1SE: 1 Second Everyday (November 2014)

Better late than never: here is our 1SE video from November (finally)!

Room 18's 1SE - November 2014 from Jeff Hoeppner on Vimeo.

Operation Radio Santa

We were lucky enough to have Operation Radio Santa visit our school on Wednesday. Operation Radio Santa is an outreach program from the Canadian Military Communications Squadron, in which troops set up a command post on our school yard, and allows students to speak to Santa via radio. While the students in our class were waiting for their turn to talk to Santa, they were able to interact with the military troops and learn about military communications, as well as learning first-hand about some of the equipment that they wear. After we went back inside, the students got to enjoy some hot chocolate - what a great afternoon!

I liked the gas masks because when the generator was running, I put it on and I couldn't smell anything. - Brady
It was kind of freaky because Santa knew who was sitting beside me. - Braedon
It was weird because he knew what I wanted for Christmas. - Emma
When I was talking to Santa, it was really loud in the headphones because it hurt my ears. - Avery
Santa was yelling in my ear when he said "Merry Christmas!", and then I heard "Next person, please." - Tyrell
When Santa said "Merry Christmas!", the static made it sound like glass was breaking. - Robert
It was amazing because he got my letter, and knew what I wanted for Christmas! - Matthew
The army helmets were really cool, and so was talking to Santa. - Faith
Santa said to me that I was nice to my sister, I'm good at reading, and I help my friends with schoolwork. - Nolan
Santa said that I was good at writing, and it was really cool that I got to talk to him on the radio. I just loved wearing the army helmet, too. - Eric S.
It was really cool that he knew the names of everyone, and that he knew who the next person in line was. - Kayleigh
When I was talking to Santa, it was echoing and there was lots of static. It was kind of hard to hear what he was saying sometimes. - Jaida

Hour Of Code 2014

This morning, the students got the opportunity to learn coding through the Hour Of Code. What exactly is the Hour Of Code? Well, it is a "...one-hour introduction to computer science..." to "...show that anyone can learn the basics." Why learn coding? "It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity.", which are all excellent traits for students to develop. Also, by starting at a young age, "...students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path." Here's an introductory video from the website that explains it in more detail:

The students were able to choose from a number of introductory coding activities - they could program Elsa and Anna from 'Frozen' to create snowflake patterns, or they could program Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies games (there was a lot of cheering when I announced the choices!). Here are some screenshots of the coding that was going on. At the end of the hour, they could print off a certificate to take home. There was a lot of great learning that went on in the computer lab today, and we'll be doing another hour of coding later this week! Also, the students will be able to continue coding at home, if they wish - there are activities on the site for computers, tablets, smartphones, and some activities that don't even require require an electronic device!

The iPads are here!

We finally got our classroom iPads (5 in total) today, as part of our school division's program to put iPads in Grade 4 and 7 classrooms, in order to use for Math instruction. We started using them today, and I challenged them to solve a problem, using the Explain Everything app, that I had on the weekend. I purchased 4 items that were $8 each, and gave the clerk a $100 bill. The clerk was unable to do the math in her head, and needed a calculator to figure it out. So, I asked the students to figure out (1) how much I spent, and (2) how much change I should have gotten back. We had a few issues with the students using the program on their own for the first time (I've used it to show them things as a class previously), as well as sharing the work on the iPads in their groups (both of which we talked about). However, overall, we had a great time sharing our learning in class - here are some of the students' reactions:

Even though we just got the iPads today, they were really helpful and fun. - Robert

I am really excited that we got our iPads! - Avery

It took so long for the iPads to come, and now they're finally here, which is awesome. - Kayleigh

It felt like we were bursting with excitement and happiness! - Kevin

It has been really nice to have the iPads today. - Morgan

I am really happy that they're here, so that Math is more fun and to help our Math skills. - Brady

The Ipads are finally here - I'm so excited to have the iPads all year long! - Matthew

There's a game on the iPads that I like - it's called 'Concentration'. You have to match up times facts, shapes, and numbers. - Braedon

I'm really excited that they're here, even though they took two months to get here - it was so worth it! - Eric S.

