Back to School Night!

Normally Mrs. Yollis' class looks like this.

Tonight, Mrs. Yollis' class looked like this!

It was Back to School Night!

Parents came to hear about third grade!

Mrs. Yollis shared her website, where 

homework, spelling words, parent information, and learning games 

can be found.

Blogging Buddies from Miss Jordan's class in Australia Skyped in to the meeting. The Australians gave a fabulous overview of the benefits of blogging. 

Thank you, Miss Jordan and 4KJ!

The parents were so impressed with your presentation! 

Parents left thoughtful notes for their child. With Dry Erase pens you can write right on the desk! Everyone loved it!

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What are you excited to learn about this year?

What did your parents think of your organized desk?

Parents, how is third grade different from when you were in school?

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to a new school year!

 

Here's a video greeting from Mrs. Yollis!

Here are some links to the summer events mentioned in the Welcome Back video:

1.  ISTE Insights ~ Learn about Promethean's Thank a Teacher Contest and what Mrs. Yollis learned at the Texas technology conference!

2. Photo from the family wedding in Montana. Notice I wrote a paragraph about my Uncle Don using the Step-Up to Writing Format that you learned in second grade! This color coded Step-Up to Writing paragraph format will be used in third grade, so be sure to review my example and refresh your memory. :-)

3.  Photo from my time at my family lake cottage in Minnesota! 

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Parents & Students

 Here are some links for you to peruse as we start our year of learning together:

A.  This blog is the centerpiece of our classroom community. It is a wonderful space for sharing and learning together. Here is a link to an article I wrote about the benefits of classroom blogging. I hope you'll have a chance to read it before our Back to School Night.

B.  We also have a class Photo-of-the-Day blog! Anyone is welcome to contribute a photo or comment throughout the year.   Join our 365 Photo-of-the-day project!  :-)


C.  We will be learning about blogging and integrating technology in the classroom via the Student Blogging Challenge that starts September 8.

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If you are a new or returning student, please leave a comment telling me about yourself. What did you do over your summer break? What adventures and experiences did you enjoyed?

If you are one of our blogging buddies, please introduce yourself to my new class. Where are you from? What have you been up to?

Remember to proofread your comment with a parent before you publish! 

:-)

If you are not sure how to comment on this blog, watch this video tutorial! It will walk you step by step through the process!

Happy Blogging! 

Rewards of Classroom Blogging

This was originally published on SmartBlogs.  I'm hoping that  parents and teachers will read this article and have a good understanding about the benefits of blogging as we begin a new school year on Wednesday. 

  
I have been an elementary-school teacher for more than 26 years, and I am always on the lookout for meaningful ways to engage and motivate my young students. I started Mrs. Yollis’ Classroom Blog in 2008 with the idea of sharing class activities with parents. Over time, the blog has grown to be the centerpiece of our third-grade classroom. It has become a true global learning community that offers myriad rewards for students, parents, and teachers.



Develop quality literacy skills  

When I first started blogging, I thought the posts would be the primary focus of the blog. I quickly realized that the comment section was where the blog came to life. As a class, we set high standards and expectations for writing, agreed to always have an adult proofread before publishing, and created a video to help teach commenting skills.

My students are highly motivated by their authentic global audience and take great pride in producing top-notch writing for their readers. It has been a pleasure to watch my third-graders develop into writers who are eager to compose quality comments on one of our five classroom laptops.

What has been even more exciting for me is the student participation from home. Although I rarely require a comment, students frequently choose to comment on either our class blog or our class photo-of-the-day project during their free time. Clearly, my students enjoy contributing to our online learning community.

Include parents in the learning

Parental involvement has strengthened and expanded the learning opportunities for my class. Twice a year, I run what I call Family Blogging Month. It is a great way to formally invite parents to join in the classroom learning via the blog. The family comments are always valued, and during FBM, I highlight several family exchanges on the blog in the hopes of encouraging more parents and family members to comment. Here are two posts that feature rewarding family contributions: 

More Quality Comments: Family Blogging Month! and

Family Blogging: When I Was Young…

Many parents work, but would love to volunteer in some way. Last year, I asked parents to become “virtual volunteers” for our blogs. A virtual volunteer is a person who supports the blog by commenting back to students. This type of interaction helps strengthen the home-school connection and makes the comment sections more engaging.

