Google Slides in Action

Collaboration at its BEST!

GAFE (google apps for education) has changed the way teachers are teaching and students are learning at Proctor School!

Mrs. Lampe and Mrs. Murphy decided to really bring the collaboration piece to the extreme with their fourth grade students. This creative project is titled Midwest Google Slides. Students in one class have been partnered with students in the other class on the same project.. Each small group is responsible for 2 slides in the completed project. Students collaborate through the comment feature found in google. It has been an engaging and powerful project as we watch these fourth graders work.

This is what the slide document looks like right now. Stay tuned for the final version.

The power of commenting is evident as these teachers take this opportunity to model the process.

Rubric used for assessment:

Teachers help students guide their students' projects by using a rubric. Students refer to this while working and use this as a reflection piece as well.

Tour of Steward School With Dr. Seuss

March 2 is the day Steward School joins others to celebrate Read Across America. Our theme this year is Oh The Places You'll Go.  Click below to take a tour of the wonderful happenings at Steward School. You will get a look at our guest readers and our school. Enjoy the visit. Stay tuned to see how many miles we travel as we spend the month reading and tracking our progress across the halls of America.


"Musical Madness" | Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat [Game soundtrack] | Keith Leary

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

The Day is Here!
Let's All Cheer!
It is a Big Birthday Day!
Hip Hip Hooray!

Steward Teachers all chose their favorite Dr. Seuss book.

Check out the video below.

Can you guess who is who?

Music credits CENTENNIALSINGS

Dr. Seuss Day is Coming!

March 2 is Dr. Seuss Day!
Everyone has been extremely busy getting ready for the BIG DAY.
Doors are getting decorated.
Hallways are coming alive with new displays.
There is even a road filled with stops across America in the front hall.
Teachers took pictures with their favorite Dr. Seuss book which will turn into a guessing game for students.
Students will begin reading and tallying their minutes to convert into miles as we Read Across America.

In the picture below (thanks to DoInk and ExplainEverything)  Mrs. Costa, our principal, is wishing everyone safe travels on this month long adventure.

Stay tuned!

World Read Aloud Day 2016

"Every year World Read Aloud Day calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories."

Click on the picture below to learn more about WRA16

Students at Steward School had the exciting opportunity to visit via skype with an author to help celebrate World Read Aloud Day..

The day began with the First Graders who visited with Michelle Edwards in Iowa who read her book Pi Lia's First Day. This was her first experience with WRA and we had a wonderful time talking about the characters and settings of her stories. Michelle shared her writing room with the students and told them about her love of knitting. She even put on one of her own funny hats.

Third Grade students had a visit with Lauren Magaziner from Brooklyn, New York.  Lauren enthusiastically read chapter 2 from her newest book Pilfer Academy.  She explained to the students about the writing process and even shared the story of having to remove a character from her book after the publisher read the draft of the story. One student asked her how she found her funny words. Lauren answered that she pays attention to new words and even writes them down in a notebook. Her favorite funny word is "collywobble".

Kindergarten students enjoyed the stories of Sue Fliess from North Carolina. Sue read a funny rhyming book titled Calling All Cars. The students enjoyed listening for the rhymes. We also got a sneak preview of her new book Goblin Hood. Can you tell the title of the book that she got the idea from? (Robin Hood) Her son gave her the idea for this book because he always said "bone and arrow" instead of bow and arrow.

Second Graders had the pleasure of meeting Katy Duffield from Florida.  Katy shared her favorite parts of writing: creating on a blank page, research, and revising. Students were entertained with her reading of Loud Lula who always talks in her outside voice but one day it comes in handy.

Thank you all the authors who shared their time with students for World Read Aloud Day. 

You have inspired us all!

Polar Animals in Grade 2

Mrs. Ford's Second Grade Class has been studying the Polar Regions and the animals found there. After selecting a polar animal, second graders spent time researching that animal. They read nonfiction books and used online websites to gather information.
All this hard work led to a digital project.
First, students used the app Drawing Pad on the iPads and created a detailed picture of their animal in their natural habitat.

Then using the app Chatterpix Kids each student drew the animal's mouth and recorded a 30 second fact from the perspective of that polar animal.

Click on the videos below to hear the talking polar animals share a few facts about themselves.

Why Do I Read Your Blog?

This is a letter to teachers who blog~

Dear Friends,
I feel like you are all my friends because you openly share your ideas through blogging.

I truly enjoy reading your blogs. You educate me more and more with each post you publish. I can spend hours getting lost in your class and I truly wish I could come for a visit to be a part of all the learning taking place in your room.

What makes a good blog? What are the things that make me want to read your blog?

As I ponder those questions I have come to a few features that work for the readers of your blog.

Teachers' blogs give a quick snapshot of what is happening in your classroom. Good blogs like good writing take one idea and explore it further. One blog post might be about what is happening in math that day. You have written a descriptive post about the content, added pictures and examples of student work of the lesson. I must admit the pictures and student work are what draws me in! You might have included the essential question or the standards addressed in the lesson. A link to a math activity might also be included for at home work. As a lover of all things in the technology field I enjoy your digital work as well. These things give me, a reader of your blog, new ideas to try and share.

Another post would explore a different subject area with similar engaging features.

In this way you are conveying to parents and the public all the great teaching and learning in your classroom in a very engaging format.

Blogs are replacing the traditional printed newsletter format for many teachers. I appreciate this fact as I, a global reader, am now able to learn all about your classroom.

I LOVE your blogs and appreciate all the hard work you do to maintain them. Blogging is a wonderful form of parent and community engagement and is a showcase of many of the components from the rubric for teacher evaluation.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your daily learning experience.

The big question is: When do you find the time to do these amazing posts?

Sincerely,