Poem in Your Pocket Day!

The doors to the library were decorated to look like jean pockets by the wonderful Mrs. Reese

This year we celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 18, 2013.  A few years ago when I first started taking my classes for becoming a media specialist, I was introduced to Poem in Your Pocket Day via www.poets.org. Two years ago I was on the third grade team, I swear my team thought I was crazy for scheming up another activity to our already busy schedule.  But it proved to be a huge success and the kids loved it. We even made aprons that said I <3 Poetry and stuffed our pockets with a variety of poems.  

3rd Grade Team on Poem in Your Pocket Day 2011

Last year when I found out I was going to be in this position a couple of us on the third grade team were talking about how fun it would be to get the entire school on board with celebrating poetry month and enjoying Poem in Your Pocket Day. That idea never really went away.  The seed was planted! 

This year we sent home notes (check out this Google Doc) letting kids know that Poem in Your Pocket Day was coming up soon.  We promoted it by asking teachers, paras, support staff, EVERYONE in the building to get into this.  You could walk down the hallway and say to any kid, "Hey! What poem is in your pocket?" Then you could take a few minutes to exchange poems and walked away with a smile.  It was a building activity that really brought us together.  Many teachers commented on how their students were completely excited about the day and how impressed they were that their students really got into it.  Isn't that awesome!?  A day to let literacy shine.  A day to unite the building.  A day to let kids have fun reading a poem they enjoy. 

Mrs. Reese and I also really got into it.  We decided we should be POETrees:

The Library POETrees 2013

"Mrs. Reese, what poem is in YOUR pocket?" 

I'm thinking next year we need to broaden the poetry horizons with April being National Poetry Month and have a Poetry Cafe for the entire building.  I'll continue scheming and seeing how I can make that happen! I'm looking forward to making it a building wide activity for ALL of our SES Bluejays.  Wouldn't it be fun each year to watch your kiddo grow with their poetry from Kindergarten to Fourth grade?  Ahh...the Kodak moment possibilities! 

Poetry Takes You Places!

This month in the library I wanted to highlight a very influential piece of literacy: POETRY!  I asked third graders to choose their favorite poem OR a poem they have written and to write it on a balloon or a kite.  Then I took their picture and attached it to the end of the balloon or the kite they chose.   Finally, we hung them up from the ceiling of the library and they have created such a fun display for all of us to read and enjoy!!

Coming soon: Thursday, April 18th...POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY!

Blogging Bluejays

At the beginning of the year I got my students blogging using KidBlog.org.  It is a safe way for my students to practice using digital citizenship.  What I'm thrilled with is that it provides wonderful discussion of what we should and should not do on the Internet.  They've even made mistakes and luckily they made them with me over their shoulder which then lead to some awesome conversations.  I'm so glad they're able to make mistakes now rather than later.

Every year in the library the students get to hear all the books nominated for a Golden Sower Award: an award given to books in age leveled categories for books that ROCK!!  To keep track of the books that we've read the students created a post on their blogs that kept a running track of a couple of things.  They were to keep track of what the book was about, their favorite part, and on a scale from 1-10 (1 meaning it didn't float my boat and 10 being the most awesomest book ever--I want to scream on top of a mountain how good it is).  Then after we read all the books they created a blog post called "Favorite GS" in which they wrote about their favorite Golden Sower Nominee.

I then went to our settings and adjusted them so that ANYONE could comment on them.  This way we can really discuss how important it is to have an audience.  I used the analogy: imagine you're getting ready for your school music concert. You're all dressed up, you arrive at the high school, you get up on stage ready to sing your hearts out...and no one is there.  That lead to some great discussion of how you'd feel without having someone there to watch you.  That is so true with blogging. No audience, no fun! So, I went onto our school Twitter account (which is synced with our school Facebook page) and asked our followers to follow the link to the 3rd grade blog and 4th grade blogs and comment!  They have gotten a LOT of comments, and the kids are so excited about it.  They LOVE seeing if a "guest" commented on their blog.

My next lesson I'd love to do with them is to work with another class and exchange comments/posts.  So, if you know anyone that uses Kidblog.org and would be up for working with the 3rd and 4th grade please let me know! I really would love to get them excited about communicating with students around the country or the world!

I can make anything complicated

I'm the first to admit that I am a ditz. Tonight, I made Evernote complicated. Yes. Evernote! Its not that hard...its very user friendly. But I did it..I made it complicated.  Tonight was one of those nights I slapped my forehead and said, "DOH!!"

When I attended York Public School's technology professional development day in January I was lucky to sit in on Laura Kroll's packed session on Evernote.  If you don't follow her on Twitter. You're loosing out. She is inspirational with daily quotes, she is constantly providing feedback to others, she actively participates in chats, she's funny, she is a leader in so many ways, she constantly talks about Evernote and how amazing it is...my list can go on and on. Basically she knows her stuff!  Because of her session, one of my goals has been to utilize Evernote more often; really become fluid in using it. So at parent-teacher conferences tonight I made a to-do list.  One of my items on my agenda was to NOT print off the long schedule for the NETA conference I'll be attending in April but instead download it onto my iPad   Well, I couldn't find the downloadable version into iBooks like they had last year. So I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get creative.

