Thing 5

I used the thinkfinity site.  What a valuable resource this will be for me to use in planning enrichment activities that support the Common Core.  With the limited resources available due to financial hardship in public schools I think resource such as Thinkfinity and M.O.R.E. will be utilized more and more.  

In this lesson, students are asked to look critically at the advertising claims of foods they eat, recognizing those that ascribe unrealistic, emotional, or psychological benefits to foods, rather than nutritional benefits. Students will then create an original advertising campaign for a “forgotten” vegetable, presenting compelling, factual information about the nutrients found in these foods and the benefits derived from them. (http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/nutrition-3-got-broccoli/)

This would be a great opinion writing lesson and an easy way to make cross curricular connections.  Students will make a claim and provide evidence to support their thinking.  This would be a great place for students to explore effort and achievement, use a rubric as they work and monitor their own effort, all of which are part of Marzano's Nine Classroom Instruction That Works strategies.

This activity has students explore the food groups, look at the amount from each group that each person should consume but also adds in that every person is different and some people need more of one thing than another.  This could be a fun sorting activity for the students as they categorize the food and then create a plate that is just right for them.  

http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/nutrition-2-good-food-good-health/

These activities can also be used to help support MI Health Model.  They help child see the benefits of healthy eating, how it helps you learn, benefits of proper nutrition, and how good nutrition impacts your life.  

Time Spent:  2 1/2 hours

Thing 4

I love Skype!  This tool was essential for group work and collaboration in my Reading course through MSU last spring.  We spent several hours a week as a group discussing our reading, questions and opinion on the topic areas.  

This tool will be a great way to student to connect with students in other classes, schools, states or countries.  What a great way for the students to participate in Cooperative Learning and a great way for students to Identify Similarities and Differences, which are two of Marzano's Nine.   

Username:  jennyrenowalter

Time Spent:  1 1/2 hours

Thing 3

I created 2 documents in Google Docs.  I revamped a spreadsheet that was shared with me for our school laptop schedule.  Teachers can sign up weekly and adjust the schedule as their needs change or increase in their classroom time for the laptop carts.

The learning curve for the staff will be making sure they do not edit someone else's sign up.  Weekly we will have to clear the Google doc and teachers can re-enter their times if they need the carts the upcoming week as well.  

The second item I made was a forum for a classroom party sign up.  I love that parents do not have to sign a piece of paper and hope to gets to school or email me and wait for my response.  

Time Spent:  1 hour

Thing 2

I started a Weebly page http://jennyrenowalter.weebly.com and I am loving it!  I am so excited at how easy it is to manipulate especially on my Mac.  However, I do find myself spending a lot of time tweaking little things that I thin perhaps I should worry about later after I have more of a foundation to my site.  I look forward to adding material as I complete this course.  

I think this resource for parents will be extremely valuable to find out easy effective ways to help their child as a learner.  

Time Spent:  4 hours

Thing 1

Here is a screen shot from a fun website I discovered in the reading course I just completed online through MSU.  We were not allowed to just use Microsoft Word for daily assignments.  The course pushed us to get creative with technology.  This was one of my favorites....however, I found myself spending way too much time for the 5 points the assignment was worth because I enjoyed this site so much.

For this project, I used Control, Shift, 4 to take the screen shot.  Using my Mac, I was able to drop and drag for the rest of the steps.  

My favorite keyboard short cuts that I use daily are Control Z for undo, especially because my keyboarding skills are not as sharp as they could be when I multitask.  Control F helps me search quickly through text, another one that I use daily.

I created a Delicious account and added a few websites I use often.  I added tags and loved the column on the left side that organized them.  This is more user-friendly than I expected.  I am excited to save time by looking for tags that say exactly what subjects I may be looking instead of trying to remember why I saved a website and what I might use it for.  

Time Log:  2 1/2 hour on Blogger and 1 hour practicing skills 

Summer Plans

This summer we are doing construction on our home......what the future holds is still unknown but I do know more then 747 square feet are in my future!