Day 89: Amy Wray, 2nd Grade Teacher

Are you having a laugh?

http://www.kansasbob.com/2013/05/lol-its-good-for-you.html

My laugh is something that people "remember" about me. I can't say I am always proud of it ;-). Some say it's infectious, some say it brings a smile to their face, and some (possibly my teenage daughter) say it's loud and annoying.  

However, it's a part of me and my daily life.  We spend a large amount of our time at work and with our kids. I feel like it's important to incorporate humor and fun into each and every day.  

Recently a former student came to read to my second grade class.  When he was finished my class commented on his reading and asked some questions.  When the kids were finished asking questions, it was my turn.  Even though I like to have fun, I have high expectations! I asked my former student if he felt prepared for third grade.  He said he did feel prepared.  I asked if he thought I was too hard on them?  

"NO WAY!", he said.  "We always had fun in here!"  

That meant more to me than any test any day!!!  Laughter is the best medicine!  Find a reason to laugh today!

Day 88: The Geek Hero

My First "Cool Dad" Moment

Over the weekend, I received the ultimate honor that could be bestowed on a father by his children. It happened in one glorious moment when my children said to me, “You are the coolest dad ever!”

From http://www.squidoo.com/fathers-days-day-gift-ideas-from-chloe-the-kangaroo

I soared with pride. I was beaming. (Where is my wife?! Of course she isn’t around to hear this!)

I’m sure all sorts of scenes are playing out in your head right now:

• A dad cracking a baseball over the fence with ease.
• A dad throwing a perfect spiral pass for the game winning touchdown.
• A dad scoring tickets to the biggest concert.

However, it was nothing like that. No, I was being heralded a hero because I had just beaten "World 1-3" on Super Mario Brothers Wii.

From https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/videogames/detail-page/B002BRZ9G0.03.lg.jpg

For a second, I really did feel good about myself. 

Little did my daughters know that their dad had spent the better part of 1989-1994, otherwise known as “The Awkward Years”, playing video games. (Ages 10 to 15 can be so tough.) 

Yep, I still had it.

And then the reality of the moment sank in and I began my descent back to Earth. My kids thought I was cool because I could play a video game. That doesn’t even register in my mind when I think of "cool parents".

Looking back on my “cool dad” moment, I realized that I should be proud of what happened. Little moments like this build the strong relationships fathers have with their kids. These moment turn fathers into heros.

My father is a hero to me because he always works hard and he can fix anything. However, thinking of my dad as a hero didn’t happen over night. It wasn’t a single moment when he worked really late. It wasn’t a single moment when he fixed something that was seemingly impossible to fix. It was all of the moments when we spent time together working on a project or throwing the baseball around in the backyard. That’s what makes dads cool, and that’s what turns dads into heros.

My “cool dad” moment didn’t last long, but I am thankful for another opportunity to continue to build a strong bond with both of my daughters.

Day 87: Tabatha Stover, 1st Grade Teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary

What my students have taught me! 

And how many of these lessons have been more beneficial than 100's of hours of course work.

From http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8251/8545067064_4b3f5f8a6b_n.jpg

I have been blessed to be a teacher at Hilliard Horizon for almost twelve years.  When I started teaching I was eager to share my knowledge and love of learning with my students.  I quickly discovered they had more to teach me than I had to teach them.  

I have spent hours, days, and years reflecting, refining, and learning how to be an effective teacher.  However, it was my students who taught me to listen enthusiastically and to embrace everyone's ideas.  They taught me to see the joy in the smallest accomplishment; to take time to celebrate ourselves and others.  

I have learned that learning is a journey full of bumps, mistakes, and re-dos.  I have learned to enjoy each new personality, to take a moment to learn something new about someone else.  The most important knowledge I gained for my students;  learning is a collaborative process and I am merely a participant.      

Day 86: Denise Estep, 3rd Grade Teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary

Connecting the Community to the Classroom

3rd graders at Hilliard Horizon participated in a Community Fair on Friday, October 11th. Our goal was to reach out to our community members and ask them to come into our classrooms to show the kids what impact they have on our local Hilliard/Columbus community.  

Although we didn't have quite the turn-out we had originally thought, it was an extremely powerful event for all involved. We had a local nurse, 

a local firefighter (who is stationed right on Feder Rd.), 

2 cancer researchers from the OSU James Cancer Hospital, 

a local Hilliard police officer, 

a Boy Scout troop leader from Horizon, 

and a post office worker from the Hilliard Post Office. 

This event was extremely hands-on with the kids being allowed to use a microscope to see how cancer cells are studied, holding & even trying on a bullet proof vest (and much more), touching a firefighters helmet, asking questions and having great dialogue among all community members. 

Now that we are unable to take field trips, it is so important to bring the "trips" to us. We are so very appreciative of all people who volunteered their time, our third graders learned so much about what makes a strong community and it includes all of our great volunteers.

Denis Estep is a 3rd Grade Teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.

Day 85: Jamee Smith, 4th Grade Teacher

O.R.E.O. Project--So much more than Cookies!

A few weeks ago, I was looking through tweets on my Twitter account and came across something that looked fun and interesting.  Several clicks later and I found my way to the O.R.E.O. Project.  O.R.E.O. stands for Our Really Exciting Online Project.      

