Sweet Little Lambs

2010

2011-01-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Well, 2010 was full of ups and downs for the Lambs.

January - It's a new year. We promised to live it being healthy, happy, and together.

February - Alex turned one year old. It was the party of the year. The theme was motorcycles. We had tattoos, biker names, and doo rags. It was a great day!

March - Hayley turned 6. We had a bounce house party. There were tons of kids and adults bouncing away.

April - Easter was great. We went to Melissa's for a lunch with friends and family. We hunted eggs. Som of them even had money in them. Yippee!

May - School is almost out. We can't wait!

June - SUMMERTIME!!! We swam and played in the pool as much as we could. No plans. No worries. It was Summer.

July - Fourth of July was great! We spent the evening with friends and watched fireworks.
Then, Papa got sick. We spent the rest of the month in the hospital, using every ounce of faith we could gather.

August - Not a good month - Papa passed away from an infection he contracted in the hospital. He was the best father, husband, Papa, and friend and person could have. I can not understand why God chose to take him when He did. But there has to be a good reason. Maybe God needed his Chariot painted for the day He calls His Saints Home.

September - Slow but steady. We spent a lot of time together. We laughed, loved, and played together. Things that seemed super important before were not as important as us being together.

October - The State Fair of Texas was open. We went several times and had a blast looking around and riding rides.

The Benefit Car Show was amazing! Tons of people came and supported us in our time of need. It was fabulous to see all of the friends we love out there with us and some we didn't.

Halloween was fun! Hayley was a Bat Girl and Alex was a giraffe. We went to nearby churches and trick or treated and played games. We are still eating candy from that night.

November - Oh the holidays. They come whether we want them to or not.

December - Christmas was a good one, but a sad one. We missed our Papa more than we can say. But we made it through the holidays.
Santa was good to the kids. They got what they asked him for. Alex got his motorcycle and Hayley got her DS. They were 2 happy kids. I haven't seen them since. :)

2011 - We hope to have a better year filled with love, laughter, togetherness, and all of the friends and family we can gather.

One Last Thing

2009-07-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

This has been an incredible journey. I did let life get in the way and got behind. But I was able to sit and complete the class before the deadline. It has been interesting to learn all of the Things. I thought I knew a lot, but at least half of the content was new to me. My favorite was playing with YouTube and TeacherTube. I could look at those forever. I also liked the fact that I could show my Computer Tech husband something and it was new to him too. (Or he pretended that it was new to him.) :) I would definitely take another course like this. It has stretched my mind a little farther. This course will enhance my teaching.

I will continue to use my blog to update events that happen in my classroom. Thanks for the opportunity to continue learning. There will never be a time that I know everything. There is always an opportunity to learn.

http://lambfamily4.blogspot.com/

Thing 23

2009-07-15T20:13:00.001-07:00

Wow! There is so much out there I didn't know existed. I have spent 2 hours playing on this Thing. I looked at several of the Nings, including the Teacher-Librarian Ning. There was so much content, I was overwhelmed. I saw discussions from book talks to job fair advertisements. These networks are cool. As far as using them in my classroom, I am not sure. I am skeptical about using something deemed a social network. They scare me a little still. I just want to be careful.

2009-07-15T19:52:00.001-07:00

Thing 15

2009-07-15T19:23:00.000-07:00

http://misd23things.wikispaces.com/Mrs.+Lamb%27s+Page#toc0

I had fun playing with the sandbox. I used wikispaces to create my page. I added the link to my blog, the pictures that I saved from Flickr, my slideshow created on RockYou, and a picture of my daughter and myself. It was really easy to create. I had to click the buttons on the toolbar and add the items I wanted to add. I had difficulty finding the Sandbox Page to add my link to the Main Page. When I did figure it out, I felt so dumb. I was looking for a separate page. All I had to do was click in the area and follow the directions. My heart stopped racing and I felt better.