First, I saved it as a PDF then uploaded it to my docs in Google Drive.  But.  The inner elementary teacher in me has this screaming urge to grab my beautiful and brightly colored Sharpie markers and decorate with fun stars or a puffy cloud around the sessions I really want to go to.  And then perhaps add sun rays beaming away from the session "winner" as if they've just won The Price is Right.  So, I remember back to Laura's Evernote session and how she used Skitch  I feel it has some really great potential that can really make life a whole lot easier.  You're never going to really understand how useful something is unless you use it, right?  So, I am treading in unfamiliar waters.  First Evernote novice mistake: let it intimidate you!

I tried to download the PDF to Skitch but it wasn't working.  So, at this point I am thinking I have just found the most difficult problem that only a true genius will be able to answer. What do I do?  I contact THE Laura Kroll. I'm thinking this is going to be a difficult one even for her.  NOPE.

What does she do?  She made a new note (for non-Evernote users that's like making a new document in docs or Word) and did the unthinkable...are you ready?  (Someone play some suspense music here.) SHE COPIED AND PASTED the schedule into the new note!  I know, right? Can you believe this?  Then, you know what she did NEXT?! She was able to highlight the text AND change the color AND manipulate the document how she wanted to so that the schedule stood out.  Can you believe it?  She conquered my challenge with flying colors.  You know what she did next? Just for ME?  She made her Evernote session from the NETA schedule really stand out for me...

I know what you're thinking.  Holy smokes.  This is an easy fix...I could have done that! Jennifer is loosin' it!  Yeah...well I'm going to blame it on a crazy day, my long list of to-do items, the constant flow of people in the library restricting me from thinking clearly...and...uh...a late night at parent-teacher conferences.  Am I allowed to pass the buck?

Lessons learned: slow down. Think. Don't let yourself get intimidated.  Don't be afraid to ask for help even if you don't think you should be.  And...don't be afraid to slap your forehead and exclaim, "DOH!" and admit when you do silly things!!!

Special thanks go to Laura Kroll for this learning experience.  You are the Evernote Goddess!

Web Presence

Today's Goal: To collaborate with a group of awesome teachers from Seward Public Schools to teach how to use Google Sites to middle and high school teachers. You must teach well enough to have them launch their sites onto the district site.

Results: SLAAAAM DUUUNK! TOUCHDOWWWWN!! GOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!!!

You can tell by my use of the caps lock button and the excessive exclamation marks one of two things: I'm definitely an elementary teacher OR that my team totally dominated our goal today.  The latter of the two is correct.  Okay. Well. They're both true.  

Being on an awesome team by collaborating with Josh, Julie, Brittany, and Laura, we were able to help out over 30 teachers from the middle and high schools get acquainted with Google Sites and help build their digital presence.  We even rocked the RtI tiers to accommodate teachers' learning styles: whole group, one-on-one, and small group.  Yep. You read that right. The inner teacher in us taught using teaching methods that work. Period. Done. BAM!

I know from experience how it is difficult to start a new blog or a website.  We feel the pressure from the "Pinterest Teacher" blogs and websites. You know what kind I'm talking about.  The types you wonder, "Do they really sleep? Or do they just have an IV pack of straight up Red Bull?!?"  We all simply must remember that the hardest part of anything is jumping off and doing it. Jump in the deep end of the pool and swim.  Our goal is not to be a "Pinterest Teacher" community but rather to have a website or blog that communicates effectively with our students, parents, families, and communities.  We are here for our students.  As long as we do what works for us and our students then we're doing an awesome job.  We have a lot of great teachers, some of whom I just met today, that really took Google Sites and embraced it. It was fun to watch them play with templates, add tool bars, subheadings...the list could go on and on.  

Go Bluejays!

The Power of Twitter

Ever since I was encouraged to start using Twitter by a fellow and brilliant colleague, I was told it is the best professional development (PD) a person can experience.  Its PD when you want it, how you want it. And ever since I signed up I have been an avid Twitter advocate. I feel that my professional learning network (PLN) is crucial to making me be the best I can be and help provide the students in my school with the best that is out there.  Many people ask, "What is the big deal with Twitter?".  Many use our answers so they can present it to others, to help encourage them to use Twitter.  Well...prepare for an emotional explanation of how the power of Twitter just made my night.

You see, my hubby is not as into "tech" as me.  He teases me and pokes at me, all in good fun, about how I spend time on the computer/device of choice and probably questions how Twitter can help me.  This is also the same man that will be the first to ask, "What are people saying about the Husker game on Twitter?" or during the election he enjoyed watching the hashtag #election and all the goofy things being said.