I'm 100% excited because some of the Math games are my favourite. - Wesley

Even though we're not used to the iPads, we will get used to them in the future. - Albert

It is awesome that the iPads are finally here. - Raina

Beauty and the Beast

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to go and watch the TCI drama production of Beauty and the Beast. The students really enjoyed it, and did a great job of being a respectful and appreciative audience. Here are some of their comments on the play:

It was romantic because of all the kissing at the end. - Brady

It was really long - about two hours... but it was awesome. - Matthew

There was a lot of action in the play, and it was really awesome. - Avery

It was just like the real movie. - Faith

Some parts were scary, and some parts were cool, and some parts were singing. - Wesley

Belle's dress was beautiful because it was all pink - I expected it to be yellow, because in the movie, her dress was yellow. - Kayleigh

The wolves were funny when they chased Belle's dad behind the audience. - Braedon

All of the sound effects were very realistic. My favourite was when Belle's father's machine wouldn't work, and it exploded. - Connor

They did a really good job of acting, and they were bang-on with the sound effect - they did the action right when the sound effects happened. - Tyrell

They made it amazing when the Beast came back to life - they used a strobe light and a smoke machine. - Robert

I really liked it when Gaston and the Beast were fighting, because it was funny when Gaston tried to stab the Beast. - Eric S.

(waiting for the play to start)

1SE: 1 Second Everyday (October 2014)

Here is our 1SE video from October - again, I've struggled over the last couple of weeks to get this working with the sound properly synced - I suppose I should've just posted it as is, instead of spending so much time trying to get it 'perfect' (I guess that's my 'Type A'-ness coming through!). So, here it is - I hope you enjoy it (despite the A/V issues)!

Room 18's 1SE - October 2014 from Jeff Hoeppner on Vimeo.

More new books for our classroom library

Over the past few weeks, I've done some more book shopping. Back near the beginning of the year, the students helped to re-organize our classroom library and helped me to figure out what kinds of books we needed more of. That way, when I was ordering books online, or out at McNally Robinson, I knew what I needed to buy - namely, more books on poetry, space, holidays, nature, science, fairy tales, Math, as well as graphic novels.

After getting the books ready to put in the library over the past couple of weeks, today was the day the students could start reading them - here is what we had for new books:

I then randomly chose students, one at a time, to come up and choose a book to start reading (to avoid a stampede!). Once the 24 students each picked a book, I put the rest into our library, which is now nicely stocked! In my nine years of teaching, this is easily the best classroom library that I've ever had - it's so exciting to see something interesting available for all of the students on a given day, no matter what genre they might feel like reading!

1SE: 1 Second Everyday (September 2014)

Earlier this spring, I attended a conference on technology put on by the Manitoba Teachers' Society called 'Awakening Possibilities'. One of the speakers I was really excited to see was Steve Dembo, who I'd been eagerly following on Twitter for quite a while. During his keynote presentation, he talked about an app someone had mentioned to him called 1SE (or 1 Second Everyday), and the wonderful experience he had in trying this for himself. Right away, I thought to myself "What an incredible way to document what goes on at school on a daily basis!" - so often, the days meld together, and we forget a lot of what we've done throughout the year. With 1SE (and I've been using it to create a personal video of my life, to share with friends and family, as well), each second acts like a placeholder, reminding us of some of the things we did on that day. And even though we won't remember the whole day, it helps us to remember a whole lot more than we would have, otherwise.

So, I started using 1SE shortly thereafter to create a video every month, to summarize that month at school for our classroom (each of which being approx. 20 seconds). At the end of this year, I plan on putting the whole year into one video, which will be approximately 3 minutes in length. It was unfortunate that I didn't find out about the app sooner, as I was only able to have video from the latter part of April to the end of last school year. I'm looking forward to creating these videos to help my students (and their parents) remember what they did during the year in school, because... let's face it... how much do YOU remember from Grade 3 or 4?! I certainly don't remember very much!