Thing 22

2009-07-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

I use both Myspace and Facebook. I use Facebook daily. My Myspace just sits there and collects bulletins. The only reason I started using either of them was that my friends were talking about them and I was curious. I got sucked in to the "Dark Side". I have contacted people that I went to high school and college with that I would not have known how to contact. My Facebook URL is http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/profile.php?id=1319796426&ref=profile

1. Why is it important that educators know how social networking works?

It is important for educators to know about social networking for many reasons. One is the ability to contact other teachers for resources and ideas. Another is that we need to be aware of what is out there. It is always good to be informed. When I taught Resource, my kids were talking about FB and Myspace. I didn't know anything about them. So I checked it out. Now I am hooked.

2. What new insights did you gain about these popular sites?

I play on these sights frequently. I am always finding new applications. If you want to play a game or search a topic, it is probably out there in the Facebook world somewhere.

3. What did you like or dislike about each of the sites you explored?

I dislike that my information is pretty much out there for the world to see. I can control it a little more on Facebook. But people can still see it.

4. Which site had the most useful features?

In my opinion, Facebook is easier to use. If you don't know html code, Myspace is hard to manipulate.

5.Can you see an educational application for any of these sites?

To me, these sites are completely social. I do not use them in my classroom.

Thing 7b

2009-07-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

The only thing that came across my Reader today is a post about the new book by Mo Willems, Elephants Cannot Dance. It had a picture of the cover of the book with the statement "There is a new Elephant and Piggie book out — I cannot wait to read it!"

I can't wait for it to come out either. I like Mo Willems.

http://kiri8.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/elephants-cannot-dance/

Thing 21

2009-07-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

I created a Google Calendar and listed all of my events for this week and next. I added some events that repeat weekly and every Tues and Thursday. I have some events marked as private. I did make it public. I am not sure how others view it. But I clicked the 'Make Public' button. This tool can be used to keep parents informed of events going on in the classroom. Here is a link to my calendar. http://www.google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=5vyRjBaBvD5xuPc__4pNRQ

I also played with Google Alert. I used Mesquite, TX as my keywords. I left and went to lunch. When I came back, I had an email alert. It had several listings of things happening in Mesquite. It was cool. This tool can be used to keep up with new information on a topic for a project. http://www.google.com/alerts/manage?hl=en&gl=us

Thing 20

2009-07-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have used Google Docs at school. My administrators started using it last semester. We filled out surveys and information forms. I could use Google Docs to have my parents fill out the Student Information form that we send out at the beginning of school. Power Points could be shared with teachers to include their class information on a school wide project. Spreadsheets can be shared within a school to view assessment scores and class lists. There are so many ways to use Google Docs. I am going to go play some more. :)

Thing 19

2009-07-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

Voice Thread was very cool. As I was reading the introduction, I thought it would be hard. But it really isn't. I found a VoiceThread that would be great for my classroom. It is Pre-K Alphabet What Comes Next? by Jody Maxey. It is embeded below. Voicethread could be used as a talking photo album or as an interactive lesson as shown in the presentation.

Thing 18

2009-07-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

I love YouTube. When we are bored, we will sit as a family and play on YouTube. We pick a subject (comedy, favorite comedians, songs, etc). We can play for hours.

On YouTube, I searched PreKindergarten and found many classroom videos. Some included teachers teaching a lesson, PreK graduations, and fieldtrips. I also searched "making jewelry" for my how to video. There were over 4,000 videos. Wow! For my fun video, I found "The Mom Song". I love this song. It is so appropriate for a mom's daily life.

When I searched TeacherTube for PreKindergarten, I found only 3 videos. Two of the three were informational. One was an orientation to PreK. One was a video on how to complete PreK homework. The last video was of a PreK Easter program.

These sites can be used in the classroom to teach and reinforce skills. I would probably trust TeacherTube for use in the classroom over YouTube. It is a little safer.

Below is the Mom Song by Anita Renfro.

Thing 6

2009-07-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

I love this Reader. I have been looking at my Reader pretty much on a daily basis. Not much has come through it over the last few days. Of course, I have a lot of items from PreK teachers. They are enjoying vacation right now.

