Information in So Many Forms

This week, a new episode of The Yarn was released. In this new episode,  author Anne Ursu talks about her book, The Real Boy. I LOVED The Real Boy and read the ARC as soon as it was available. I am a huge Anne Ursu fan so I loved having a bit more information on her process in writing this book. If you do not subscribe to The Yarn, I would definitely recommend it!

This interview with Anne Ursu is the first in a 3 part series. Keep your eye out for the next two in this series where Colby and Travis talk to Tracey Baptiste and Matt Tavares.

The podcast got me thinking about how many interesting ways there are to share information online that weren't available just a few years ago. There are such fascinating little pieces of information out there to share with students around books and literacy.

These little snippets of information really have me thinking about how I approach informational reading and writing in the classroom. They are crafted in a much more informal way and I think there are different skills needed to produce things like this. It is interesting to me, that with all of the ways to share information out there, there is still a lot of "report type" writing and big finished products when it comes to informational writing. I am wondering how I could better spend my time studying pieces like this and helping kids learn to create smaller pieces whose format matches purpose so clearly.

Here are some of my new favorite informational pieces--some for me and some for my students:

Emily Elizabeth Smith was given the Donald Graves Award at this year's NCTE convention. Her classroom sounds amazing and when I visited her class website I found some incredible podcasts on their HIVE RADIO link.  There are many different genres and topics created by her 5th graders.

I recently loved this short interview with Charlotte Huck Award winner, Sharon Draper. In this clip, she talks a bit about her book Stella by Starlight. It is fun to hear an author in person and to hear some extra background about a book I love.

Information like this is everywhere when we know where to look. I love this clip of Loren Long sharing some thoughts about his new book, Little Tree.

Ruth Ayres has created a series of videos that teach writers strategies for better writing.  How much we can learn in these short clips is incredible.

My 3rd graders are huge fans of Steve Harpster's drawing books. Recently they've discovered his YouTube channel and are learning how to draw so many things with these quick videos.

Friends with Fins has been extremely popular with my 3rd graders this year. So much information about the ocean and ocean conservation packed into these short, engaging videos. I especially like this one because Jaclyn talks about the research and how there is not yet a definitive, agreed-upon answer for this question--Do Fish Feel Pain?

I am in the process of collecting things like this for our work informational reading and writing that will begin in January. I am not sure where we'll go with it but I know that I want to think a bit differently about the study this year.

Connecting Comprehension and Technology

I've been very behind on my professional reading and am so glad I have summer to catch up. I picked up a copy of Connecting Comprehension and Technology: Adapt and Extend Toolkit Practices right when it came out. But with my concussion last summer and my ban on reading, I never had a chance to read the book. I love the authors of this book and I love the ideas around it. I have been fans of Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis for a very long time and loved the idea that they partnered with classroom teachers for this new book/toolkit supplement.  I love that this was a book about technology by people who are so committed to literacy learning.

I was bummed that I missed the session focused on these ideas at NCTE this fall but I had a conflict so I couldn't attend. But, in March, I went to MRA and had the opportunity to hear Kristin Ziemke. I was also able to participate in her online workshop through Heinemann this spring.  And in late May, Kristin did a Skype PD with teachers from our building. I loved the thinking and it was so in line with my own thinking--the natural use of technology as a tool and the way that she talked about focusing on the thinking, not the technology. (Maria was part of the Skype visit and shared some of her learning on her blog.)  Kristin and Stephanie are both speaking at All Write so I am hoping to learn more from them there!

So, a few weeks ago, with end of the year things slowing down, I had time to really dig into  Connecting Comprehension and Technology. I  read bits and pieces last year when I got the book but couldn't dig in, mark it up, read it cover to cover. With the added bonus of having heard Kristin speak and seeing photos and conversations from her classroom, I knew I  wanted to spend lots of time with the book. I'm so glad I did. My copy is now sticky noted and marked up and I know I will continue to dig into it over and over again all summer as I think ahead to next fall.