Integrate curriculum in creative ways

With classroom time at a premium, I look for meaningful ways to integrate curriculum; the blog has been the perfect venue. When my class read “The Great Kapok Tree” by Lynne Cherry for language arts, the students followed up their reading by researching a rain forest animal that was mentioned in the story. Each student composed a comment for the blog from the point of view of that animal. It was a wonderful mix of reading, researching, science and creative writing! During our biography unit, I had each student select a famous person to study. Students submitted a creative comment pretending they were that person. George Washington got a comment from Queen Elizabeth I, Mozart and Tchaikovsky were chatting; the blog comments truly brought these historic people to life! See more examples of integrated curriculum.

Build a digital footprint

I believe it is important to teach young children how to be contributing members of an online community. Building a positive digital footprint and practicing Internet safety are not simply one-week units of study, but are regularly taught and practiced via the class blog.

Connect with other learners

Of all the riches that blogging has brought to my class, the relationships we’ve built with other classrooms around the world have been the most rewarding. The collaborative projects we have joined not only support the educational standards required at my grade level but have also given my students a real understanding of other topics such as geography, time zones, cultures and friendships. I recently presented four global projects at ISTE with my blogging colleague, Kathleen Morris from Australia. Although we have collaborated for many years, we met for the first time when we shared Flattening Classroom Walls with Blogging and Global Collaboration in San Diego.

Happy blogging! 

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What do you like about blogging?

Join our Class 365 Blog!

The world is a magical place! 

If you are observant, you can capture some great images on your digital camera or phone. Here at Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog, we invite you to be a part of our class photo-of-the-day blog called

Yollis' 365 Project ~ Daily Digital Documentation

To contribute to this online digital community, just email a photo to Mrs. Yollis at:

Be sure to include the following FOUR items:

1.  An interesting photo.
It does NOT need to be taken on a specific day. However, the photo must belong to you. Only submit photos that you, your family, or your teacher has taken. (A smaller file is better, around 200 kb is a good size.) Try not to include too much personal information in your photo.

Not sure how to take a good photo? Here are some tips from my third graders:  How to Take a Good Photo or Video

2. Attribution.
Who took the photo? Who wrote the text? It is important to credit the photographer and writer of the photo-of-the-day. Feel free to include a hyperlink back to your blog! This helps build community!

3.  Text to complement the photo.
Write a few sentences explaining the photo. Here are some possible questions to include when composing your description:  Where was the photo taken? When was it taken? What is special about the subject of the photo? Are there any facts you could share so we can learn something new via your photo and text?

4. End with a question.
Think of a question or two you could ask that would start a conversation in the comment section. Ask OPEN questions that cannot be answered using yes or no.  This is a great opportunity to get some feedback on your photo or gather new knowledge about the subject of the photo. Invite readers to make up a story about your photo.

Be sure to check back and see if your photo received a comment. It is good blogging netiquette to respond to a comment.


Here is a fabulous annotated example from Kathleen Morris, our blogging buddy in Australia. (Click to enlarge.)

*Photos and text must be approved by Mrs. Yollis.  :-)

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For bloggers who are interested, the above email will set up a post in the Blogger platform. This is an easy way to collect and publish photos. 

To set this feature up in your Blogger account, go to: settings>mobile and email>email>posting using email. Add a "secret word" and you will have an email to share with others. As you can see, I set my setting for "Save email as a draft post". I approve everything before publishing. 

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Here is a link to the Yollis' 365 Blog. 

Check out some of the photos and text for examples and ideas. Feel free to leave a comment on a photo that you liked! 

Welcome! 

Interesting ISTE Insights

I just returned from several eventful days at ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) ISTE promotes the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) that will guide teachers and students in the digital age.  Every moment at ISTE was filled with thinking, learning, and discovering! 

