Using Padlet, QR Codes and iPads, Oh My!

We use padlet.com (formerly, Wallwisher) a lot in my room.  We have used it to show our learning at the end of a unit of study, we used it for the Global Read Aloud this past year and invited other classes to comment on the book Charlotte's Web, and we have created a wonder wall to write down our wonders during the day. Today, we used it a little differently.  I am currently teaching my students about identifying explicit information...

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Is It Possible To Make Genius Hour Longer?

What is Genius Hour? This is a time when all students can create their own inquiry question and answer their question by researching and creating some sort of final project to show to their classmates.   How We Started  When I first introduced genius hour, we did a lot of wondering and coming up with questions.  I ran into some problems at the beginning because my grade 1 and 2 students were coming up with questions that we...

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Ways To Use Thinglink.com In Your Classroom

Thinglink can make your images come alive with music, video, text and images. All you have to do is upload a picture of your choice and start adding to your pictures to make them interactive.  I thought this was a great idea and wanted to find ways to incorporate it into my classroom and blog.  You can also share your pictures with people on Facebook, Twitter, Email, and can embed your finished images onto your blog.  The best part....it...

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Fun With Measurement

Our current math unit is measurement.  I know that most of my blog posts are about how I am integrating technology into my classroom, however, this is not one of those posts....There are times when you need to use manipulatives and tools that are not on the iPads.  Yes, there are apps for measuring on the iPads, but my students need to know how to properly compare lengths accurately and use a baseline when comparing the lengths of objects....

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How My Learning Environment Has Evolved

Over the course of the last 4 years I have transformed as an educator.  I previously was a kindergarten teacher, who taught routines and was fearful of change and what it meant to our routines. I then began teaching grade 1 and wanted to change the way I delivered my message more over I wanted learning to be enriched. There have been 4 contributing factors to the change of the environment in my classroom.  My mindset, my students’ mindset, the social space and the physical space. It is my goal as an educator to foster discovery...

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Read Alouds - From Boring to Brilliant

Who remembers when they were young, listening to their teacher (well not really listening) do a read aloud to them?  I'm not talking about a short picture book, I am talking about a chapter book....I remember sitting there, day after day, while my teacher sat at her desk, and me at my desk, and her reading to us, while we sat completely still, thinking about anything else besides the book she was reading.  To be honest, I can't even remember...

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Using the iDiary for Kids App As A Thinking Book

My classroom, for the most part is paperless.  My students do not have notebooks, or binders, or folders that contain copious amounts of paper that will end up in the recycle bin as soon as they are able to bring it home.  My students sit at desks, however, they rarely use the inside of them.  My students all have a book box that contains the books they are currently reading and a writer's workshop folder that contains a few pieces...

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Using TodaysMeet During Literacy

This past week, we welcomed the Early Years Teachers, Our Vice Principal, and our grade 1 teacher in to see how we incorporate our iPads and technology into our classroom.  We showed our guests how we use a website called TodaysMeet.  This website encourages the room to use a live stream to make comments and ask questions (Sort of like Twitter, but it is private).  I have used this in professional PD before and I knew that...

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