Life Cycle of a Butterfly using our HUE HD Pro Camera

This past month, my students have had the opportunity to watch the life cycle of a butterfly first hand.  Each year, my school purchases a Painted Lady butterfly kit for each kindergarten and preschool classroom in our school.  It's one of my absolute favorite parts of teaching kindergarten.   I love the excitement in the students' eyes as I open up the box and they see those tiny, wiggly little caterpillars.  I love that the life cycle of a butterfly mimics my sweet students' progress throughout their year in kindergarten.   They begin the school year tiny, wiggly and curious and morph into bigger, graceful and smarter children by the end of the year.

(Photo from Insectlore.com)

Those fidgety little caterpillars grow and grow and the students love to watch them.  Once they practice spinning silk, my students are enthralled.  After the caterpillars go up in the chrysalis, my students are constantly watching our butterfly garden for the slightest bit of movement to see if our butterflies are ready to emerge.  Unfortunately, this phenomenal process generally takes place after school or on the weekend.  After the initial excitement of seeing the Painted Lady butterfly, my students are a little disappointed that they missed the excitement of seeing them come out of the chrysalis.

Enter this amazing device......

At the French Lick Teacher Blogger Retreat last month, each beautiful Vera Bradley Swag Bag included a letter from HUE, allowing teachers to choose between a HUE HD Pro Camera or the HUE Animation Studio.  Both products seemed very useful in the classroom, but I liked the small, lightweight device and the ability to project papers on the screen from anywhere in my classroom with the help of Apple TV and my MacBook so I went with the document camera.

When it arrived, it was everything I dreamed of and more!  I discovered that I could take photos (on key press, movement OR timer!), videos, and even Skype in addition to using it as a document camera.  Since my kinderkids were always so interested in our butterflies, I regularly projected them onto the projection screen while they worked, so we could easily keep a close eye on them.

Here is a picture (taken using the keypress feature) of what my students were able to view on our screen while they were working.  I forgot to snap pictures of the baby caterpillars.  :o

Remember how I said our caterpillars chose to arrive at night and on the weekends?  This was true (except for one!) this year, but a different classroom brought theirs over so we could video it!  Below you will find the video taken using the video feature with HUE.  This is easily saved to a file under my Google Drive, so I was able to easily share it with my colleagues and access it from anywhere!

This video is a bit long, but you will be able to see the butterfly emerge from the chrysalis in the first 30 seconds.  The rest of the time was spent chasing it around the butterfly garden!  Sorry for the poor quality - this was not the fault of HUE, but due to the rush of making sure we didn't miss this breathtaking event!

As the time drew closer to our butterflies arriving, we started to video.  Initially, we set the HUE to record a video each night as we were leaving school.  However, we quickly determined that 17 hours of video was a long time to sift through to find the butterflies, so the next night we changed it to image capture on movement.  We couldn't have been more pleased with the results.  Students loved viewing the pictures of the butterflies, and it was easy to sift through the pictures we saved to a special folder in Google Drive.  I'm thankful this device allowed us the opportunity to capture events that we never would have been able to see!  See below for some of our pictures!

 The bottom right chrysalis, moments before the butterfly comes out!

 See how the chrysalis is becoming more translucent?  These are details the students didn't notice before we had the image capture feature.  It was so neat being able to compare the photos!

 We have a butterfly!  The students were amazed at how wobbly and unsure the butterfly seemed at the beginning.  They couldn't believe how tiny it looked while drying it's wings.

Hanging out while drying its wings.  My students enjoyed watching the entire process with our very own butterflies!

Thanks, HUE, for this great device for educators!

Maria Dismondy Book Review

As previously mentioned, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a blogger retreat at French Lick with some AMAZING fellow teachers.   In a different post, I gushed about the terrific opportunities to connect with my other educators, but the blessings didn't stop once the retreat came to a close.  In our swag bag, we were given the opportunity to receive a book from award-winning author Maria Dismondy.  As a kindergarten teacher, I am constantly searching for books that teach social skills to my kinderkids.  Maria's books are perfect for reaching my students!  I was beyond excited when I learned I could receive a book from her to review!