One item I did see and like was the article The Courage to Say No by J.M. Holland. http://blogs.preknow.org/insideprek/2009/07/the-courage-to-say-no.html

This article talks about a subject that most parents deal with but don't want to talk about - Saying no to their children. The article emphasizes that it is ok to say no to your children. It is ok not to give them everything they ask for. Instead of watching tv and playing video games, kids should be outside.

I agree with this statement. It is hard to get kids out these days. It's hot. They have to be careful. And we (parents) have to watch them more closely. Make sure they are not in the street or too far away. When they are in the house, we know they are ok.

I can see how the Reader is a plus in education. So much information is out there. It is hard to see it all. The Reader brings it to you. Thanks Google.

Thing 17

2009-07-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

I use podcasting to listen to the sermons that I have missed at my church. With an infant, I usually miss the sermon as I am walking the halls trying to get my son to be quiet. I can hear most of what is being said. But I miss some things. So I listen to the podcasts that are available at www.rcmesquite.com. It's a great way to catch up.

I tried to search for some PreK podcasts and didn't have much luck. The items I found were long and didn't really apply to me at this point. I did enjoy the Just One More Book podcast. I am an avid reader and like to hear book reviews.

Podcasting can be used in the classroom in many ways. For me, I can play my Circle Time music without having to worry about scratching cd's and play books in the Listening Center. I am interested in other ways to use podcasting.

Thing 16

2009-07-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

LibraryThing -- What a concept. I like it. I love to read (hence the need to become a librarian some day.). I enjoyed browsing LibraryThing. I am always looking for my next good book. This will help me to see what others are reading and if they enjoyed them. On a professional note, I can let my class create a page for when we are doing Book It! They can put all of the books they are reading in a catalog. We can also use the 50 Books Challenge to challenge the parents to read to students. They always like a contest.

Thing 14

2009-07-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

I visited The Kindergarten Counting Book, Salute to Dr. Seuss, and Thousands Project.

On the Kindergarten Counting Book, there was a picture of an item and its corresponding number. Some of the numbers were missing. Another view on it is that those numbers have not been added yet. The pictures included snacks, pencils, blocks, counting bears, etc.

A Salute to Dr Seuss was interesting. I was expecting it to be a little more user-friendly. Once I figured out that the tabs were on the side, I was fine. I liked that it included projects from all over the world as well as students of all ages. One project that caught my attention was the Bubble Share from Km Schafer and Miss Kim's Kindergarten Class. These students were young but still able to contribute to a project of this size. Wow!

The Thousands Project by Mr. Monson's Class was so interesting to me. What a great project. They posted a question each month and tried to get 1000 answers. I even added a post to this month's question.
"What are things you are going to do over the summer months?"
My answers:
406. Go to the Beach with my family.
407. Sleep late.
408. Read books (at least 2).
409. Play with my kids.
410. Play with my dogs.
411. Clean my house....all of it.
412. Watch tv.
413. Take staff development classes.

They need 1000 answers.

Each of these wikis were organized differently. The Counting Book was just a list of pictures of each number. The Salute to Dr Seuss was organized like a project website. It had tabs to each page down the side and detailed information on each page. The Thousands Project was listed by Questions of the Month. Each question took you to a different page where one could edit/add their own information.

This is a wonderful tool I had never heard of. My husband and I were looking at the sites amazed at what you can do with this tool. I can see using this in my classroom. I will have to think about what is coming up. But I am sure I can find ways to use wikis.

Thing 13

2009-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

My Delicious account is: http://delicious.com/arlamb.

I am all about bookmarking. When I find something I like, I bookmark it. Delicious will make it much easier to use my bookmarks. I like that I can have my bookmarks on any computer. I also like the social part of the website. I am always looking for items that my friends may already have. One thing I noticed was that when I searched a specific topic (PreK), a website that I always use came up. I clicked on it and I was in an area of that site that I have never seen before. I was so excited! I had to play. I will definitely use Delicious in my professional life to find ideas and resources to use with my kiddos. It's great.

Thing 7a

2009-07-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

I read a blog titled Parental Involvement in my Reader today. It was right on with my thoughts on getting parents involved in their child's education.