P.S. I've tried posting this video for weeks, but for some reason, only the audio was coming through. However, I think I've fixed the problem now (although the audio comes 'unsynced' from the video partway through - argh!), so look for November's 1SE video next week - hopefully, I'll be able to post it bug-free!

Room 18's 1SE - September 2014 from Jeff Hoeppner on Vimeo.

Election-o-rama!

With the civic election happening today, it was the perfect time to talk about voting and the election process. We started yesterday by looking at all the candidates who are running for mayor in Winnipeg, and their platforms. The students then wrote about who they thought would be the best choice for mayor, and why, and then who they thought wouldn't make the best choice for mayor, and why. There were some very interesting, and well-thought out, responses (some of which you can see below). FYI, the students in the class narrowly 'elected' Robert Falcon-Oulette (it'll be interesting to see how this compares to the actual election today).

Today, we continued talking about the election by actually running an election. I told the students that I would provide $30 for a class party, but that we would have to decide as a class how to spend the money. So, after asking for volunteers to be candidates in our election, I picked 3 candidates. Along with an election team that they chose, they came up with platforms on how to spend the money, which they presented to the class. Next, the other students sprang into action to compile a voter list, made ballots, operate the polling station, and count the ballots. In the end, Kayleigh won a close election, with Braedon and Raina tying for second. I will be meeting with Kayleigh and her team next week to plan our party - we'll keep you posted! In the meantime, check out the photos of our election below.

Tools that help us learn in the classroom

This is my 9th year of teaching. I have had a lot of students over the years who have used different tools to help them concentrate and get their work done (I have, on occasion, used some similar tools myself.). Some of these tools we have in the classroom include earmuffs, wedge cushions, rocking chairs, and fidget tools (see pictures below). Here are some of the ways that students in our class are using, or have used, these tools:

"I use gum so that I don't bite my nails."
"I have used headphones so I don't get distracted from people talking to me."
"I can use stress balls when I'm angry - they calm me down."
"I chew gum when I'm in an airplane to help my ears not pop."
"I used to have this computer thing (called an e-writer) that I would do my writing on. I went to Mrs. Sokoloff's room, and then she sent it to the photocopier."
"When I was in Grade 2, I sometimes used a mini-earth ball so my hands won't get distracted and touch other stuff."
"Sometimes we chew gum to be quiet."
"I used to go to a calming room when I had too much energy."
"I used to use rocking chairs because my I had a hard time keeping all my chair legs on the ground."
"I sometimes use a wedge cushion on my chair to make me feel more comfortable when I sit down."
"I like the tools because they help us to not get distracted."

These tools are available in the classroom for the students to use, if they wish, to help them to concentrate and get their work done. Sometimes they use them, and sometimes they don't - it all depends on how they are feeling that day. What tools do you use in your classroom, or at your work, to help you to concentrate?

rocking chair

wedge cushion

ear muffs

Monarch Butterflies!

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to see the Monarch Butterflies that had hatched in our Library. The students wrote about it afterwards - we took what they wrote and combined it to describe what happened. Here is their account of the afternoon:

Yesterday at 1:00pm, we were invited to join Mrs. Hoskins and her class in the Library to see the Monarch Butterflies - there was a tomato cage with Monarch caterpillars and chrysalids for the past few weeks. Some of use were lucky enough to get to hold the butterflies. A lady who was an expert at working with Monarch Butterflies showed us how to test them to see if they are healthy. The expert taught us that there was a disease spreading among the butterflies. She showed us how you can put a sticker on a butterfly's wings to see if it makes it to Mexico from where you are. There were three butterflies, and one that had not hatched out of its chrysalis yet. Two of the butterflies were males, and one of them was a female. The males have dots on their wings, and the females do not. The butterflies have six legs, but you can only see four because they use the hidden legs only to pat on plants to see if they are milkweed. The expert told us that the Monarch butterflies are going extent because farmers and other people are killing the milkweed plants, which they need to eat and to lay their eggs on. When the females lay their eggs here, they die one to two weeks later, but when they lay the eggs in California, Texas, or Mexico, they can live up to nine months. We went outside and people got sugar water on their hands to try and keep the butterflies on their hands, but the butterflies flew away when we set them free - FREEDOM! At first the butterflies looked like they were flying the wrong way, but then they started going the other way, and are now going to Mexico (cha-cha-cha!). We will all miss the butterflies. After, we went outside to write about the butterflies, and what happened.

