From Air to Sea....Back to School

This school year is bringing big changes for me.  I have moved schools for the first time in eight years, and although I am staying in the air with my new mascot, a STAR, our theme for the year is "Riding the Wave to Success".  In between setting up my new office, introducing myself to new staff, and getting to know the policies and procedures that accompany any school change, I found out I was in charge of a string of bulletin boards on one of our main school halls.  I must admit that even though I LOVE being creative and consider myself artistic, bulletin boards are not my forte.  However, I happened upon some fantastic luck when I realized my neighbor had some decorations at her house from a summer activity that would work with my school's new theme.  I thought I would share some of the pictures, and I will add more this week so you can see the details more closely.  The wide view does not do them justice, in my humble opinion.

Ocean themes can be used in lots of different ways at school so you might be interested to know that the fish are made from plastic 2-liter bottles that were spray painted and decorated.  The jellyfish are garbage bags spray painted purple, filled with paper, and tied under the head.  I also stapled on green art supply store sea grass and some sea flowers made of feathers and green straws.  The effect of the boards all together side by side is fantastic!  Throughout the year, the board with "Caught You" will recognize the students from each grade level classroom who earn the character trait award each month.  The "Going Fishing for Good Character Board" will remind students of the different character trait words, and the "Swimming Along" board will highlight classroom work that is created during classroom guidance lessons.

 

I also have a "Rainbow Fish" bulletin board in my new office that reminds students of prosocial behaviors and showcases some more of these great ocean decorations. I will share those photos ASAP along with all the ways I hope to make the transition to my new school go smoothly!  Until then, I hope everyone's first few weeks of school go "swimmingly".

Angela

Skyping: Part II

I am finally able to post the results of my Skyping activity with the The TASIS American School in England.  It was such a fun activity and was a lot easier to organize than I originally thought it would be.  We chose 9:20am EST (2:20pm England time) to Skype with the international students. When I got to Ms. Liberto’s classroom to prep the students before our Skype appointment, we handed out the ten question cards the students had brainstormed the day before.  I set up my laptop with a chair in front of it so the international students would be able to see and hear our students easily.   We could see their class on Ms. Liberto’s Smartboard, which worked well in allowing everyone to see.  

We directed the students from Ms. Liberto’s class who were asking questions  to introduce themselves before beginning their question.  It was  so cute to hear the first student say, “Hi.  My name is Willy, and this is my question.”  The students had a great time discussing recess
 games, playgrounds, classwork, uniforms, cereal and snack food, and so much more! My second graders gasped when they realized the international students had read some of the same books as them this year.  They were also amazed by the description of a “treehouse playground” at the international school.  The similarities among the two schools and student far outweighed the differences overall.

Afterwards, my students enjoyed discussing the similarities and differences at their tables and created “Friend Venn’s” as a final product for the activity.    What a fun way to learn about diversity!

Discussing the Friend Venn’s (left) and showing
   the final products (below).            

                              

Globally Aware....If You Dare!

My school has been focusing on global awareness activities for the last month in all of our grade levels.  Our teachers have done amazing lessons, which have resulted in many creative and visually stimulating products in our hallways.  I decided to get in on the action and am so excited about Skyping with one of my old friends from graduate school tomorrow morning.  She is a school counselor at the TASIS American School in England.  After working out the technical difficulties, we decided to pair a second grade class at my school with a second grade class at her school.

Today, I went into Ms. Liberto’s second grade class to show her students the school website, as well as some video clips and pictures of the TASIS students.  After learning some general information about the international school, the students formed teams to  brainstorm additional questions they would want to ask the students in England.  Ms. Liberto and I stressed the importance of including ALL the questions students had brainstormed and emphasized we would choose ten questions from the lists that would help us get the most information about the international students.
After reviewing all of the lists, we will be asking the following questions tomorrow morning:

1.  What are you learning about in second grade?
2.  Can second grade students sleep at the school as boarders?
3. What kind of uniform do you wear? What color is it?
4. Do you have recess? If so, what games do you play?
5. Do you have a cafeteria in your school? What kind of lunches do you have?
6. How old were you when you moved to England?
7. What countries have you lived in?
8. What are your most popular sports in England?
9. What do you do for fun? Do you play video games or do gymnastics?
10. How many students are in your class?

 Following the Skype session, the students will be creating “Friend Venns”, an idea I found via Pinterest at justaddclipart.blogspot.com.
 It will be a great opportunity to discuss similarities and differences between our students and those who are attending the international school.  I can’t wait to see what the students learn and the products they make.  Some of these students might never leave the United States, or even North Carolina, but through education and the power of technology, we can expose them to life experiences that will broaden their minds.  That excites me, and I hope it will excite them!
                                       ~ Angela