"As early childhood educators, we often find ourselves in a position to introduce parents to school culture and induct them into this unique club of which they are new members. How we interact with and involve parents in their child’s early learning will have significant influence on how involved they are in the rest of their child’s educational journey."

I agree with this statement 100%. The article is good for any teacher that needs a little boost getting parents involved. The link to the article is: http://vannatx.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/parent-involvement/#comment-118.

Thing 12

2009-07-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

I loved this Thing too. I like to play with new "toys". I chose the 30 Boxes tool to really play with a utilize for this Thing. The link is: http://30boxes.com/. I created a calendar for the month of July. I was able to insert activities for each day (both personal and professional). I even added it to my Google Reader. How cool is that? As far as using this for social reasons, the 30 Boxes tool is great. I added everything I will be doing for the month. They included doctor appointments, staff development courses and things that I have planned with my family. I could use it in my classroom for posting a calendar of events that are coming up. There is so much that can be done with this tool and many of the others.

Thing 11

2009-07-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

I had fun with this Thing. I love playing with images. I used pictures of my kids to create a mosaic and trading card. I am posting the trading card to my blog. The process is very simple. I found photos I wanted to use. I uploaded them to the Trading Card Maker image generator. I then chose the background I wanted to use. I typed the Title, Subtitle, and Text. I clicked on Create and the generator did the rest. It was fun.

Thing 10

2009-07-12T21:06:00.001-07:00

I chose to make a slideshow of baby jungle animals. Each picture contains a baby. I plan to add more pics to the show later. I will use it in my classroom during the Family Unit.

Photo Credits:
1) Mother and Baby Gorilla by mape_s; http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=babies&l=cc&adv=1
2)New Baby by Southernpixel; http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=babies&l=cc&adv=1
3) Giraffe Mom Kissing New Baby by AtlantaTom; http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=babies&l=cc&adv=1&page=2
4) Baby Elephant Playing with Water by Adam Foster; http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=babies&l=cc&adv=1&page=2
5) Koala with Baby by Scott M Duncan; http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=babies&l=cc&adv=1&page=3

Thing 9

2009-07-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

My Flickr experience was a good one. I only meant to spend an hour or so on this site. But I ended up spending almost 3 hours playing. I looked up and my daughter was standing in front of me telling me she was hungry. Oops.

I chose "Jungle Babies" as my topic. I was holding my son and thinking of my theme for next school year (Wild about Floyd). I want to use the photos to show my PreK students real pictures of jungle animals. I plan to later find some pictures of the mommies and make a center to match the mommy to the baby.

The photo I selected is a picture of an ape and her baby. The photographer is mape_s. The link to the page is http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=babies&l=cc&adv=1.

Thing 8

2009-07-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the CC logo on any websites you visit? Did you wonder what it meant?
Do you think CC will impact the way students learn and create projects? How?
Do you use digital images, audio or video clips from the web in your teaching (or professional practice)?
Do you ever share content on the web?
Who owns your teaching materials?
What are some potential negatives for using CC?

I think Creative Commons (CC) will help me professionally because I will not have to call all of those publishers and illustrators, photographers, etc that I want to use in my classroom. In this age of technology, I find more items I would like to use and share. Since I can't contact the copyright holder, I have to use only a little bit of it. I would use more if I had the right to use more.

Students now have an option we did not have growing up. They have more information for projects and papers than we ever did. Now they also have the right to use works in their projects. That is awesome.

I do not personally share content of the Web. That is not something I have gotten into. My husband is a web designer. He keeps telling me I need to build my own website and share what I have created. But I am not ready for that yet. I have not thought about who owns my materials. I thought I did since I created them.

I have not noticed the CC logo. But I haven't looked for it either. I will look for it now that I am aware it exists.

Thing 7

2009-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time with this Thing. I can talk your ear off all day long. But I have trouble commenting online. I want to make sure that what I type sounds professional and is grammatically correct. So I would type some. Look at it. Change it. Go back and start all over. Once I had commented on a few posts, I was not so obsessive about it. I became more comfortable commenting on blogs.