Lots of learning this week!

Things have been moving right along in Room 18, as we've had a great start to the year so far. We spent a couple of periods yesterday re-organizing our classroom library - the students did an amazing job of that, and it's now so much easier to find the books that they are looking for!

We've also been doing some learning in Social Studies around Canada. Today, the students were tasked with identifying the different provinces and territories, using an atlas to find them. For the most part, the students were able to do this with little trouble, and were excited to show their learning.

Lastly, we've started our Science unit on Light and Sound. Yesterday, we conducted an experiment where the students saw how light travels (in a straight line). To help demonstrate this, I misted some water in the air and shone a laser through the mist - there were a lot of 'ooohs' and 'ahhhhs'!

International Dot Day!

Did you know that there is an International Dot Day?! Well... there is! It's based on the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. In Art class today, we read the book, and then worked on a whole classroom art piece, based around dots! Each student was given a piece of paper with a big dot on it, and was tasked with decorating the dot, and the space around it, any way that they saw fit. Once they were finished, their papers (and dots) were cut into quarters, and randomly rearranged to create a piece where everyone's dots in the classroom came together in various ways. It was a lot of fun - check out the images below! If you'd like to find out more about The Dot and International Dot Day, you can read more about it here!

First day of school - 2014-15

I can't believe that today was the first day of classes for the school year already - where did the summer go?! It was great to see everyone today, both familiar and new faces! Here's what some of the students thought about their first day back at school:

Today was fabulous because I like coming back to this classroom, and I like the changes that have been made. - Braedon

It was awesome today because we got to see our new classroom for the second time. The first time was at the end of last year, and it looked a lot different then. - Robert

Today was cool because I got to go into a teacher's room that I wanted to go into, from a different school last year - Westview School. - Eric S.

I like the classroom even better this year because of the changes that were made. I really liked where the white chairs moved to. - Faith

I was kind of nervous when I didn't know who was going to be in my class, but when I met everyone, I was OK with it. - Tyrell

1SE: 1 Second Everyday (June 2014)... and happy summer!

Here is our 1SE (1 Second Everyday) video for June (with May tacked on to the beginning, as well) - it just flew by!

June 2014 Book Reviews

Here are the last batch of book reviews from Room 18 this school year - enjoy!

Room 18 Book Reviews (June 2014) - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

May 2014 Book Reviews

Here are the Room 18 book reviews from May - enjoy!

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

#eduphotoadayjune

As we told you last month, we love Instagram photo challenges, and June brings another round of #eduphotoaday, where we connect with classrooms from all over to creatively share with each other, via Instagram. We're a little late in getting going, but here is this month's challenge - be sure to follow along with us on Instagram (@mrhoeppnersclass). You can even take part yourself - just remember to hashtag your photos with #eduphotoadayjune and whatever that day's challenge is.

Les Trois Petits Cochons: filming

Today, the students worked in their groups to film their videos for 'Les trois petits cochons' (The Three Little Pigs) in French, which they have been practicing for some time now. Unfortunately, two of the groups weren't able to film today, as they were missing group members. However, the groups that were able to film did a good job - special thanks to Nolan's mom for coming in to the class to help us out with this! Once the remaining two groups have had a chance to film, I'll post the videos on our blog for your enjoyment - keep your eyes peeled!

