The following info. was received from Chad and Susan awhile ago already about new Math resources posted on the Ministry's website.  Check 'em out:

http://www.education.gov.sk.ca/math-resources

Today in Grade Four, Jocelyn used a neat online stories website where famous stars (actors, singers, etc.) read a popular children's book.  The site shows the star reading, as well as pictures from the book.  The site name is Storyline Online and can be found at the following address:

http://storylineonline.net/

I've been told that it is also linked from the GSSD library website.  Thank you, Jocelyn, for sharing this great find!

I would like to share with you a small, easy-to-implement suggestion when administering Exemplars with your students.  When you copy the problem and communication template, attach a copy of the student rubric along with it.  In Room 501, students know that as soon as they are finished their problem, they have to rate themselves in each of the five areas.  It is a great way to include student self-assessment into your teaching practise (thanks for the tip, Chad).  If you wanted to, you could double-side the student rubric with the teacher rubric and then you'd be ready when you go to mark it, also, and can simply highlight where each student fits on the rubric.

I have Karen to thank for sharing the following Math resource.  It is a wonderful site with a whackload of Math skills practise activities.  They are all categorized by grade and then further broken into Math strands and topics.  It is an American site, but can definitely be applied to our curriculum.  Check it out:

IXL Math
It appears that you can explore the site and try out activities for free.  However, there is a membership tab with family and classroom prices listed so I'm not sure if you're only allowed so many free plays before you get blocked out.  I'd be interested in any feedback you have on this site (ie: how free is it, is it worth getting a membership, and so on).

Here are a few sites we want to take you to for Mentor Monday's "Math on the Web":

GSSD Renewed Math Resources - Mike Fulton's videos are linked on the right-hand side of the page
Quia - Pre-made activities and lessons
Math 6 Spy Guys

Everyone should have received an email from Tech Services awhile back regarding the use of SysAid.  This is a system that will allow you to submit your requests for tech support online.  The link to access this service is below.  I will also put the link on the sidebar so that you can access it easily if need be.  Your user name should be your school email address and your password has been supplied in the original email.  To change it, go into "Change Your Settings" once you have logged in.

http://tech.gssd.ca:8080/Login.jsp

Destination Math & Reading are up and running for our school!  You need to have an account to be able to use it so please email me if you are interested.  Click on the following link to get to the log in page:

http://success.gssd.ca/lms?service=page/Login

I will place a link in the sites bar at the right, as well.

We're down to the last page of the mystery resource, and it happens to be on using digital cameras in the classroom.  The following are a few links that you may wish to explore if this is an area of interest for you. For those teachers who indicated using digital cameras with their students as an area of interest on the mentor survey I sent out, I have a handout I can give you, also.

Click! Using a Digital Camera in the Elementary Classroom
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - scroll down for a bit for the digital camera links
1001 Uses for a Digital Camera
Digital Cameras in the Classroom

So I have to say that the staff at Inspiration are on the ball or something ... Within 24 hours of posting "Some 'Inspiration' For You," I had received a comment from Sarah Cargill, an employee of Inspiration Software.  She mentioned that they have a "Thinkspiration" blog with the "Inspired Calendar" and "Inspired Sites."  In her words, here is what they are about:

"The Inspired Calendar provides lesson plans and examples created by educators around special days and holidays. The Inspired Sites provide links to websites, wikis and blogs created by educators that provide valuable information about our programs."

To visit the blog and check these out for yourself, click on the following link:

Thinkspiration Blog

The tabs are at the top of the page - just click and follow!

Our laptops and school computers have a program called "Inspiration" (and there is also a "Kidspiration") that can be used for concept mapping.  The following two sites have ideas on how these programs can be integrated into your lessons:

Inspiration Software (home site)
Inspiration in the Elementary Classroom

Wrapping up the Microsoft links, we have some sites that will help you out when using Microsoft Word.  See below:

More Than Just a Word Processor - tips and tricks for creating educational tools with MS Word
Microsoft Word Tutorials
Watermarks - creating a Word document over a watermark
MS Word - tutorial

Check out these sites for using Microsoft Excel:

About.com - Spreadsheets
EXCEL-lent Middle School Math Lessons
Classrooms that EXCEL Resources
Basic Excel Tutorial

In addition to these sites, there are plenty more available that can easily be Googled.

More from the mystery resource, and a few of my own links, this time on using Microsoft Publisher.  Check out these sites:

Free Microsoft Publisher Templates
Publisher Help and How-To
Support for Microsoft Publisher

As I was organizing my files for my job switch this year (and next), I came across a leaflet put together and distributed to teachers of Davison School several years ago.  I can't remember who made it but want to offer that person, if you're reading this, official credit.  Within the leaflet were helpful technology tips for using Microsoft software, SMART Ideas, and digital cameras.  I'll share with you the web resources that were listed in each section.  Today will be PowerPoint sites to check out:

Microsoft PowerPoint Tutorials
Creating Classroom Presentations with PowerPoint (from Education World's site)

I'll be upfront - this post is not school-related.  However, I just started reading, "The Book of Awesome," by Neil Pasricha and felt compelled to share with you all.  This book started off as a website (1000 Awesome Things) of little things that are, in fact, "awesome."  Many of these things have brought back memories reminiscent of my childhood and a few of them I still enjoy and appreciate to this day.  I will admit, some of these things are cliche and offer my husband too much ammunition for mocking me (ie: finding money you didn't know you lost).  However, many of them I wouldn't have thought of or have struck a personal cord of appreciation (ie: #966 - Living with someone who doesn't mind killing spiders, or #400 - putting your own shoes back on after going bowling).  Some I wouldn't have dreamed of and I can't even mention them here due to their nature (if I've piqued your curiousity, I'm referring to #950).  In any case, as teachers I think we all need pick-me-ups from time to time and this book/website just may do it for you!

