Thursday, April 23, 2015

Got any favorite websites?

I have 4 "go to" websites that I visit almost daily.....

  • weather channel- I NEED to know whether we will be outside or inside for recess!
  • pinterest - I find ideas to make my school organized and looking good.
  • drop box - This tool keeps teachers at my school informed and up to date on important information.
  • google - I count on this site to open up all kinds of possibilities and to find answers to all of my questions.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Why I LOVE dropbox.....

·          Information is uploaded, shared, and updated easily.
·         It’s easy for our teacher to find necessary documents from the Louisiana Believes website.
·         I am able to share pictures with our computer lab teacher who keeps our school's facebook page up to date with pictures, information about upcoming events at our school, and sharing of any notes that go home.
·         We have found that even teachers that are not so savvy with technology are able to use DropBox easily to access important information and documents. 

This is an awesome app for ELL!

Name of app: The Phrasal Verb Machine
Skill: grammar
Grades: ages 4+
Description: The Phrasal Verb Machine shows pictures for verbs that sometimes have more than one meaning.

Use: Using verbs correctly is difficult for ELL, but this app makes it fun to learn about them. Students are able to choose from 100 phrasal verbs, see a visual example in motion, the translation, an example, and other meanings-all in 7 different languages. Then students can test their knowledge with interactive exercises. This is a fun and engaging app with cool graphics.

This is what I think about Popplet!

There are just enough options to personalize a popplet but not so many that the choices seem overwhelming. The colors make it visually attractive, and the drawing tool and upload button are perfect for those who want to take their popplet up a notch! Because of the ease of use, I can definitely see this being used in a classroom for many purposes such as the following:
·         a character or book analysis
·         to show the different ways to work a math problem
·         key words to look for when deciding which math operation to use

·         a culminating project for a science or social studies unit 

iPad App Review

    • Notability by Ginger Labs
    • Skill Area: This app could be used by our administrative team (our principal, instructional strategist, and myself)
    • This app is appropriate to use with all grade levels and subjects. 
    • Description: With this app, you can take notes or pictures, annotate documents or pictures, then share your notes. Notes may be shared on twitter, email, Drop Box, printed, etc.
    • Our instructional strategist went to the Plain Talk conference several weeks ago in New Orleans and learned about an effective observation process for teachers. In summary, the principal, the instructional strategist, and I observed 6 teachers. Using a T-chart we scripted everything the students did/said and everything the teacher did/said. Using the notes, we determined a weakness that we all had observed from each teacher. We divided up the teachers, met with them, and the process goes on from there. Using the app, Notability, we would be able to take notes, capture pictures in the classroom, annotate the pictures, and share them privately among the three of us by printing our notes, using iCloud, or Drop Box. This is a great way to combine our data. 
My Storybook with my amazing children!

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

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Sunday, April 5, 2015

Mandy's Link To The Book Review Vodcast!


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Saturday, March 14, 2015

Sixteen years ago, I started an amazing journey which has taken me to different grades, different schools, and different positions. I have grown as a wife, mom, teacher, and now administrator along the way. This blog will focus on the view from the office of  Ruston Elementary where I am currently the interim coordinating teacher. I'm excited to share with you all the wonderful things happening at Ruston Elementary School!