Chocolate Milk, Por Favor! is a well-written book about a special little boy named Gabe, an ELL student on his first day at an English-speaking school.  A little boy named Johnny sees him crying the first day of school, and quickly dismisses him as a "crybaby". Throughout the book, students take the journey with Johnny and Gabe to learn that new things can be difficult and terrifying, but very rewarding when they are accomplished.  Most importantly, they learn to treat others kindly and get to know others.  Everyone has something special to offer.  This book has a beautiful, happy ending.  My students loved it!  I'm sure yours will too!  We are already looking for other Maria Dismondy books to add to our classroom library!

I encourage you to check out her website at http://mariadismondy.com!  You won't be disappointed!

Do you have a favorite Maria Dismondy book?  I'd love to hear about it!

This weekend, I had the privilege of meeting up with all these wonderful educators for a day filled with fun for the French Lick Teacher-Blogger Retreat!  Initially, I was very nervous, because I haven't done a great job blogging, but this was just what I needed to get the ball rolling again.  It was a day well spent!  I am now encouraged to pursue flexible seating, do some fun twists on my writing block, and spend more time blogging!  I love collaborating with my fellow teachers!  I also won some fun Kloo Zoo cards to use in my classroom during literacy stations.  Thanks for supporting teachers, friends!!!  My kids are loving them this week!

In addition - I have a brand spankin' new, HUE HD Pro document camera on the way to my school!  It's set to arrive next week, and I couldn't be more excited.  We plan to use it while learning all about zoo animals!  Thanks, HUE!

Introduction to Blended and Online Teaching: Post #6

Reflect on your own digital footprint. What search results are returned if your name is Googled? How can you make your footprint positive (as opposed to neutral or nonexistent)? What role can we play in making sure our students have a positive footprint?

I don't have much of a digital footprint.  When I google my name, I get the generic web search site, that gives the following information: name, immediate family, age, and cities/state of which I reside.  I think one way to have more of a positive footprint would be to blog more to share my ideas and insights professionally.  I think our students can be encouraged to develop a positive footprint by being mindful of what they post, and we need to make sure we guide them through the process when they first get started creating a digital footprint.  It is vital that we teach them that once something is on the Internet, it is likely there forever, able to be searched.  The most important thing we can teach students is to be a great digital citizen.

Introduction to Blending and Online Teaching: Post #5

Create a plan or provide suggestions for ways to make your curated resources a regular part of your planning.

I know I have been guilty of spending hours researching and tweaking a wonderful unit for my kindergarten students, just to find myself scrambling for new resources the following year, either because I didn't write down my resources or I have forgotten about them.  This can be rather frustrating!  Thankfully, with the increase of new technology available, this problem occurs less and less for me all the time!  I frequently utilize Pinterest, creating a board for various units, to house resources and crafts I would like to use in my classroom. I love that it's easy, and I always have my resources at my fingertips.  I can choose to add others to my boards, so they can search for additional resources to add as well.  It has proven to be beneficial for collaboration, as my team doesn't have a lot of face to face time to collaborate with one another.  

My school corporation also recently purchased My Big Campus, which is a great place to store websites, created resources, and just about anything else you may need!  We are in the beginning stages of creating bundles to share with one another, but we have spent much time researching bundles that others have created.  It's been and will continue to be a great tool for our teachers.

Symbaloo is another great tool to utilize.  Tiles can be created of websites, that way you don't forget about them from one year to the next.  My plan to is to create a Symbaloo for my students during our computer lab time.  This way, I will know that they are working on an educational item, but they will have some choice over which website they choose.  If they would like to work on math, they could choose iXL for some math practice.  If they have a letter they are struggling with, they could do some of the free activities on starfall.com.  If they have a topic they would like to learn more about, they could search for non-fiction books on myON. I'm very much looking forward to utilizing these resources more in my classroom.  My students will certainly benefit.  

Introduction to Blended and Online Teaching: Post #4

Do you believe that authentic assessment is possible in every subject area? Can students at every grade level demonstrate mastery through authentic assessment? Why or why not? It it practical to ask teachers to complete these types of activities in the current, high stakes testing environment?