Here are some things I love about the book:

*Even though the book is filled with lessons, it is also about possibilities. The authors share lessons that go along with the Comprehension Toolkit and they can be used as is. They are great lessons and there are many I will try in the fall. But it is the combination of lessons and the stance the teachers in the book share that really set the stage for technology as a tool for thinking.

*There are QR codes that lead to video clips of both Kristin and Katie's classrooms in action. I love that there are examples from a first grade and a fifth grade classroom. The threads of learning are the same and it is so helpful to see what kids are doing at different stages.  The video clips are great and I used a few with my students during the last few weeks of school as we played with back channeling during read aloud, etc. It was a great way to introduce something and let them see how other kids were using it to learn.

*I love the classrooms in the book. The is not a book that focuses on technology. It is a book that focuses on thinking. It is clear from the pictures, lessons, videos, etc. that the classrooms are filled with books and paper and notebooks and conversations...and iPads.

*A few of the lessons really helped me think through ways to support some struggles my kids have had. A favorite is one on distractions on a website--how to navigate a website when there are so many distractions. I had talked to my kids about this but the way these lessons are set up really helped me see that I was talking more about the website than the thinking.  The layout of the lessons helped me think about how to add depth to the learning.

*The book is full of classroom charts, screenshots of webpages, screenshots of student work. It really gives you a vision for what a classroom could be that focuses on thinking, not technology.

This book is a great add on to the Comprehension Toolkit if you have it.  But the book definitely stands alone if you do not own the toolkit.  It's the brilliant thinking about reading and comprehension that Harvey and Goudvis have taught us, with the addition of technology.  This book shows readers what is possible when technology is used as a tool and what can happen if we hold onto best practice and naturally embed digital tools. If you are thinking about technology and literacy, it is definitely one I'd recommend. I have seen lots of books that focus on ways to use technology to support reading but this book really talks about thinking and how to use technology to support that.  That might seem like a minor detail, but for teachers who understand literacy learning it is not minor at all!

Using the Encyclopedia

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Rishabh Mishra,
and no, the ones we're using aren't this old!

On our whirlwind tour of the 50 Nifty, my students are using the encyclopedia to do some quick research on states as we travel region by region.

Encyclopedia the BOOK, not Encyclopedia dot com.

It was quite funny the day I launched them. They had chosen their state and they ran to the cart and grabbed a volume.

"How do you turn this on?"
"Hey, this book only has words that start with G!"

I had to hold my tongue carefully in reply to the first (I wanted to use the punchline from It's a Book), and I was incredulous when I heard the second. Their lack of knowledge about the way the encyclopedia works started with the fact that each volume contains a letter or few letters-worth of information!

Needless to say, we had an unplanned minilesson right there and then on the layout of the set, and then another on the structure of the articles on the states.

As we travel region by region and students repeat the research (landforms, economy, native people, settlers), every single day I have conversations with students reminding them to read the graphics, read the captions of pictures, use the bold headings as clues about what information is being presented, skim and scan for key words.

This is good stuff.

The thing I like the very most about the encyclopedia is that you can't just ask it the question and wait for it to give you what it thinks you'll want for an answer.

The thing I like second most about the encyclopedia relates to the first: you have to turn actual pages. The text sits still.

Also, when you use the encyclopedia, you don't have to wait for it to turn on, you don't have to log in, and slow Internet never concerns you.

And whether they believe it or not, everything they are learning about reading a book-encyclopedia article will make them a better reader of online articles.

Three cheers for the unsung hero -- the ENCYCLOPEDIA!

The Perfect Antidote for BYOD

Dot.
by Randi Zuckerberg
illustrated by Joe Berger
HarperCollins, on shelves November 5, 2013
F&Gs provided by the publisher (almost as if they could read my mind)

"This is Dot.
Dot knows a lot.
She knows how to tap...
to touch...
to tweet...
and to tag."

Luckily, Dot's mom sends her outside to "REBOOT! RECHARGE! RESTART!" and Dot remembers about tapping with her toes, touching sunflowers with her fingertips, tweeting with the birds, and tagging her friends as they run past.

