Two Truths and A Lie

Hi! I'm linking up with Flying Into First Grade for her "Let's Get Aquainted Linky". This time it's 2 Truths and a Lie...here's the scoop:

How it works:
Think of 3 things about yourself or your life. You should make 2 of them truths and 1 of them a lie. You can list them on your post in any order. Do NOT give the answer yet in your post. People will try to guess your lie in your comments. So, remember to be very creative so that it's hard for people to get it right. At the end of the week you can share the answer in your comments from the post or include it in a post you make at the end of the week.

Here are three things about me:
 1. I was nominated for Homecoming Queen of California State University, Chico by my sorority sisters.

2. I play women's roller hockey on a team called Victorious Secret and have also played co-ed ice hockey at the facility where the Anaheim Ducks play.

3. I have been to many places in the US, but have never traveled outside the United States.

Well, there they are... which are the truth? And which is the lie??

Be sure to go link yourself up and comment on the two links before yours. HAVE FUN!

Currently March

I am linking up this month with Currently... can't believe it's already March!

Listening - NCIS Los Angeles: Trying to get through all of the programs recorded on my DVR. I never seem to have enough time to watch TV. I tend to do more listening to TV than watching because I am usually multitasking. Makes me have to use the rewind button more often than I would like.

Loving - My son just started playing flag football. We had our first game last night. SO FUN! There was a DJ spinning tunes at the field, a food truck from one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, and a great football game to watch. Another reason to love Fridays!

Thinking - A dear former family just lost their dad/husband. I had both the daughter and son in my class in separate years. I really hate cancer and can't understand how so many people who are otherwise healthy, wonderful people can end up fighting this disease.

Wanting - There is never enough time to relax and recharge after all of the work is done. I am going to celebrate with some great friends tonight, which is sure to recharge my spirit some.

Needing - After looking for paperwork to refinance our house in my office closet this week, it has become very clear that I need to take some time to organize the paperwork.

Love, Like, Hate - it is really tough to find words that start with J!

Lego Stop-Motion Movies Part 1

This year I went on a grant-writing spree! I wrote one grant and used it multiple times (with Kids in Need Foundation, Donors Choose - Disney and Chevron both funded, the Assistance League and Huntington Beach Educational Foundation) to get 10 iPod Touches with protective cases to create stop-motion Lego movies with. We use them for other things as well, but that was the driving force behind the acquisition.

I hatched this idea when I enrolled my son in a Lego stop-motion movie making course through our city parks and recreation department last summer. He went for a few hours each day for a week and came away with a pretty cool finished movie. One night at home he pulled the app up on my phone and in a matter of minutes he showed me how to make a movie of my own. The wheels started turning. I thought it would make a great project in my class that would incorporate many standards and the kids would love it!

Fast forward to today. I am learning this process as I go, so I am sure I will refine my plan as I go and revamp it for next year, but I am going to share our classroom progress toward realizing our movie making dreams.

First, I showed the students examples of stop-motion Lego movies. I chose some from YouTube that were so amazing they made my head spin a little as well as some that were very rudimentary and more like what I expected to see from my class. We talked about what made them good, what mistakes we saw (seeing someone's hand in a shot), and what we could realistically expect from ourselves this first time out. One of the most amazing stop-motion movie creators we explored was from Michael Hickox. We also found some good tutorials on YouTube. 

The next time we met, we talked about the stages we would go through to create our movies. We made this anchor chart to show what we needed to do in each stage.

We were ready to start preproduction. Since I have 10 iPods and 30 students, we decided each production team would be 3 people. We talked about choosing teams in which you get along with one another, share similar creative interests and you can make good behavior choices while working independently. The students did a great job breaking themselves into groups. We recorded our production teams and posted it.

The teams met and made circle maps of story ideas and elements they'd like to include in their movies. We talked about what they could realistically include and I urged them to keep this first effort simple. After a few work sessions, each team shared their story ideas with one another. Groups had to have characters, setting, problem and resolution outlined.

At this point, students were ready to start with the movie making. I conducted a whole-group lesson on correct use and care of our iPod cameras and tripods (see below - I found these on Amazon.com for less than $4 each). I showed them how to turn them on, open the Stop Motion Studio app and how to use it. I created a short video to demonstrate the basics and then let them explore. They created small sets and practiced taking photos, moving objects and adding sound (either dialog or sound effects). This free exploration taught them a great deal about how to set up the camera angles, lighting, sound and how to work together as a group.

I knew I needed to have a plan for storage of each team's Lego items, camera and other movie making materials. I bought dish bins at Target and labeled them for each team. These allow for easy storage and use when we are working on our films.

Dish bins from Target numbered for each production team

 

Our next step is to create storyboards, write the scripts and build our sets. Legos are coming in from home, being borrowed from friends and culled from the classroom Lego bin. So far, the Lego costs have been minimal. I did purchase some of the new Lego Friends small sets with the girl Lego figures in them to capture the interests of the girls in my class a bit more. They were already Lego enthusiasts, but they really like these sets aimed at them. I am anticipating needing to purchase a few more large platforms to create a base for our sets, but other than that, I think we will have everything we need.

Look for part 2 coming soon!

 

What's New in the Nest...

Well, I have been absent from here for a while. It wasn't a conscious decision. I, like most teachers/moms/people I know just got busy.