Here are some highlights from my educational adventure:

1.  I must first acknowledge Promethean for making it possible for me to attend ISTE.

Photo by Ms. Peyrot

Photo by Joe Talaiver

Promethean's Thank a Teacher Contest sponsored me at ISTE, and they made it possible for me to learn alongside educators from all over the world. My students submitted  thoughtful essays on my behalf, and it was an honor to be selected. To read my blog post about the contest, click here. Here is a video my principal made when she revealed I was the Thank a Teacher winner:

Educational blogging with my elementary students is something I am passionate about. Promethean invited me to speak about blogging at their booth.  Although I don't have a video of that presentation, here is a video I made with my second and third graders about the benefits of educational blogging:

Promethean allowed me to bring a fellow educator along, and I was thrilled that @JenPeyrot was able to join me! We had a grand time attending sessions, sharing knowledge, and supporting one another.  Here's a photo with Sue Wyatt, Julie Hembree, and my roomie, Jennifer Peyrot.

Photo by Joe Talaiver

During an evening event, I was fortunate enough to meet and chat with Cameron Evans, the CTO of Microsoft. I thanked him for the Microsoft Surface I was given when I arrived in San Antonio. Approximately 10,000 tablets were given out to registered ISTE 2013 attendees!

2.  ISTE was a fabulous place to meet up with friends and discuss educational interests. The Bloggers' Cafe was always buzzing with lively discussion about new apps and ways to enhance student learning.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 

I was able to meet Andrew Vanden Heuvel at the Bloggers' Cafe and give his Google Glasses a test. Andrew was the first teacher to have a pair of Google Glasses, and he is creating lessons and sharing learning through this incredible technology.

I enjoyed chatting with @suewaters and @ronnieburt from Edublogs!  

The Bloggers' Cafe was a great place to meet teachers from the southern hemisphere!  Here's Anne Mirtschin,  Sue Waters, and Sue Wyatt! 

Many attendees set up CoffeeCues in the morning. These are informal gatherings for educators. Anyone can start and promote a @CoffeeCue and all educators are invited.  My roommate, @JenPerot, got up early and therefore got to meet ISTE's amazing keynote and EduClipper founder, Adam Bellows!

Photo by Alice Keeler

I arrived late, and therefore did not meet ISTE's amazing keynote and EduClipper founder, Adam Bellows!

Photo by Alice Keeler

Throughout the conference, there were opportunities to attend people's sessions and sometimes chance meetings occurred between presentations. Here we are meeting a forward-thinking principal from Canada, George Couros.

Photo by Joe 

At the end of the day, there were opportunities to continue educational conversations. Here I am at an event with two Ed Tech leaders, Tom Whitby and Steven W. Anderson. 





I was thrilled to meet Shelly Terrell at this conference. Shelly gives so much professional development and encouragement to educators around the world, and it was a real pleasure to personally thank her for her contributions to education.





3. The ISTE sessions were numerous and thought provoking.

I worked at a poster session promoting Sue Wyatt's  Student Blogging Challenge and Edublog's Teacher Blogging Challenge.  This provided an opportunity to share these great blogging challenges and to meet up with Julie Hembree, Tracy Watanabe, and good old Davo Devil, the traveling Tasmania Devil!

Julie Hembree shared her award-winning Kid Lit Movies!

I enjoyed many fabulous Ignite sessions. An ignite sessions is a five minute presentation using 20 images. Each slide is shown for 15 seconds and then the presentation must go on.  One session called Open Doors for Students by Wes Fryer can be heard here.   Wes Fryer encourages teachers to open the digital door for students and even encouraged me to publish a project! 

I enjoyed speaking with Wes Fryer after the presentation. 

I attended a terrific session about Evernote by Nicholas Provenzano. He writes about his Epic Evernote Experience here.  He explained how Evernote helps him with organization and access to important resources. He also uses Evernote with his students. He recommended moving slowly into a new system. 

Here is one idea he shared:  Set up a notebook called Lesson Plans. Within that notebook, make notes for each unit. Within each "Note" use headings like Day 1, Day 2, Day 3... rather than Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, so the plans can be used yearly. In addition, he adds reflections or changes to the notes in red so he can modify lessons for the following year. I set it up for use!

