreeTech4Teachers

I got lost in this technology website by Richard Byrne because it is literally an endless treasure blog of ideas!  I am a bit of a techno geek....but I still have so much to learn because I teach in a part of the country that is still behind the tech pace of the modern world.  We limp along to try to keep up...but we have a way to go.

So most of what I learn is on my own time.  Free Technology 4 Teachers is a wonderful blog with tips for all grades and all ages.

Just the first couple posts I read got me excited to try some new things.  Word Clouds...love those!  Creating your own Jeopardy game board?!  LOVE IT!  And as a parent, there is the coolest, parent friendly app out there called PHOTOMATH.  You just take a picture of your child's high school math problem and it will show you the steps to solving it!!  NO WAY! I will be trying this out on my daughter's homework to see if it really works!

Day 90 Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Here is a great techy blogger, Katie King, to go hand in hand with Betsy Weigle from yesterday's blog.  Katie's blog Queen of the First Grade Jungle is a great learning place for those of you new to iPad's in the classroom.  She says that we need to train and teach our students skills for jobs that haven't been invented yet.  That is so very true!

After reading THIS POST I am now on a mission to get iPads for our primary classrooms!  Holy cow this is sooooo cool! We are a bit behind the times in North Idaho.  Heck, when it snows a lot or rains a lot or if the wind blows just the right way...it messes up our internet connection! lol  We are moving forward toward technology...it just may not be at the pace of other parts of the country :)

Katie also has a TpT Store that is full of great units.  Most of them are larger packets or Mega packs as some creators call them.  But she has a series of Busy Teacher packets that are full of great 1st grade leveled stuff!  And when I say stuff...I say it because it is full of just about anything you might need to teach writing, reading, language skills, math and more.  Each month has specific themes to go with the holidays and events that happen within that month.  It's worth spending a bit to get these great activities.  Just check them out and you will see what I mean!

Day 89 Classroom Caboodle Blog

What a fun find today on TpT...a neighbor teacher.  Yes, we aren't in the same state, but Spokane is just across the border from where I live in North Idaho.  They have Trader Joe's...we have moose.  They have hockey and baseball teams...we have little league.  They have big concerts like Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood...and we have Scout-o-Rama and the rodeo at our fair grounds :)  Good thing they are our neighbors! (But the gas at our Costco is about 20 cents less a gallon than theirs so we can afford to drive over the border more often :)

Betsy has a lot of resources for teachers.  She has a blog a website and a TpT store!   She has done just about everything but fix the kitchen sink in her school district.  But I wouldn't put that down as not being a possibility too!  Her resources are mostly for grades 3rd and up...but much of what she does and says can be brought down to the level you need it.

I love, love, love this lesson she has posted about teaching your class to line up!  I thought this was just a 1st grade problem, but apparently it's something that doesn't stick with the kids and has to be retaught each school year!  Her lesson is called: Teaching your students to Master the Art of lining up.  I just have to chuckle...because next year I plan to try a whole new attitude and approach to this simple task...but one that tends to hold us all up from leaving the classroom at least a couple times a week.

If you are looking for ways to incorporate technology into your classroom...then Betsy is your gal for that too!  She has just gotten a set of iPads for her class!  That is so cool!  I would love to just have a center full of them for all of our primary classrooms.  Betsy has an awesome series of posts about using the iPad and the apps to try with your students.  Click {HERE} to go to the posts.  She is posting more as she is working the kinks out with her students.  It's a great resource to get you started!

And then if you can't find enough treasures in her blog...she also has an actual website and a store on TpT.
Although most of her resources are for beyond the primary years....I found a treasure that I have added to my TpT Wishlist.  Betsy has a lot of math and science in her store.  And this cool lesson, Stacking Heart Challenge, now turned Valentine's Day and conversation hearts into a science project, not just a math project!!

Love it, Love it, Love it!  Can't wait to use it next February!  One of the things I love, even after 18 years of teaching, is discovering a new way to use something old!  Cuz when I'm excited, my students get excited...and when they are excited...they learn more!  Thanks Betsy!!

Today I didn't have to hop far...where shall I hop next?

Day 67 Mrs. Patton's Patch

I love technology.  I would love to have Ipads or tablets for my 1st graders.  I am trying to wrap my mind around all the ways that I can use them with my students.  I believe that technology doesn't and shouldn't replace what I do in my classroom, but in our ever evolving world, it would be like burying your head in the sand if you didn't at least try to mix technology in with what you do in class.

Mrs. Patton uses technology with her students...particularly Ipads and Macbooks.  Here is a post that lists some very useful as well as engaging apps to use with your students.  Some have free versions and some have fee versions....but they are all Ipod and Ipad apps....Check them out!  Those of us with PC schools...well I will just have to keep hunting.

Day 45 Miss V's Busy Bees

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope everyone survived another themed day with their students.  1st graders get a little wild if you just mention that something will be different that day.  

I could say something as simple as..."Students today we will be using blue pencils instead of yellow." or "Today's lunch includes a cookie."  And it will set them all wiggling on the edge of their seats all day.

Now try having Valentine's Day, a day off of school for President's Day and then follow it with the 100th day of school on Tuesday...and well...it will be the longest 4 day week of your teaching life!  I love their enthusiasm...I really do.  And having themed days in 1st grade is a blessing because in a school where field trips are scarce it gives you lots of material to write about!

But the buzzing in your classroom all day is draining...perhaps that is why this little town has like 3 bars on the one block of Main street!  So there will be enough stools for the teachers to wiggle on later...lol.  Just kidding.  I've never been in any of them....yet!

Speaking of buzzing like a bee...here is today's blogger.....

Sara is the blogger behind Miss V's Busy Bees.  She is a young, enthusiastic teacher down in Alabama.  She has lots of great ideas and fun links...especially for someone straight out of school.  She seems like a natural teacher who is just waiting for the perfect classroom to call home.

While subbing during the day, she is in school to get her masters in technology...so she is the one to ask if you want some suggestions or ideas that are technology related!

Sara also has been busy creating and has some clever products for sale on TpT.  I don't normally like ants in my classroom...but these Ant schedule cards are so stinkin' cute!  You can get them in her TpT store.  Click HERE

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog :)  This was blog 45 in my 365 Blog Hop Challenge!  Only 320 more to go!