Celebrations!

There are so many things going on in our classroom this year. So many things to share..and to celebrate. At times I am overwhelmed by the excitement. This was only a four day week, yet it was packed full of amazing things! Each week just opens up more opportunities and moments to celebrate.

One of the things I celebrate is how much we are doing with technology. As you open up and walk through one door, 10 more doors open to you. The connections, excitement and learning that occurs has been exciting and motivating.

One of our newest things is a math conversation on twitter. Each week one of our favorite classrooms in Iowa, also first graders, posts a photo or prompt so that we can engage in math talk together with first graders all over the USA, Canada and who knows where else!  You can get involved by following #mtgr1 (math talk grade 1) on twitter.  #mtgr1

As they share in this conversation, I catch things they've learned, or misunderstood. Here is some of their thinking on a white board.

 They used words like, "part, part, whole" and "equations" . They gave multiple ways to show the number 8, including addition, addition with 3 addends and subtraction. I am celebrating their learning! What makes it more exciting, we tweet these photos out with our thinking, and we get to listen in to all the other thinking as well!

We also spent time this week honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We began by watching Kid President's video. He captured all their attention. We also read about MLK and discussed our learning. The students then shared their thoughts on Dr. King on their blogs. This gave me great insight to their learning and understanding of our conversations. Many shared how his life impacted their lives and how they would use this to also make change in the world. 

We also participated in our first webinar with TFK! The students were engaged as they listened to a scientist speak to them from Antarctica! We have been studying polar habitats and they learned so much in this 45 minute presentation. We have some scheduled Skype sessions with other experts to continue to develop this interest in animals, their habitats and their adaptations. Stay tuned to hear all about it!

                     

Due to their interest we began our first bit of research on penguins and polar bears. They used our new mini Ipads and QR codes to access sites. It was the quietest and MOST engaged I have seen them at center time. They wrote down their facts and next week they will write about one of the animals based on their research. This will definitely become a part of our regular routine!

 

We also enjoyed some warm weather. They were certainly celebrating being able to take off the jackets and on with the shorts! Florida weather can change day to day!

We celebrate another weekly activity. We have teamed up with Mrs. Degroot's class in Iowa for a weekly game of Mystery Number. Next week students will visit this Google Hangout center and play Mystery Number on their own. We tried this week, but we had some technology problems! Like Florida weather, it can also change day to day!

TFK Webinar 

This was also our week to celebrate our 100th day. The pictures tell all! We celebrated being 100 days smarter! It was Zero the Hero's day to truly appear! We had a snack of 100, showed 100 many ways, wrote 100 words, and thought about what life will be like when we turn 100 years old. This was complete with photos from the app Aging Booth. Our room was full of laughter!

 

 

Here's hoping the next 80 days are full of more fun and learning! Can you believe this all took place in only 4 days of school? I didn't even write about all we did.