Yes, let's not let our children get so caught up in their devices that they forget the real world around them!

(Sorry to review this so far ahead of the publication date, but it was the right book at the right time, and I can't wait to share it with my students!)

BYOD

Two weeks ago I launched "Bring Your Own Device" in my classroom. Not because I don't already have enough to complicate my life, but because the theme of this year has unfolded to be "meet them where they are."

Before I ever mentioned the initiative to my students, I proposed it to parents at Curriculum Night. All five who showed up (which I'll take as a vote of confidence rather than a demonstration of apathy) were enthusiastic about the opportunity for their children to learn to use a device for more than just gaming and texting.

On that first Monday, five students brought devices. The number of devices has more than doubled since then. Somehow, there was a misconception that it was a one-week deal. Jaws dropped when I cleared that up and told them that this is a YEAR LONG deal. We started BYOD with a district Technology Support Teacher on hand to help out. We began with a lesson on digital citizenship, then scanned QR codes as one way to get to an Internet site. Next, the students learned to access the Student Dashboard, where I can upload links for them in all subject areas. We ended the morning with everyone on a school laptop for what started as a quick lesson in saving to the district cloud, but ended up being Fun With Shapes and Colors in Pages.

My ability to integrate technology every day has had its ups and downs. I am learning to be more flexible than ever and to defer to the students with, "What do YOU think?" which of course is empowering to them and why on earth did I ever have to be one who does all the thinking in the first place?

Here are some examples of how we've used our devices so far:

In reading, I gave groups the challenge of representing their thinking about the characters, setting, and most important events in the plot of our read aloud ESCAPE FROM MR. LEMONCELLO'S LIBRARY using their devices as they saw fit. They used Notes, Voice Memo, Skitch, a whiteboard app, iPods and iPads. They shared their thinking and creations using the document camera. (Air Share is aggravatingly not working for us.)

In math this week, we had a "whiteboard quiz" over geometry terms. If they had a drawing app on their device, they could use that for their whiteboard. Others used old-school whiteboards and dry erase pens.

In writing, the devices have opened up a whole new world of "containers" or formats in which students can go public with their writing. I'm anxious to see how this unfolds as they learn to use the apps they have and we find and try out new apps.

If all goes well, we'll have four new iPads soon to further complicate and enrich our classroom lives!

#CyberPD--Who Owns the Learning?, Ch 5-end

Who Owns the Learning?: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age
by Alan November
Solution Tree (May 21, 2012)
I read the Kindle Edition

"Reflecting on my own education while growing up, 

I don't remember any of my tests. 

I don't remember any of my multiple-choice tests 

or my written answers. 

But I remember the experiences I had...

...what can we give kids that's an experience 

that they typically don't get...?" p. 86

Chapter 5 -- Job of global communicator and collaborator
Big idea for me: Students need to learn empathy. Global empathy as well as just plain understanding and appreciating other points of view.

Discussion Question #1 -- What kinds of opportunities can you imagine for enabling students to engage with authentic audiences around the world? 

• Skyping with other schools and with authors...and perhaps with the international families of my students? Just learned last night on #5thChat about Mystery # Skypes and TodaysMeet. Both of these seem RICH with possibilities!
• Working the Twitter feed for all it's worth. 
• Participating in the Global Read Aloud.

Discussion Question #2 -- What barriers do you anticipate educators will face in guiding students in the role of global communicator and collaborator? 

The biggest barrier will be Me.

• I have to guard against running out of time, energy, commitment, focus, and a willingness to brainstorm creative ways to access technology resources. 
• I have to remember to start small, using authentic audiences in our own school district...maybe even our own building!
• I have to choose projects wisely, then work backwards from the end result to make sure I've taught all the skills my students will need in order to be successful.

