09-24-14 Learning at Lincoln

Lincoln is celebrating students' success in making great choices.

This morning I had the opportunity to go visit my old stomping grounds of Lincoln Elementary. My goal was to check in with teachers to see how things are going and see how I could support them.  My first stop was Gracie Johnston's 5th grade class.  Gracie attended my trainings this summer and when I walked in the room, she excitedly told me about how she had just shared a Google Doc with her students.  She also showed me a great Google Presentation A-Z Science Book her students had created.  We looked a little at how she can use the comment tools to help her student's edit their writing. Her students are practicing their keyboarding and composing skills by reading and writing about current events using Google Docs. Very exciting!  Kylie, one of Gracie's students (and her daughter) was busy creating on the computer while waiting for class to start.  She had found the app "Floor Planner" in Google Drive (under Create - Connect More Apps).  Kylie had created a whole estate with each room planned out with furniture, carpets, etc.  She had cars in the driveway and a forest to play in.  Amazing creativity and skill.  What a great tool that could be used to explain the scene in a story or plan and measure materials in math.  (Or just practice creativity and problem solving while having fun.)

Thanks Kylie for teaching me something new! I also visited with Susan Kruckenberg.  She mentioned that the students were learning about Magnets and Electricity in Science.  I shared with her how I am learning about electrical circuits and computer coding.  We cooked up a plan for me to come in and share my Makey Makey with her students and talk about conductivity.  I can't wait!

In the Library, Rocio Bradley excitedly told me how she is connecting Common Core activities with Technology in the lab and library.  This is a new position for her so she is learning lots.  She was tying different media together to help students have a purpose with their keyboarding and composing on the computer skills.

After school got going, I enjoyed popping into several classes to see their morning routines.  Tammy Moehl's Class sang a great song about Causes and Effects to the tune of the Adams family and Liz Johnson's 3rd graders showed me their problem solving skills as they worked on their morning starting activities using Unifix cubes for manipulatives.

I always come away from visits with teachers and students energized and full of ideas.  Thanks Lincoln for a great visit.  Looking forward to my next visit and exploring electrical circuits and computer science with Mrs. Kruckenberg's class. Pin It Now!