1SE: 1 Second Everyday (May 2014)

In April of this year, I attended a conference on technology put on by the Manitoba Teachers' Society called 'Awakening Possibilities'. One of the speakers I was really excited to see was Steve Dembo, who I'd been eagerly following on Twitter for quite a while. During his keynote presentation, he talked about an app someone had mentioned to him called 1SE (or 1 Second Everyday), and the wonderful experience he had in trying this for himself. Right away, I thought to myself "What an incredible way to document what goes on at school on a daily basis!" - so often, the days meld together, and we forget a lot of what we've done throughout the year. With 1SE (and I've been using it to create a personal video of my life, to share with friends and family, as well), each second acts like a placeholder, reminding us of some of the things we did on that day. And even though we won't remember the whole day, it helps us to remember a whole lot more than we would have, otherwise.

My plan with 1SE is to create a video every month, to summarize that month at school for our classroom (which will be approx. 20 seconds). At the end of the year, I plan on putting the whole year into one video (which will be approximately 3 minutes in length). I'm sorry I didn't find out about the app sooner, as I will only have video from May and June of this school year. However, I look forward to creating videos in the future, to help my students (and their parents) remember what they did during that year in school, because... let's face it... how much do YOU remember from Grade 3 or 4?! I certainly don't remember very much!

Room 18's 1SE - May 2014 from Jeff Hoeppner on Vimeo.

Adding fractions for pizza: the big day!

As you saw in an earlier post, the students had been challenged to use the knowledge of adding/subtracting fractions that they had learned to earn a pizza party. Well... today was the big day - check out the summary of how the whole process worked with this cool Adobe Voice presentation the class put together:
 

Procedural Writing: How to eat lunch in the classroom

As you've seen in some of our earlier posts, the class has been working hard on learning how to do procedural writing. Last week, the students worked in small groups to write a procedure on how to eat lunch in the classroom at Radisson School. After they finished working in their groups, we came together and used ideas from all of the groups to write the procedure as a whole class. I've included the finished product below. What do you think of it? Did we make it clear enough? Let us know in the comments section - thanks!

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How to eat lunch in the classroom

Supplies
- lunch (food & drink)
- quiet activity (drawing, reading, writing, etc.)

Steps
1) If the teacher has chosen you to do so, wash the desks/tables in the room.
2) Line up to wash your hands, when the adult in the room tells you to do so.
3) Wash your hands with soap and water, and then dry them.
4) Go to your backpack to get your lunch, and then bring it to your desk in the classroom.
5) Wait until the lunch bell rings to start eating.
6) Eat your lunch. While you are eating, you may talk to your neighbours quietly.
6a) If you finish eating before the adult in charge dismisses you, you can do your quiet activity at your desk.
7) When the adult in charge dismisses you, put your garbage in the garbage can (and make sure you put recyclable items in the blue box), and go out into the hall and put any containers or leftover food back in your backpack.
8) If it is outdoor recess, get ready to go outside for lunch recess (make sure you are dressed properly for the weather). If it is indoor recess, come back into the classroom, and find an appropriate activity on your own or with friends (check the indoor recess activity list for ideas).
9) Line up at the doors your classroom normally uses to go outside. Wait for the supervisor to tell you to go outside. When he/she does, the person at the front of the line holds the door open, so that the rest of the students can go outside safely.
10) Have fun!

Field trip: Bannock Point Petroforms

Today, we were lucky enough to take a field trip to the Whiteshell Provincial Park to see the Bannock Point Petroforms. The petroforms are stone representations created by First Nations people of different animals, people and abstract structures, and are believed to be approx. 1500 years old. We had talked about these yesterday in class (the students did some writing around them), and one of the things we had discussed was how we needed to show respect to the petroforms and the surrounding area when visiting there. I was so impressed by not only how respectful the students were at the site, but also in the very thoughtful and insightful questions and answers they provided to our (most excellent) interpreter Adam, a Parks Manitoba guide who took us on a tour of the site. Also, upon arriving back at the school, after the kids had departed the bus, the bus driver told me how impressed he was with the students' behaviour, and that they were one of the best-behaved groups he'd ever had the pleasure of transporting - wow! All of that, when combined with the amazing weather we had today (mostly sunny, with a slight breeze, and temperature of approx. 25C), made it easily one of the best days Room 18 has had this year! Check out the photos below for further proof...