Chapter 6 -- Purposeful work, legacy of student contribution
The story of the student-written history text/wiki is fascinating. Leaving a legacy is as crucial as empathy. I had an amazing interim principal once upon a time (you know who I'm talking about, some of you). His tagline on all written and most verbal communications was "Leave a legacy." The hallways in the new wing of our building (built during his term with us) are named Legacy Lane. Through his constant use of that word, he made me think about the value and importance of all I do in my classroom and our school. I think the idea of taking student work to the Legacy Level can be a ongoing conversation from day one. "What can come of this work we are doing that will be of lasting importance? Of use to someone else?" Thinking about the legacy piece will naturally tie into teaching empathy. (Hmm...this is pretty fascinating. You are witnessing ideas being born as I type...I'm getting really excited about this!!) I recently had an afternoon of conversation with some of my #LivePD pals. We kept wrapping back around to the idea of "Who will be the audience?" Seems like if students are involved in conversations about leaving a legacy, they are also determining the audience for the work they'll be doing. So they won't just be shouting into Cyberspace and hoping someone will respond. (Hmm...it's all coming together nicely...) And if we're considering legacy, we've got purpose covered, too! (Hmm...)


Discussion Question #1 What opportunities can you identify for incorporating multiple student jobs into your classroom activities? 

The answer is Yes.  (need time to think and plan)

Discussion Question #2 How could you help your students create an educational legacy that would outlast their own student experiences?

The answer is Yes. While I'm hoping that it's not just one thing and that it comes as much from them as from me, I do have one idea I'd like to float to my students and to the staff of my school: We need to take our Multiculturalism on the road to other schools whose classes aren't as international as ours. We need to take our authentic Multicultural Day out to other schools that have a fake one put on by their PTO.

Discussion Question #4  How would you structure yearlong collaboration with colleagues beyond your classroom to add value to your students' learning experiences?

See answer to #1.  (also got a good start on this during #LivePD with Karen, Maria and Cathy)




Laura Komos (Ruminate and Invigorate) is hosting today's conversation about WHO OWNS THE LEARNING? Thank you to her, to Jill Fisch (My Primary Passion), and to Cathy (Reflect and Refine) and for bringing us together to have these important conversations. Looking forward to the Twitter Chat!

#CyberPD--Who Owns the Learning?, Ch 3-4

Who Owns the Learning?: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age
by Alan November
Solution Tree (May 21, 2012)
I'm reading the Kindle Edition

"As long as you're asking what's next, you'll get there. 

But never be content with where you're at."

In Chapter 3, Alan November describes the job of Student Scribe. He says that this job is "low-hanging fruit," but I'm having some trouble imagining it in my 5th grade classroom. At least the way he describes it. My students aren't typically taking notes throughout the day. But maybe they should be...in some way, shape, or (developmentally appropriate) form...

I can see the Scribe being responsible for a daily blog post for our class blog. And I like the idea that this is a place where "Every voice speaks with the same volume." The idea that the habits/skills that are a part of this job will contribute to lifelong learning and instill a sense of LEGACY in students is powerful. But was November reading my mind when he commented that part of the challenge with this job is getting past the fear of letting go of control?!? :-)

Discussion Question #3: "Do you think students will work harder on material that they prepare for that audience than they will when doing work for their teachers?"

I'm having a hard time answering this with an enthusiastic "Yes!" Blogging kind of flopped for me last year. My invitation to my students to join me in my Poetry Month project kind of flopped. My Columbus Dispatch Reader group is in the process of flopping. Where is this mystical, magical motivation? Does it have to do with audience and control? If I don't take charge, these things won't get done/get done correctly/well/on time...right? And where, exactly is this audience? As bloggers, we all know that it takes nearly as much energy to be a good audience as it does to be the ones creating the content to be consumed. I guess that's the part where I arrange for my class to partner with another class in the district (uh oh...there's that control issue again...) and/or my students link up with other classes through our Twitter feed.

Discussion Question #4: "How can teachers model sharing knowledge with a global audience?"

