Talking WeeMee

Using the Talking WeeMee App to Record Student Reading Fluency

I was looking for a way to provide ways for my students to record their reading in order to build fluency.  As we all well know, one of the best ways to "drive a point home" in terms of students and their reading is to have a student LISTEN to how they actually sound when they read aloud.  Case in point...I had a student who had a "Happy Swede" thing going.  When she'd read aloud, she'd insert an "a" into her words.  It sounded like this:  "aOnce upon a timea, a littlea girla wasa walking..."  (You get the point!)

Anywho, having my student really listen to what she sounded like did worlds of good...and the problem was corrected quite quickly.  In order to do this, we used Garage Band on the Mac to record her read-aloud.

Now, with iPods and iPads, there are more portable options to record my students read-alouds.

I've used the AudioBoo App to record my students reading and AudioBoo is really quite effective, however, it lacks a bit in terms of "kid appeal."  

Enter Talking WeeMee.  This App can be purchased on iTunes for $0.99 and is designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, however, it works great on the iPad as well!  The great thing is that you can email the final "video" to yourself or your student's inbox or you can post it to a FaceBook page easily within the App.  I've actually sent these to a few of my student's parents and have received rave reviews.  An added benefit:  parents actually watch and LISTEN to these clips.  This is, in my opinion, a much better way to present feedback to parents....at least better than a paper report!

The student can choose an "avatar,"  a background and a "voice" for the personalized WeeMee.  In order to have the student really "hear" his/her reading, I insist on using the "Normal" voice.  Try the "Chipmunk" voice just for fun, but a student should really hear himself/herself in order to get the most out of this App.

Talking WeeMee only records 20 second clips, but in 20 seconds you can really get a feel for how a student sounds and how fluent he/she is with their reading.

My fourth graders love the interactivity of using Talking WeeMee to record their reading and the clip gives a quick taste and a wonderful snapshot of student reading fluency.  All 23 of my students have grown at least 2 reading levels since I started using Talking WeeMee with them during our Reading Fluency stations.  It's kid-friendly, easy to use, and easy to access as a video clip.

There are bunches of these Talking WeeMees on youTube.  Check them out!

Nikki

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Friday was an ordinary day.  Teachers dressed for work and pulled together the final few items they needed to make an ordinary Friday feel extraordinary for their little ones.  A principal went over the mental notes needed to organize the day ahead.  Parents kissed their little ones and sent them off to a school day filled with learning and laughter.

But Friday was far from ordinary...extraordinary circumstances turned classroom teachers and a principal into heroes...small children became leaders as they helped their classmates out of a catastrophe that none of us can ever imagine.

Our weapons are few...we come only with quick minds and more love than any one heart can really hold.

And as we've all watched from the sidelines with horror, one thing stands out...this could be any of us, on any given day.

Aside from my faith, the only thing that gives me hope is that I know of NOT ONE SINGLE TEACHER who wouldn't do the same as our brave colleagues at Sandy Hook.  That's right...every teacher I have ever known would do the same...put their lives behind that of their students.

In honor of the staff and students at Sandy Hook Elementary, I'm observing a day of silence.

At this time of the year, under these circumstances, it would be easy to just take the path of least resistance and get by for the next few days.

On Monday, in their honor, I'm teaching OUT OF MY MIND!  For them.  For my kiddos.  For the families who trust me with the ultimate honor...teaching their children.  For me.  

Join me.

October Currently

Ok...I'm really quite bad at these, but I love fall and love the way this looks, so I'M IN!  Plus it is always fun to link up with Farley at Oh Boy!  Fourth Grade...

Happy Fall Y'All!

Monday Made It...October Edition!

Holy cow!  Is it October already?  Wow...the month has really flown by and I've hardly hung out here in Blogland!  

I have quite a few items that qualify as Monday Made Its, so let's get started!

First things first...my wonderful pencil dispenser!  This went together so easy and it holds a ton of pencils.  It took a little bit to get used to how the pencils come out since they are a bit harder than straws, and this little beauty "forces" the pencils through the roller and out onto the little ramp, but my kiddos are having a bit of a LOVE AFFAIR with this baby and love getting their pencils every morning!

This is my welcome banner.  I always have a space in my classroom that is a place for my kiddos to get to know me a bit better.  I'm a cowgirl at heart and every one of these cows are gifts from the children and their families that I have loved teaching over the last 20 years.  I also put in cute frames with photos of my family, friends, and a picture of last year's class on the sill so that the kids can check out what's important to their teacher.  In the fall, I take a picture of us outside by a colorful fall tree and that will go into a sweet little frame that will join the rest.

Instead of putting up the usual curtains, I brought the curtain rod down lower and then attached the banner and some tulle.  It really dresses the window up and breaks up the view.  Thanks to the Moffatt Girls for their cute banner!  Click on their link to get your own cutesy banner!

I also made a small box of "proud tester" buttons.  Got these at Tonya's Treats for Teachers and picked up the button blanks at Hobby Lobby.  They came together easily and my kiddos can't get enough of them!  They love to wear the buttons and strut their stuff!  You can get the button templates here.  I just love Tonya's stuff!  (If you love the little cardboard basket, check out the Dollar Spot at Target.)

One of my favorite games is Stack.  If you aren't familiar with it, it involves 2-6 players and each player has his/her own set of 14 dice to start the game.  The game pack is a little pricey at about $25.00 per game and this only allows for six kiddos to play at a time.  As you can imagine, with all those dice rolling simultaneously, it does get a tad bit loud and dice do go missing from time-to-time.

