Competency #5 - Tagging/Cataloging

I chose the tag cloud for the book MathART Project and Activities by Carolyn Ford Burnetto:

3(1) 4(1) 5(1) Activities(1) apt(1) art(3) curriculum(1) ed(1) Education (Art)(1) Education (Mathematics)(1) Fractions(1) Geometry(1) grades 3-5(3) mathematics(6) Multiplication(1) nf(1) paperback(1) Personal(1) Projects(1) Reproducibles(1) Shelf (School)(1) Tag This(1) teacher(1) teacher resource(3) Tessellations(1)

Library Thing link: http://www.librarything.com/work/1323646

I chose this math book as resource for teachers in grade 3-5. It is a fun way to incorporate art with math concepts. I would add this to the school library's professional collection if teachers found this a useful tool in the classroom. These activities could be used in the classroom as a center or as additional concept practice.

Competency #4: RSS Feed

I have added the RSS feed on the right side of my blog to Creating Life Long Learners by Mathew Needleman (name and link). I felt this blog ties into Teacher Helper as it discusses strategies for language arts instruction in elementary schools. It also focuses on integrating technology into the classroom. In addition to these things, Creating Life Long Learners provides a link to Open Court Resources (name and link) which provides free Language Arts materials to teachers. As a future librarian for public schools, I hope to find more helpful teacher blogs that focus on other areas of the classroom such as math, science, and social studies.

Competency #3: Podcast

Willowdale Elementary in Omaha, Nebraska is taking an interesting educational approach to incorporating podcast into the classroom using Radio Willow Web. Students are creating podcasts based on what they are learning in the classroom. This ties into my vision for Teacher Helper. I would like to help teachers find podcasts students can learn from, as well as encourage teachers to help students create their own podcasts from material they are learning in the classroom.

The following is an example of a podcast from Willow Web:
http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/shows/Willowcast01.mp3

If a teacher is looking for an audio segment to supplement a lesson on George Washington, she could play the excerpt from this podcast to have students hear additional information from someone their age.

I found the webside using a "teacher podcast" search on Yahoo. My search lead me to Scholastic which recommended additional podcast websites teachers could use in the classroom. I found this one to be a good example of how students and teachers can make use of this technology. Additional podcasts for Willow Web can be found at http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/listen.html.

Competency #2: Related Blog

Have Fun Teaching Blog
http://blog.havefunteaching.com/

This blog's focus is not only on free ideas for teachers, but it also provides teachers with opportunities to obtain free stuff for their classrooms. I can see this being a useful site that teachers will want to refer to frequently.

The blog's most current post focuses on Learning Activity Centers:

After teaching 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and now 5th grade I can honestly say that Learning Activity Centers are amazing! Learning centers, if used effectively, can eliminate behavior problems in the classroom and make learning fun, motivating, and meaningful.
I am currently using centers with my 5th grade math class. I have four different homeroom classes each day. Each class is split up into 6 groups with 3-4 students in each small group. The students rotate between two different centers each day, spending 25 minutes at each center. An effective classroom with learning centers consists of students doing 85% of the working and talking while the teacher is guiding them the other 15%. It is great when you leave work feeling stress-free and energetic!

The blog was found using GoogleBlog: http://blogsearch.google.com/