Easy peasy, this one. Blogging and Twitter and my Wikimedia Commons project for Poetry Month come immediately to mind. I've had photos from my Flickr photostream used (with my permission and with attribution) in a magazine and an online city guide. Just recently this Poetry Friday poem got picked up though a key word search "high plains" by High Plains Public Radio for their website. Got this one covered.

On the other hand, Chapter 4, Student as Researcher, was the chapter that showed me where my gaps are. I need to learn to do better Internet searches so that I can teach my students to be smarter researchers. I dipped into this a bit with my Poetry Month project. I no longer allow students to drag to their desktop any ol' image they find on any ol' Google Image search. This year, I taught my students to do an advanced image search for images that are licensed to be used/modified, and to give attribution for the image when it is used in a project. I have informally taught bits and pieces of analyzing a website and/or its address, but with the information and resources November has given me, I will be much more methodical (and informed) about this in the future!

ALL of the Discussion Questions for Chapter 4 are ones that I want to return to and reflect upon.  #1--I need to teach my students to design basic and advanced searches. #2--Yes, students should be taught search strategies in every discipline. #3--How to implement the role of student researcher in my classroom needs lots of thinking and planning. #4--Designing assessment items that required students to access the web...hmm...sounds very Common Core to me. And very exciting!

So much in Chapter 4 to think about and learn about! This chapter really got me excited!

Jill Fisch (My Primary Passion) is hosting today's conversation about WHO OWNS THE LEARNING? Thank you to her, and to Cathy (Reflect and Refine) and Laura Komos (Ruminate and Invigorate) for bringing us together to have these important conversations.

#CyberPD--Who Owns the Learning?, Ch 1-2

Who Owns the Learning?: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age
by Alan November
Solution Tree (May 21, 2012)

I'm reading the Kindle Edition

My brain is going in two different directions as I read this book. 

1. (the young side of my brain) Well, duh. You long ago gave away sole responsibility for hallway and classroom displays. Why not take the next logical step and do the same thing with learning and teaching?

2. (the greying side of my brain) I don't know enough about all of these digital tools! When will I have time to learn them all before I teach them to my students??! I don't have access to enough iPads or laptops to make this work! (answer from young side: Quit hyperventilating. You know very well that all you need to do is turn students loose with technology and they will figure it out. And weren't you paying attention? You can do all of this...or at least get started...with just one laptop and one iPad. That's do-able.)

Questions for Discussion, Chapter 1

"2. What first steps might you take in building a learning community where your students take on more responsibility for contributing to the learning of the class?"

• Reinvent my classroom jobs to include Scribe and Researcher. I wonder if I could have my Researcher monitor/add to the class Twitter feed throughout the day?
• Resurrect my class wiki and turn it over to the students to manage. Learn just enough about podcasting and screencasting to teach my students (if they even need to be taught) and give it over. Frankly, the biggest barrier I felt/imagined was the amount of time it would take ME to manage the wiki.
• Start a class blog that goes out to the world.
• Don't grade -- don't even offer extra credit points for -- any creative project that contributes to the learning of the whole class. Remember, "Students teaching students is a powerful method for building learning and driving creativity and innovation."

Questions for Discussion, Chapter 2

"1. As an educator, can you name some specific types of lessons or topics that would be particularly well suited for student tutorials?" 

Short answer: Yes. Lots of them. 

New thinking: Perhaps the next step after a guided lesson with students who are struggling with a topic is to ask them to create a tutorial. 

Here are a few possible Language Arts tutorials (guided lessons I taught with small groups) I can think of off the top of my head:

• making plurals with nouns that end in vowel-y and consonant-y (word study)
• cause and effect (reading nonfiction)
• summarizing (reading fiction and nonfiction)
• revising a poem for line breaks (writing)

Cathy (Reflect and Refine) is hosting today's conversation about WHO OWNS THE LEARNING? Thank you to her, and to Jill Fisch (My Primary Passion) and Laura Komos (Ruminate and Invigorate) for bringing us together to have these important conversations.