Well, last night I surprised him with the Power of Twitter. No joke people. I made a believer among us.  As he is working on a home improvement project, I sneak in and ask him, "How would a trip to Minneapolis in May sound to you?"  He says, "Uhhh...why?!" Keep in mind, we live in Nebraska-so that's a pretty hefty drive with two younguns ages 3 and 1.  I explain to him that I saw on Raffi's twitter feed  is doing some concerts, and that someone had posted how they're taking their kids to see Raffi in concert. Raffi is Hubby's all time favorite artist growing up: we have his CD's, concert DVD's, and books. I looked it up on Ticketmaster-it was legit, he is doing a small tour.  So, I explain how most of his concerts are on the East coast, but there is one in Minnesota, and how I was going to Tweet Raffi and say something like, "Its too bad you can't travel closer to Nebraska." At this point the Hubs says, "Do it!!! Buy the tickets!"  So...I bought tickets!  You have NO idea how big this trip is at this point. HE is giddy to be able to take HIS girls to see RAFFI. In concert!  Then out of excitement I tweet to Raffi letting him know about how excited we are. Thinking he probably won't see it, he's a busy guy. I mean, hello! He's like totally famous and has other things to do versus replying to little ole me.  Get ready, people... He. Tweeted. Back. If you don't believe me look below:

Okay. This is where it gets more sappy and personal, I apologize for taking my professional blog to a more personal level, but I'm going there. You've been warned. Pregnancy can really make you feel like everything is all about you, especially with your first born. Which it totally is!  Most of all everyone makes you feel like you are a goddess, even after the birth of your amazing little bean. It is an amazing support system that develops during that time.When we welcomed our Olive into the world, we were amazed at how WE changed as she came into our lives. She changed us, and thank goodness she did.  She (and her sister Lucy) have made us become better people: parents, professionals, and people in general.  

As I was home on maternity leave with Olive, my mother-in-law was staying with us that first week.   It had to be the second day we were home with Olive that my mother-in-law had gave my hubby a Raffi CD as a gift.  I never had heard of Raffi. I never had experienced his music. I didn't get it. He looks at his mom with googly eyes.  He got choked up with emotion. I didn't get it.  My head is looking back and forth at them as if they're playing tennis.  As I'm looking at the two of them having this "moment", I'm wondering, "Aren't I supposed to be the one that gets emotional around here?!" He was excited to share this music with his own child. Me. Still not getting IT. Asks, "Sooooo...who is this guy? Is he a new artist?"  Tom looks at me in horror and starts to tell me about the time when he saw Raffi at the Orpheum Theater in Omaha when he was probably 5 or 6. At that moment I experienced one of the most beautiful and unforgettable moments in life...that we still talk about to this day...

Tom got up from holding Olive, started playing the song Baby Beluga, and was dancing with her around the living room. I see my husband dancing with our daughter with tears streaming down his face and I am frozen. I didn't move. I didn't snap a picture (which is a shock to those that know me). I didn't say anything. Suddenly, my face was warm. I touch my face and I realize I'm crying. It was one of the most beautiful moments I've experienced.  Ever.  I look over at my mother-in-law and she is crying also. Ever since then Raffi has been with us to doctor's appointments, to family dinners, holidays, play times, cruising down the highway, everywhere.

I told my husband last night, "Hey...so...I tweeted tonight about the Raffi concert...and look what happened." I scroll down to show him that Raffi tweeted back and my husband choked up upon seeing that.  He was speechless.

Then he asked me to send him the screenshot.

We can not wait until our trip to Minnesota to see Raffi in concert, especially after last night. Thanks go to Raffi for making this an even more exciting experience with his reply!! Can't wait to rock out with Raffi!!

Lovely Books Heart Walk

Alright if anyone has a genius solution to making seat spots on the floor that the kids don't peel up and destroy...I'd LOVE to hear all about it! I promise I'll pass all the credit to you because Lord knows I've told my little Bluejays enough times, "Stop!" or  "Don't play with the tape!" or "We just put those down!" So as I am bending over, trying to figure out the right amount of seats, and if they're perfectly spaced...my mind is wondering.  Does it think about things that I need to be doing? Nah. I'm thinking about how kids love seeing things taped to the floors and then it hit me!  Wouldn't it be so cool to see a floor covered in hearts? In the library!? For the month of February?!   

I asked the teachers here at SES to fill in a pink heart I put in their mailbox with a picture of the book they LOVE and to explain a little bit about why they love it.  The kids are totally loving our "Lovely Books Heart Walk" in the library. It has been fun to see them go out of their way to stop and read about what books the teachers love.  Thank you to my fellow amazing, awesome, and totally tolerant teachers!  Just when their plates weren't full enough, I throw this onto their plate and I haven't heard one complaint!