I do believe that authentic assessment is possible in every subject area.  Some areas will be a bit trickier and require a bit more creativity and thought than others, but I feel it is possible.  As a kindergarten teacher, and an educator who has a little experience with other grade levels up through fifth grade, I feel as thought all students could demonstrate mastery through authentic assessment.  At the kindergarten level, the logistics of it and creating an evaluation tool can be a bit difficult, but it can be done.  

I enjoyed the video and article about the School of the Future (SOF) because I love the way it portrayed authentic assessment. It is about real-life, engaging and promoting critical thinking.  If we work toward the majority of our assessments being just that, we are working toward creating better adults for the workplace.  They will be prepared for life, and all the curveballs life throws!

In addition, I liked the point Michele Eaton made in her video, "Assessment Tools for Online Learning," when she stated that it was important to create an assessment where the answers couldn't just be googled.  If we want to get a true read on the understanding of the students in our classrooms, we have to ensure that our questions require critical thinking.

In the article "Ten Takeaway Tips for using Authentic Assessment in Your School," my favorite tip was to permit the student to take charge of their own assessments occasionally throughout the course of the unit.  Taking amongst one another, given thoughts and opinions can be a great indicator of the level of understanding.  If they can talk about it and explain their point of view to another student - they get it!

In conclusion, while I feel authentic assessment is important, it isn't practical to ask teachers to make the transition this as the only method of assessment.  I think it certainly has it place in the classroom, but teachers only have so much planning time.  I think it would be reasonable to require a certain amount of documented authentic assessment each semester and work as a school district to increase that amount each year.  I would love to see the standardized testing required by the state to be replaced by a more authentic assessment. 

Time Management Reflection - Five Star Course

For at least three days, try consistently implementing the strategies that your classmates have suggested (or some of your own) to develop some new habits for time management. At the end of your allotted timeframe, reflect on this process in a blog post on your blog*. What strategies did you use that seemed to be successful? How do you know you’ve been successful? Conclude your reflection with some advice for someone else who might struggle in the same area.

When I took the time management quiz, I discovered (or rather, it was reiterated to me) that I am not at all a superstar when it comes to setting goals.  It has always been an area with which I struggle.  I know and fully understand the benefits of goal setting, but much like meal planning, just don't make the time to sit down and accomplish this simple task.  For one week, I decided to really focus on setting goals and following through with making a plan and taking action to complete my many responsibilities that come with being a wife, mommy, and kindergarten teacher.

Some of my classmates have recommended the covey matrix model, where each task is analyzed and placed in a four section box.  In theory, I liked this idea and attempted to utilize it for the first few days.  I found that I didn't follow through in accomplishing the tasks in the boxes as I should.  After the first few days, I modified my list to "Do Today," followed by goals for the remainder of the week, based on day.  I even set up a goal setting list for whenI go back to school.  Each day will have a specific task: Monday: Lesson plans for the following week, Tuesday: Run copies, Wednesday: Plan for Center Day (a fun Friday activity kindergarten students at my school participate in where we provide fun, educational crafts for students and their grown-ups), Thursday: Place copies in stacker by day, and Friday: File papers, etc.  This worked very well for me the week before Christmas Break at school.  I hope it continues to work and becomes my habit loop, as discussed in the article by Howard Jacobson.

In making a conscious effort to become a better goal-setter, I have given up my morning "Facebook scroll," instead replacing it with goal-setting and review time.  In the same time it takes me to scroll through my newsfeed on Facebook, I can plan my day and feel somewhat accomplished before ever getting out of bed.  So far, this is working beautifully.  I have heard that it takes 30 days to create a habit, so we shall see.  So far, I like the accountability of goal-setting, as well as the accomplishment I feel when I look at an empty list at the end of the day!

To others in a similar situation - I recommend to take a look at you day at see how much time is spent doing meaningless tasks, such as television and Facebook.  I still watch television, and occasionally browse Facebook, but I found it was taking up too much of my time and my stress level was much higher than it needed to be.  It takes me about 15 minutes in the morning to review my goals for the week - and it makes my day go so much smoother!  Had I worked on setting goals a few months ago, I wouldn't have waited until close to Christmas Break to complete this optional course!  Make a list of your short and long term goals, and refer to it regularly.