(A note about my post -- I deliberately did not read anyone else's posts before writing mine. I'm anxious to see how my thinking is the same as and different from everyone else's!)

Digital Reading Workshop

I created this list of questions a year or two ago as I thought about the idea that a digital reading or writing workshop was not about one unit of study or the idea of letting kids read ereaders. That as we figure out how the whole idea of reading has expanded, are we making rooms for all kinds of reading in our classrooms. I revisited this list last week as I am thinking about the ways in which my students use digital tools and the ways in which they are growing as readers and writers. Definitely questions I'll come back to that help me think about the messages I am giving students about what counts as reading these days. As always, I feel pretty good when I ask myself a few of these questions and with others, I have work to do.

What role do digital texts have in your reading workshop?

Read Aloud

Do I choose to read aloud only texts from traditional books or do I share digital texts, audio books, blog posts, etc. during read aloud?

Do we use web resources such as author websites and book trailers to help us dig deeper into the book we are reading?

Do I read aloud from websites and blogs?

Do I utilize keyword tags, comments, links, and search features while reading aloud?

 Independent Reading/Reading Conferences

Do we use online resources for book previewing and book selection?

Do I limit students' independent reading to traditional books or do they have a variety of options for their reading time?  Do I place equal value on reading on e-readers, reading websites, reading short pieces, etc. as I do on reading traditional books?

Do I help my students use online tools to support their lives as readers? Do I value annotation tools, bookmarking tools, RSS feeds, etc. as part of my readers lives? Do I model these tools in minilessons?

Do I introduce digital pieces and discuss digital reading when conferring with students?

Have I updated my reading interview to include questions about digital reading?

Do students have ways to add a social component to their lives as readers? Are they connected to others because of their reading?


Reading Minilessons

Do I use digital pieces, as well as traditional texts when teaching minilessons?

Do I rely completely on traditional text or do I use film clips, blog entries, podcasts, etc. when planning minilessons?

Do I share process in my minilessons? Do I tend to share process only as it relates to creating text-based pieces?

Do I teach minilessons that are universal, regardless of format of piece?

Do I share my own  process, consuming and composing in several types of media?

Do I use minilesson time to demonstrate tools tools that support deeper reading with a variety of texts?

Shared Reading

Have I reflected on the resources I rely on for Shared Reading?

Do I include web reading and viewing when thinking about Shared Reading experiences?

How can I include a variety of texts for students to process through together?

Content Reading

Have I found sources for content reading that go beyond textbooks and traditional text?

Do I rely on newspapers for talk around current events or do I tend to focus more on sites like DOGONews, Time for Kids,  and other sites that combine text and visual features?

How am I supporting the importance of visual information in the content areas?

WHY SCHOOL by Will Richardson

I just finished Will Richardson's new ebook, Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere (Kindle Single) .  Will Richardson is someone I have been learning from for years. I've read his books, I read his blog regularly, I follow him on Twitter, I've watched his Ted Talks and I was able to hear him speak in person this summer.  I have learned so much from his groundedness about teaching and learning combined with his knowledge of technology and connected learning.

Why School is a must read for educators and parents, I think.  I love this book for a lot of reasons. First of all, it is not about school bashing or teacher bashing but pushing us to think about where we are going with school. Richardson believes in public education and the institution of school but knows things have to change.

I also like that Richardson ends the book with some very concrete things we, as individual teachers can do to move things forward and to give our students the school experiences they deserve.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from WHY SCHOOL. I have 59 things highlighted according to my Kindle notes page but thought these would help you get a sense of the message Richardson conveys in this book. 

"I’m suggesting that this moment requires us to think deeply about why we need school. Or to ask, more specifically, what’s the value of school now that opportunities for learning without it are exploding all around us?" 

"Right now, we are at the precipice of two very different visions of what modern education should look like — two very different answers to the “why school” question. One bodes well for our children, and one bodes not so well, as I’ll explain."