I've designed a template that can be used with "The Problem Solver" series that you all have in your classrooms.  It is a SMART Notebook 10 document designed to be used with your SMART Board.  It will hopefully be as simple as adding/changing the pertinent sections to suit the needs of the problem you are working on with very little effort on your part.  Check it out!  You can find it by clicking on your grade in our school's wiki (click on the button in the top right corner for "Wikispaces") and finding "Problem Solver Template" on that page.

Susan Maserek has informed me that a variety of Problem Solving templates used for last year's benchmarking have been posted on the GSSD's Renewed Math Resources website.  Here is the direct link to get to them (or seek them out using the link provided in each of the "Math" tab divisions above):

http://central.gssd.ca/math/?page_id=1334

As they are only labelled for Grades 2, 5, 6, and 7, feel free to tweak them to meet your needs.  Keep in mind that your PLC group in Davison School may have already chosen a common template to use (in which case, stick with that).

When browsing the new files available on the SMART Exchange site (linked under the SMART Board tab, for future reference), I came across a SMART Notebook lesson for Character Education.  Since this is something we are now expected to teach in our classrooms, I thought I'd share the link with you incase you wanted to take a look.  It's geared towards students in Grades Four and up.  If you like it, you can download it and it's ready to use!  Here is the link:

Character Education: It's in You!

I recently received news from Susan Maserek that there are new Math videos, done by Mike Fulton, posted on the GSSD website.  These videos are phenomenal!  Mike has taken exact outcomes from the curriculum (for Grades One through Nine) and made explanatory videos on how to use manipulatives to teach/explain these outcomes to your students.  Along with these videos, there are also a host of other ideas and resources related to Math for you to peruse.  Click on the following link to get started:

GSSD Renewed Mathematics Resources

The Math videos can be found along the right-hand column.  I will also post this link under my Math tabs above for future reference.

I've recently added a bunch of links to the "Tech Tools" page of my blog - have a look if you're interested.  One of the links that Michelle shared with me on Friday is to the "Page Plug-Ins" site (linked under the "Class Project Tools" heading on the afforementioned page).  There are a bunch of neat generators and flash toys that you can play with there.  I would preview the site first and carefully select which tools you want your students to be able to access and use to ensure that the content is school and age-appropriate.

Have you ever wanted to "take a snapshot" of exactly what you see on your computer screen?  The snipping tool allows you to do just that.  On computers with Windows 7, it can be found in your "Accessories" folder.  For Mac users, hit "command-shift-4" and you should be able to snip away!  For PC users with older versions of Windows, I'm not sure if there is a snipping tool in the "Accessories" folder or not.  If anyone knows where it can be found or what to punch in to bring one up, please leave a comment and let me know.  Happy snipping!

So Darla was reading my blog and noticed my post on the "Did You Know?" YouTube video.  This reminded her of a similar video that she was shown at the Summer Math Institute.  This one, entitled "A Vision of K-12 Students Today," follows the same premise as the former video.  With the push to incorporate technology into more and more of our teaching, this video may inspire you and is quite eye-opening.  Compliments of Darla, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

Only I would do schoolwork during the Labour Day game (lame, I know), but I like to think that the Riders winning was my reward.  I created a wiki for Davison teachers to share their SMART Notebook/Response lessons.  All teachers have been emailed an invitation to join and in time, I will show you how to upload lessons to the wiki (assuming you are willing to share your hard work).  My hope is that soon we will have a nice database of lessons to share and tweak to fit each classroom teachers' needs and to save you from a bit of work.  The link can be found by visiting the "SMART Board" page of my blog and scrolling down.  I have also linked to Rockingham County Public Schools' site, which has many Notebook lessons categorized by grade.  Have a look and enjoy the rest of the long weekend!

For any blog followers that I may have out there, I have made two changes to the "Links for Your Convenience" list.  First of all, I added a link to the Maplewood site.  Second, I rerouted the link to the Saskatchewan Curriculum so that it takes you to the renewed curriculum site (I had it linked to the Evergreen Curriculum which is out-of-date).  Watch when you are doing your year plans as some of the new curriculums are not "officially" out yet but are slated to be released this month.  With some clever searching around the SK Government site (linked below), you can usually find a preliminary copy of them from which to work.

Government of Saskatchewan Site

At our staff meeting last Thursday, I remember Laurie mentioning this "Did You Know?" video off of You Tube.  I had to check it out for myself and was a little blown away.  It's worth the five minutes it takes to watch it and might be something you can show your parents to help show how important technology is today.  Enjoy!

Did You Know?

It's back to work we go!  I am officially back at work, though only half-time.  I am fortunate to be scheduled in to some classrooms on a regular basis, but I also have some flex time available.  You will be able to find me at school on days one, three, and five of the cycle.  Don't hesitate to hunt me down or send me an email if you'd like my help with just about anything.  If I don't know the answer, I will do my best to find out for you.  I look forward to being back and working with such a great staff this year!

Hello to any visitors who somehow managed to stumble across my blog!  If you visit any of the tabs above, you'll notice some of them are quite bare at this point.  I am currently (slowly) adding to each page, little by little, and hope to have the blog in better shape by this September when I return to work.  As far as posts on this main page, you won't be seeing anymore until that time, when I hope to add to the blog on a regular basis.  Thank you for your interest in my blog and I hope you'll return in the future!