Thing 5

2009-07-09T13:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/health/16well.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

I read the post titled "Well- Kid Goes into McDonalds and Orders... Yogurt?". It was an interesting read. As a mother of a young child, 5 years old, we frequent McDonalds and Taco Bell a lot. When we go, it is as a treat. A reward for doing well during the week. My daughter gets to pick whatever she wants to eat and play on the playground. She usually goes in and says to the cashier, "I want ummmm chicken nuggets and french fries and a milk...white milk please.". And that is what she gets, a Happy Meal with chicken nuggets, fries and a white milk.

Over the last year, mainly this summer, I have been trying to teach her to eat better. We are trying to make better choices when we eat. Not choose the cheeseburger or fried item every time. We are ordering healthier items, salads, fruit, and yogurt.

At home, we are eating healthier items as well. Her lunch consists of a turkey sandwich with a slice of cheese (no dressing by her choice), a piece of fruit, a glass of juice or water, and a yogurt for dessert later. She loves it. She is full. She calls the yogurt her "healthy ice cream". It works for me.

Recently, we went to McDonalds and I told her that she had to option of apples or yogurt instead of fries in her Happy Meal. To my husband and and my surpise, she chose apples. We were amazed. I still ordered the fries thinking that she would ask for them later. She never did. We threw them away. I was so proud.

I have decided that in my decision to feed my daughter better at home, she is ordering better at restaurants. The above is just one example of her better choices. She has made many since we have made these changes. It makes me feel better to know that I am teaching her good habits now. When she is older, she will not have to deal with some of the health issues we are faced with today.

I enjoyed reading this article. It had a lot of good information in it.

Thing 4

2009-06-27T21:56:00.000-07:00

In my experiences with blogs, I have noticed that they are written on a "down to earth" level. They are filled with social vocabulary. I enjoyed reading the blogs I chose to read. They were easy to read. They had some good information and some shocking information. I never thought of a student using a cell phone against me. Wow.
Blogging can aid in learning in so many ways. Reluctant readers are able to read in a situation that is not threatening to them. They are reading on the computer. Most kids today would rather "play" on the computer rather than read a book. They don't even realize they are learning. :)

Thing 2

2009-06-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

Consider the ways in which Web 2.0 tools might change (or have already changed) your professional practice.

Web 2.0 can change education drastically. It doesn’t limit students and teachers to materials within the school or district. It lets them explore all information available on the subject they are teaching/learning.

How might you be able to use these new tools to to engage today’s “digital learners?”

I could use these tools by allowing my students to play with items that do not require reading. Items that do, could be read to them.

Why would you want to?

The technology is amazing. It broadens the accessibility of information.

How might you be able to use these tools to support your own learning?

Online courses like this one are available through many colleges. Professional journals and video are easily accessed. Today, it is easier to obtain information and continue learning than ever before.

My initial thoughts about Web 2.0 and its role in 21st Century teaching and learning.
Wow! Technology has improved so much since I was in school. Web 2.0 is amazing. I feel that it will help the US to graduate top learners.

Thing 1

2009-06-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

Which habit(s) may be most challenging for you to employ as part of your Learning 2.0 experience?
The most challenging habit for me is to begin with the end in mind. I tend to jump into things and start doing before I have seen the end or have all of the information. I am trying to change that habit. It's hard.

Which habit(s) will be easiest, or are most resonant for you as a lifelong learner?
The easiest habit would be to use technology to my advantage. I am pretty good with technology. I learn quickly and enjoy new information.

Which habit do you think will be most important for you as you work through this course, and why?
Taking responsibility for my own learning is the most important for this course. I need to set a time and place to work on the activities involved in completing the class. I tend to let other things get in my way and procrastinate. My goal is to work on and finish this class in a timely manner. I do not want to wait until the end and be rushing to get things finished.

I believe in being a lifelong learner. I enjoy learning and doing new things. In my opinion, there is always room for learning and improvement. Taking college courses, continuing education, staff developments, or life experiences are all good ways to continue learning. One can never "know it all". :)