4. The power of play was something I have always believed in, but was confirmed here at ISTE. Children and teachers need time to explore and play and learn on their own. Teachers should not be directing everything.  Play and failure allow for discovery and mental growth.



5.   I thoroughly  enjoyed using Twitter throughout the conference. According to the ISTE site, there were 47,000+ tweets that used the #ISTE13. I used Twitter to tweet out or RT (retweet) interesting ideas or resources I was hearing about in sessions. Here are some of my tweets from ISTE:

I had a humdinger of a  time in San Antonio, Texas! Not only did I learn a lot, but the city itself was lovely. The River Walk was a beautiful addition to the city, and the Texans were most hospitable! 

I look forward to applying my learning in September when my third graders return to the classroom.

Oh, and I almost forgot...I visited the Alamo! ;-)

What did you enjoy most at ISTE?

Please share!

School's Out for Summer!

Today was the last day of school! 

Parsa feverishly typed away earning an AlphaSmart completion certificate! Way to go!

Sean wore a shirt from the 100th day of school. I loved his 100 right angles!

Chloe, Shayna, and Aashi created a fabulous class diorama! Check it out!

Everyone enjoyed a final game of Jeopardy! Thanks to Bennett's mom for finding Jeopardy Labs. What the fun learning site!

A final group hug, and summer vacation officially started!

This was a humdinger of a year!  :-) 

Here is Mrs. Yollis' annual goodbye video! Enjoy!

What are some happy memories you have from the 2012-2013 school year?

What fun activities do you have planned for the summer?

If it is winter in your hemisphere, what winter activities will you enjoy? 

Wildlife Experience, 2013!

Post and photo credit: Mrs. Ranney

As part of our animal adaptation science unit, Beverly Critcher 

from Wildlife Experience brought wild animals
to Mrs. Ranney's class for careful
scientific observation.

Wildlife Experience  is a non-profit wildlife education organization that brings native and exotic animals to schools and teaches children about the importance of our natural world.

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This is Vince, the veiled chameleon. Chameleon's are carnivorous reptiles that cannot run but can climb well. They have prehensile tails that help them hold on to branches and a tongue like a rubber band to help them catch a tasty meal. Do you remember why they eat the skin they shed?

Here is Awesome, the four-month-old opossum! Opossums are a special kind of mammal called a marsupial, and they are the only marsupial found in North America. They are omnivores. Do you remember what happens when opossums "play dead?"

Here is Tuck, the hedgehog. Hedgehogs got their names from the fact that they live in hedges or bushes and that they grunt like hogs!
They roll into balls and bump from side to side to protect themselves. Hedgehogs are insectivores. Do you remember what their quills are made of?

This leopard gecko is a lizard that stores fat in its tail. It wiggles its tail at would-be predators. Do you remember why?

Punk, the skunk, a nocturnal mammal lives right here in our community! Skunks are omnivores and will eat just about anything. Do you remember what skunks do with their tails when threatened?

Another animal found in our local environment is the red-tailed hawk. This one, named Shasta, was found injured near the Shasta Mountains. Hawks can see clearly 8 times farther than we can! Why might they need to do that?

Ball pythons, like this one, are carnivorous snakes found in Africa. Snakes are reptiles, which we know means they are vertebrate animals. They can swallow something whole that is 3 times the size of their heads! Pythons are constrictors. Do you remember what that means?

What did the skin feel like to you?

Squirrel monkeys are the smallest monkeys in the world, weighing in at only around 2 pounds! To this monkey a smile is threatening, so we could not show our teeth! Squirrel monkeys are omnivores that live in the rain forest in groups of up to 250. Do you remember why they like large groups?

Sally, the tiger salamander, is the largest kind in the United States. Salamanders are amphibians which means they must stay wet. Do you remember how salamanders breathe when underwater?

 Our final visitor, Moose, the fennec fox, is the smallest fox in the world but has the biggest ears! Foxes, like other dogs, do not sweat, but pant to release heat. Do you remember another way that the fennec fox releases heat?



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Thanks, Ms. C. for another wonderful wildlife experience!

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What was your favorite animal and why?

What other fabulous facts can you share about our visitors!