Well...I was able to pick up foam counting blocks from Dollar Tree and make very quiet dice from them.  Each pack has 50 potential dice in blue, green, red and orange. All you need to do is draw the values on them!  I saw these on a few blogs and wanted them...waited patiently for months and checked many a Dollar Tree location until I finally found them and then...I pounced and bought up every little pack of dice they had.  The SKU is 39277 90336 (inside the bar code) and 120337-16104-009-1203 (under the bar code).  Not sure which one they need to locate these babies, but either way, I think you are covered!

Anywho...I made 6 containers of dice for "four person Stack It" and shared them with my cherubs...and THEY TOTALLY LOVED IT!  They can't wait to play this game and it is terrific for reinforcing numeracy skills as well as encouraging strategizing...very cool!

The rules for Stack are pretty straightforward.  This link will take you to the set of rules that I use for this game.  Take a gander at the rules and do adjust to meet the needs of your kiddos!

I also made Tara's A to Z card deck for word work stations in my classroom.  The cute magnets were a steal at Target in August and they may not have any left, but you can always use great little alphabet magnets from the Dollar Tree...these work just as well and are easy to hold.  I partnered these up with Dollar Tree cookie sheets for some down-and-dirty stations that were a cinch to put together and super cheap!  The kids really like these too!

I believe you can pick these cards up from Tara's TpT Store.  They are a steal!

In addition to all the fun things I am making for my students and the great teaching and learning that is going on in my 4th grade classroom, I'm also making time for fun.  Here's a photo of the "Abe Maids a'Milking" milking team from Abraham Lincoln School.  Our local Cheese Days celebration pits schools against each other with bragging rights (for two whole years!) plus a really cool T-shirt going to the winners!  My new principal, Sara, the "Magnificent Ann" and the "Wonderful Linda" all joined me for a shot at milking glory.  And guess what?  We won with 2 lbs. 8 ounces of milk in our bucket!  I'm milking this for all it's worth...after all, we are like no udder! 

Here's hoping that your school year has gotten off to a great start!

Nikki

Awesome Giveaway at Technology Tailgate

Tomorrow it's "back to reality" and my first Monday with students!  We teachers have all worked hard over the last month to prepare our classrooms for our cherubs, plan with our friendly colleagues and establish those early foundational pieces to building our classroom communities.

Karla and the generous coaches (including me!) at Technology Tailgate have a really terrific "techie giveaway" going on now to recognize the hard work that all teachers do to prepare themselves and their students for a really great school year.

We'd love to have you join us for a little fun, some great technology ideas, and the opportunity to win some really great prizes!  Maybe...just maybe...it might be YOU!

Believe me...you've got to have better luck than I have in winning prizes.  The last time I won a big prize it was a crock pot...and I was six-years-old!  That means I have had 38 years of not-so-great luck when it comes to winning.  But I can feel it...I just know one of you has the good prize-winning mojo!

Good luck all!

Nikki

Monday Made It...Almost!

Ok...I'll admit it, I have a Monday Made It in my head that never quite materialized until I looked at this morning's offerings!

Amanda over at Teaching Maddeness shared her take on this cute little pencil dispenser idea that has been floating all over Pinterest as of late:

Using a restaurant-styled straw dispenser seems to be the way to go if you are a "Community Classroom" teacher like me...the kids all hand in their pencils at the beginning of the year (my teaching partner and I ask for yellow, #2 pencils...no graphics!).  I then sharpen pencils and have them at the ready for my students all day long!  Love how there are no sharpener lines in the classroom and I can cut out some of the shenanigans that go on when kids are moving around the room or waiting in sharpener lines!

If you are stalking blogs like this, then you may have heard about how expensive these little babies can be and how hard they can be to find or purchase.

With nothing in my Monday Made It blog hands, I decided to go on a quest that I started over a month ago...I wanted to find a reasonably priced straw dispenser that I can call my very own...SUPER AMAZING PENCIL DISPENSER OF EPIC PROPORTIONS! ("Epic" is my eleven-year-old's favorite word right now, so it just seemed to fit!  Thanks Noah!) 

It seems like everyone is going to Amazon.com or seeking these out on eBay or Craig's List.  I decided to go right to the source:  restaurant supply!  The first site I checked had these little babies for about $25.00.  However, when I went to the checkout, I found that they had a $50.00 minimum on purchases.  Not so good...

Undaunted, I went to another site where you had to have a special restaurant code to purchase...since I'm not in "the club," this wasn't an option for me either!

Then...finally...(insert sigh here), I found a site that had an acrylic straw dispenser for $27.20 + $7.99 shipping and handling!  No minimum orders here...and no special codes...you can even say you are purchasing for yourself!  

It looks like a 2-3 day turnaround and your order comes via UPS!  I so love this!  So place your order today, and you should have it by the end of the week! 

Since I'm the type of girl to plug AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE, I'm going to share the source and give a huge shout out to Account Manager JENNIFER BEACH!  This sweetie called me less than 2 hours after placing my order, just to see if there was anything else she could do to make shopping with her organization any better.  Are you kidding me?  This is GINORMOUS!  

So, what are you waiting for?  Go online and get your own "Super Amazing Pencil Dispenser of Epic Proportions" (a.k.a. straw dispenser) at:

Don't forget...share the love!  Pass this info on to a colleague who wants to make his/her own "Super Amazing Pencil Dispenser of Epic Proportions!"  Sharing is caring!

Nikki

Classroom Tours Linky Party

I guess that I can "double dip" with my Monday Made It since both focus on the classroom environment!

Won't you join me in Brigid's amazing little classroom tour?  Right now, I know that I can use plenty of inspiration!

Nikki