"I contend that our focus on passing the test is not nearly enough any longer. I insist that the “test” doesn’t come close to capturing what our kids need to know and to be able to do at this moment of rapid and radical change, and that the longer we wait to start a conversation around doing school “differently,” instead of simply “better,” the more we’re putting our kids at risk."

"Just imagine the learners they could become if we made these skills the focus of our work; if, instead of passing the test, we made those ever-more important skills of networking, inquiry, creation, sharing, unlearning, and relearning the answer to the “why school” question. Imagine what our kids could become if we helped them take full advantage of all they have available to them for learning."

It is a great read.  And if you are going to NCTE's Annual Convention next month, Will Richardson will be speaking there.   (Did I mention that this book is only available in a Kindle Edition with a great price of $2.99?)

And my friend sent me a connected article that is worth a read too!

Blogs to Follow

It was a great first week of school and we are ready to start thinking about publishing online. This summer, I thought through the pieces I wanted for my 4th grade writers. I am laughing now because it seemed much more doable in July!  I know it is doable, I just need to take steps in the first six weeks of school and be thoughtful about how we get everything in place.

I want my students to be connected writers AND I also want them to be connected readers.  This week, we'll start doing some online reading. As a shared experience, I want to spend time with students reading blogs and understanding the whole genre of blogging.  I want them to see a variety of blogs, to see what is possible, to learn about commenting, etc.  So, I put out a request on Twitter, asking for classroom blogs that my class might follow. I got a great list from teachers everywhere. I also found some great blogs by kids and/or for kids that I'll add to the collection. I am trying to keep a list for now as I know we'll find some we revisit more often.  Many are just getting started as it is the beginning of the year. Others are older and haven't had new postings for a while. But all of the blogs on this list will help students begin to see the possibilities in blogging. This week will be about immersing ourselves in blogs and what they are about.   It will be about seeing the possibilities open up as we learn from and with people all over the world.

This is the list of blogs I have so far. Thanks to everyone for sharing their blogs with me on Twitter. If you have a classroom blog or student blog you'd like to add, just leave it in the comments. I had a great time pulling this list together--so much to learn from each blog that I visited!

THE SHINY RED APPLE (4th Grade) 

ANNA'S AMAZING LEARNERS (5 year olds in New Zealand)

POTENTIAL AND POSSIBILITIES 

ROOM 17 PINEHILL SCHOOL (New Zealand) 

MRS. YOLLIS'S 3RD GRADE BLOG  (California)

LIL' DOG WHISPERER 

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS' BLOGS

LAURA'S LIFE (7th Grader, Indiana) 

GLOSONBLOG (Social Media, Blogging and Tech Tips from 14 yo in Malaysia)

HAGAN'S WORLD OF AWESOME  (6 year old in Iowa) 

MRS. DAUB'S DUDES AND DUDETTES(4th Grade Classroom Blog) 

THE HOWLIN' GOOD TIMES OF ROOM 226 (4th Grade Classroom Blog)

CRAYONS AND PENCILS (6th Graders) 

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS BLOGS 

ABI'S BLOG (9 year old in Beijing) 

AMELIE'S ANIMAL BLOG (5 year old in Australia) 

AVA'S AWESOME BLOG (Australia)

EM'S CANVAS 

CLASSROOM 2 KIDS (Grade 2, British Columbia, Canada) 

LEARNING HUB 3 @ STONEFIELDS SCHOOL (5-8 year olds in New Zealand)

MR. C's CLASS BLOG http://mrcsclassblog.blogspot.com/

MRS. CASSIDY'S CLASSROOM BLOG (Grade 1)

THE SKINNY (5th Grade) 

MISS ALANIZ'S CLASSROOM BLOG (4th Grade) 

GRADE 5/MRS. TERBORG'S CLASS @RIVERSTONE 

20 SOMETHING KIDS AND 1 KOOKY TEACHER (5th Grade, Missouri) 

MRS. FREDERICKSON'S CLASS BLOG (Grade 6) 

...ALWAYS LEARNING...(5th Grade)

ROBINSON'S FABULOUS FIRSTIES