First Meeting...

After playing phone tag for about 2 days, the parent and I were finally able to make contact. The parent was very supportive of the project and was eager for her daughter, Amy to begin working. We were able to schedule our first meeting on a Saturday morning. The Zuniga Family was extremely nice and welcomed me into their home. Amy was sitting at the kitchen table with her mother's laptop waiting to begin working on the project. About 2 minutes had gone by when the door bell rang, it was their neighbor's from across the street coming over to let me know they had hit my car as they were backing out of their drive way! I was in complete shock! The neighbor and I quickly settled the accident and exchanged all the important information.

It was a little difficult to regain my composure and focus on the project. However, we were able to discuss the basics and expectations of the project. She was able to give some insight on her prior knowledge of her topic, the "Early Man". This was a topic previously learned, so we did not have to spend too much time researching more information. I explained my purpose was to do my very best to teach her the technology aspect of the project and we begin by creating her blog. We then preceded to complete the KWL chart on google docs. Due to the family having plans to feed the homeless, it being Easter weekend, my son's 4th birthday party, and a minor accident, we had to cut our meeting short.

Overall, I was pleased with the outcome of our first meeting. My goal was to create the blog, begin the KWL chart, and begin searching for images relating to our topic. I asked Amy to answer a couple of questions on her blog and have some idea of pictures she would like to use in her voice thread.

CCMS Tour

Visiting CCMS was quite an experience. Although I did not visit during regular school hours, I was able to receive helpful information from my student and her friend. I visited the school after hours and saw a small group participating in their after school care program. It was a group of six to eight students. The students were listening to their teacher explaining a science topic. The rooms I visited was next to the library. In my opinion the rooms were a little smaller than a classroom at a public school. Inside the rooms were tons of manipulatives for the students to work with during their daily activities. Manipulatives provide a better understanding for students and allow them to see things from a visual perspective.

I found it very interesting the students are allowed to work without shoes. Students are encouraged to be as comfortable as possible and working without shoes is one way to provide a comfortable atmosphere. The students at CCMS usually do their activities on the floor or a mat as a oppose to sitting at individual desk like the public schools. Small group participation is encouraged throughout the classes and the higher grade levels usually are grouped in three's. The student I worked with on the spring project loves attending CCMS and looks forward to going to school everyday. She was also pleased about the additional grade levels that the school will be adding in the future. The school appeared very clean and academically successful. The staff members I met were very nice and professional. Despite the fact I was not able to see the full effect of the school, it left me wanting to return to the school to see the students in action.

I love this quote!

"Whoever touches the life of a child touches the most sensitive point of a whole, which has roots in the most distant past and climbs toward the infinite future." -Dr. Maria Montessori

Below is a link to read more information on the montessori method.
Maria Montessori

Homo Erectus

Voicethread Interaction

Amy and I were able to work on her Voicethread at CCMS. Although we didn't have the voice recording tool, we are able to put a little soomething together. Amy did an excellent job of searching for own images and creating titles for each image. She had a good time making it.

One of my students was able to comment on her voicethread!!

See Amy's Voicethread here.

Anxiously Waiting....

I am anxiously waiting to meet my student!! I got off to a late start signing up for the project, fortunately a parent was also late signing up. I have contacted the parent two times through email, but I have not received a response. I am looking forward to our first initial meeting.....I hope we are able to meet soon! In the mean time I will begin exploring possible ideas and information that may be helpful to the "Early Man" project.

In the future, I have learned as a teacher I must be patient and not give up when a parent is non responisive. Working with parents to ensure their child successful is the ultimate goal. Both parents and teachers should be on the same page working towards the same goal. Learning from this experience about parent contacts is just to keep pursing the parent through emails, mulitple phone numbers, and any other means of communication.

Possible Questions:
1. In your own words, describe your description of the the "Early Man".
2. If you could travel back in time 3.6 million years ago as one of the first "Early Man", what would you do differently for mankind?
3. List and describe the animal population during the "Early Man" period.
4. Chose any animal from the "Early Man" period and compare yourself to the animal of your chosing.


Here is a link that might be useful to our project.

Digital Movie

Super Spreadsheets!!!!

Creating a spreadsheet can be very difficult. Working with numbers and functions are not my specialty, but somehow I was able to get through this assignment. Spreadsheets can serve many purposes, such as monitoring your finances, creating your own grading system, and basically to manage any kind of important data.

Incorporating creating spreadsheets in the classroom will allow students to substitute their calculators for a spreadsheet program. Inquiry based learning will definitely be the center of attention when using spreadsheets. Both support the main elements of teaching students to learn through a hands on approach. Three questions I would suggest students to consider while tackling a spreadsheet are:

1. Which plant or flower grew the fastest/slowest in 6 weeks?
2. Determine the hottest and coolest days along with any rain, and the positive or negative affects the weather had on the plants during a 6 week period.
3. Create a budget of all the necessities to grow a garden. Your allowable budget will begin at $100.