This project, developed 15 years ago by teacher Jennifer Wagner, involves a simple bag of original Oreo cookies.  Students are asked to make a predication of how many Oreos he/she can stack with out making adjustments before the stack tumbles.  Sounds simple enough, right?  

My fourth graders made predictions, tallied their stacks, and we graphed our results.  I was proud to our learning community that was cheering each other on as their stacks grew higher and higher.  The students were engaged and smiling!   But, that was only part of the project.  Upon completing the project in our classroom, we posted our results in a Google Form, viewed a map of the world that highlighted where others had participated in the same project across the globe, and received a certificate of participation.  And, at this point, we still weren't finished.  

The last part of the O.R.E.O. project was to use the cookies from the stacks to make a sculpture.  Yes, a sculpture out of the cookies and cream.  Quite honestly, I wasn't so sure where this part of the project was going to go.  But in the end, I was so impressed!  

My 9-10 year olds made amazing sculptures--someone made a panda, several made mountains, several connected to sports.  They were problem solving, being creative and…PLAYING WITH THEIR FOOD!  This project will continue into this coming week as we follow the results of other classrooms.  We were part of a global project!  How great is that! 

You can find more information at http://op2015.weebly.com/index.html.    

So what did I learn?  So much--the power of Twitter and what one can find from a simple tweet,  the power of fun at school, and the power of playing with your food!   I walked away from school on Friday with such a love of teaching!  I had a smile on my face and a pep in my step!  I hope my students did, too!   It is days like this that reinforce why I love my job and why I can't imagine doing anything else! 

**You can see more of our sculptures on our class Twitter account  @FourthGradeHZN!  Follow us as we continue to connect with others doing really exciting online projects! 

We are signed up for the Global Read Aloud that starts September 30 and we will be participating in Jen Wagner's Holiday Card Exchange in November and December.  

Jamee Smith is a 4th grade teacher at Hilliard Horizon Elementary.

Day 84: Deb Lairson, Intervention Teacher

Front Porch Reflections

Hi everyone!  I am a teacher at Ridgewood Elementary.  I am friends with Mr. Higginbotham and he told me all about this blog last summer.   I was really excited about the opportunity to share new learning, so I told him that I would post on the blog.  Here it is!!!  :) 

            When I think about learning, I think about so many different things.  I learn something new almost every day.  Most of the time, learning feels great!  Sometimes though, learning is tough.  That’s when the learning happens the hard way…  When you learn something the hard way, it does not always feel so good. 

            I love to learn by watching things on YouTube!  I learned how to install a new light in my daughter’s bedroom.  When I was done, I was so excited!  I did it all by myself!  I was able to learn how to do something without a professional nearby.  My teacher was a man on a video.  I felt so accomplished, that I decided to give it another try. 

            The paint on my front porch is beginning to peel away from being there for a long time in all kinds of weather.  I got on youtube and looked up “How to repaint peeling trim on a house”.  Sure enough, there were many videos to watch.   I watched three and felt like I was ready.  I went to Home Depot to get the things I would need.  Then I prepared my things and got started.  I was using a tool to peel away the old paint and it was working just like the man on the video said it would…  until I went a little too far and left a gash in the woodwork.  :(  I was very sad.  I learned a very important lesson though.  

            I am still working on my project, but I am approaching it in a very different way.  I didn’t just learn how to take old, chipping paint off of the trim.  I learned that you have to do it slowly and carefully.  You can’t rush.  I may have learned it the hard way, but I still learned.  :) 

            Remember that when you are frustrated with something that you are trying to learn.  It might not always feel good, but when you learn it, it is worth all of the hard work. 

Deb Lairson is an Intervention Teacher at Ridgewood Elementary in Hilliard, Ohio.   

 

Day 83: Herb Higginbotham, Intervention Teacher (WE'RE BACK!)

It's relationships, not just technology, that make a difference.

http://techonomy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SharingHands.jpg

We are back and ready to continue sharing our stories of learning! I wanted to start by sharing something I learned over the summer.

In August, I was fortunate enough to host a session at the Ohio Innovative Learning Environments Conference .  I was eager to present on the topic of blogging in schools and sharing how Hilliard Horizon participated in the #learn365 project by blogging about what our community was learning each day.

Since the Ohio ILE Conference has the word “innovative” in its title, it made me think that technology was going to be a major theme for the conference.  That also made me think that people were going to be expecting me to talk a lot about how we used technology.  Blogging this school year did involve a lot of technology use in order to share our learning and I was ready to put the focus of the session on the technology and web-based apps we used.  

However, when I look back on the posts we did, the themes that were most common had nothing to do with technology.  Our learning community shared stories of relationships, collaboration, hopes, dreams, and reflections.  We did share a couple of posts about technology, but within those posts were ways we were using technology to connect with others in order to learn.

Learning about how we can utilize technology in our classrooms is important for us educators to do in order to strengthen our instruction. However, I believe that there needs to be a larger purpose that drives this learning.  

Last year, I learned that there is amazing power in connecting with others through technology and sharing what we are learning.  This affirmed my belief that it’s the relationships and the connections we make with other learners, not the technology, that really matters most.