A lot is happening in my little corner of the world though. My class is starting our Lego stop motion movies using the iPod touches I acquired through grants from the Assistance League of HB, Disneyland, Chevron, Kids in Need Foundation, Huntington Beach Educational Foundation and a classroom donation. We are using Stop Motion Studio and iMovie to help us make these fun projects. We are going to have a red-carpet premiere in May for our parents and families.

We just finished our second round of Benchmark testing for our district. I am proud to say, my student showed improvement and I am a proud teacher! We learned from our first Benchmark and made some changes to our game plan and it helped! We still have a ways to go, but we are making great strides toward mastery of our standards.

I just installed Apple TV in my classroom. I love that I can show my iPad on the SMARTBoard and instruct students using apps and other iPad tools. We can also listen to music, watch instructional videos and tap into other great instructional materials.

I started using SMART Response Clickers in my classroom over a year ago. However, I never really started using them until last week. I had the opportunity to attend a training class at CCS Presentations by the awesome Nicole. I learned so many great things I can do with the clickers. They have now become an integral part of my instructional plan. The kids love using them and I love having data throughout the day to drive my instruction and make decisions about student knowledge and outcomes. If you haven't seen what these can do and how they can help you and your students, you should really check it out! Here is a video that will give you an idea of what it's all about. So awesome!

Well, that's about all... I will try not to stay away so long next time. Just having fun doing my thing! 

Parent Teacher Conferences & Help Wanted

Well, I survived parent teacher conferences last week. It is such a long process, but so valuable. It is tough to make every parent feel like you are there just for them after having the same conversation 30 times. But, I think I did it well and hope that my parents came away with as much inspiration and pride in their kids as I did.

Now, two more weeks until Winter Recess! I can't wait. I have several books waiting for me on my Kindle. I am afraid to even peek at them for fear that I won't be able to put it down and focus on anything remotely school or holiday related. So, I must hide the Kindle from myself. The fact that I can access it from my iPad, or iPhone is just going to be a test of my willpower.

We are working on stories in class right now. The kids are having a great time trying to save Santa who has found himself stuck in their chimney. My kids have great imaginations, but they don't seem to be putting them to their full use on this one. I am reading attempt after attempt to push or pull Santa by his feet or arms. Jumping on him seems to be another favorite strategy. I am having trouble getting them to think outside the box and create interesting and imaginative solutions to this problem. Last year's class was pouring butter and oil on Santa, using vaccuums, toilet plungers and Nerf guns. How do you all inspire your kids to be imaginative and creative? I tried modeling my crazy ideas in a parallel story about getting a cat out of a tree because I didn't want them to copy borrow my ideas for their story. The stories will be great, just not as great as I know they could be. Any and all ideas/inspiration to help this struggling teacher would be appreciated.

Until later... happy holidays and let the countdown begin.

Currently November

I can't believe it is already November. This year is flying by. Our first trimester ends at the end of the month and then it's conferences. I feel a little stressed that I won't get everything done that I need to accomplish before then, but all I can do is keep plugging away. Here's what's up with me right now.

Spooky Science

For the past 6 years I have been doing Spooky Science on Halloween (or the closest day to it if it happens to fall on a weekend). It is a favorite among kids and parents alike. I started out with a kit I purchased from Steve Spangler Science. Each year I replace items that have run low or add things to it that I find.

When the students arrive in the room I have my science lab set up in the front of the room. A black, plastic cauldron is "smoking" in the front of the room and they are hooked. I ask them to predict what is making the cauldron smoke. I get all sorts of responses... a candle, a fog machine, dry ice...

From there, I show them the small glass bowl in the cauldron with water and dry ice in it. I hand out a fact sheet about dry ice and we learn all about dry ice, its properties and how it changes from one state to another. We learn about sublimation (how it "melts" from a solid to a gas) and how it's made.

Next, we move into dry ice experiments and demonstrations. I have kids come up and warm up metal spoons as much as they can. As a class we talk about friction and rub our hands together to create heat. Once our spoons are warmed up, we place a small piece of dry ice in the spoon to create Singing Spoons.

Since I teach third grade, many of the activities I do are demonstrations, but I try to have the kids participate and experience as much of the fun as possible. My next demonstration is showing how the gas being released can create bubbles. I show this in several ways. The first is with a beaker full of warm water, dry ice and bubble solution. The bubbles erupt from the beaker. Kids love to come up and get a handful of the bubbles to hold and watch the gas escape when they pop.

The second way that I show how the gas is released is by making BOO BUBBLES. I use a special container from Steve Spangler Science. I blow bubbles using the gas and bubble solution. If the students wear gloves or put the bubble on fabric (like their shirts) they won't pop. The oils from our skin are not a happy environment for the bubble, so putting them into students' hands won't work. The kids love getting their own personal BOO BUBBLE to examine.

Another favorite demonstration is when I make a crystal ball using a large, smooth-rimmed bowl, warm water, dry ice and a towel soaked in bubble solution. By creating a bubble across the top of the bowl, the gas releases and fills it pushing it up to look like a crystal ball. It is very dramatic and fun! Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of this year's crystal ball.

Lastly, we made Atomic Slime and talked about how molecules look in a liquid or gas state and how they link together when it becomes a solid. We mixed an atomic slime mixture with cross linker solution and shook. The liquid turned into a semi-solid solution. The kids got to see how it glowed due to phosphoresence with a black light. They got to take a sample of the slime home with them.

The day was a blast. The kids learned a lot of science and had a great time. I did, too!