Mr Hammerlund

The other day I was feeling extremely baffled with Wordpress. I couldn't figure out how to get it to do things I wanted to do. Editing and moving images around is one big one, getting widgets to work is another. These things I can do in no time using Blogger. Angry Guy With Axe  by  jonny_automatic I have been using Blogger for my personal blog for almost a decade now and it has become almost automatic for me. I know the ins and the outs which allow me to add widgets, links, edit HTML, tweak, mess around, do whatever, however I want. Earlier this week I got really frustrated with Wordpress. Knowing how to do it with another program, but not being able to replicate it was frustrating. I eventually was able to find a solution with the help of Google and a work-around by switching templates, but the process got me thinking about my own students. What would they do in that situation? Would they know to do a search for an answer? Would they know how? Could they pro...

Chapter 2 Outline Limitations of the Research 1. At best most homework studies show only an association, not a causal relationship 2. Do we really know how much homework kids do? 3. Homework studies confuse grades and test scores for learning Cautionary Findings 4. Homework matters less the longer you look 5. Even where they do exist, positive effects are often quite small 6. There is no evidence of any academic benefit of homework in elementary school Additional Research 7. The results of national and international exams raise further doubts about homework's role 8. Incidental research raises further doubts about homework

When I first started teaching I used a notebook to write down my daily thoughts. It allowed me to reflect on where I was and where I was going. I unfortunately did not keep up with that notebook. I took a course on teaching and learning in the spring of 2011. One of the focuses of that course was how both students and teachers can reflect on their learning. So as a requirement, I started posting to my blog.Then at the end of the year, I started using Twitter, a few months later I started following #pypchat , found other teachers online, and my PLN was born. When I started, I thought of social media as traditional media where the content was delivered from the top down with most people not having an input. Then I started linking my different sites so when I would post something, it would show up in multiple places. I am still not the member of my PLN that I want to be, but that may come in time. It also might not. It depends on what I put into it. So far, I...

We were just starting a lesson in writing last week when I was eliciting ideas from my students. "Tell me something about colors," I said. After a few responses, someone said, "we can't see without them!" Another student had remembered a comment I made earlier in the unit about not being able to see without color and jumped on the opportunity by yelling out, "that's not true!" Hearing this I decided to ask them how they can find out if it is true or not. So I posed the question, "how can we find the answers to this and the other questions we have asked in this unit so far?" I gave them each a sticky note and let them jot down their ideas. I really enjoy taking these tangents as we go through our learning journey. It is nice to be able learn in an almost seamless way.

Erecting barriers to participation deprives teens of access to these forms of learning. Participation in the digital age means more than being able to access “serious” online information and culture. Youth could benefit from educators being more open to forms of experimentation and social exploration that are generally not characteristic of educational institutions. (Ito, 2009, p. 2) "Mathafix-Echelle-Mur" taken from OpenCilpArt.com I often hear about schools that ban certain websites. I am sure that all of them do it, but it makes me wonder if banning social media sites is the right way to go. I am sure that there is the fear that students will spend all their time on a site like Facebook. Another one might be all the problems that come along with social media, like online bullying. Maybe there are schools that fear law suits because of bullying. I wonder though, how students can learn how to behave responsibly online without the access to these sites. They ...

As I get older, my memory isn't what it used to be (or what I think it used to be) so I am finding myself reading things and not taking away all that I should. Inspired by Mr Dwyer , I am trying to use my blog as a reflection not only on my pedagogy, but also on what I read.  Chapter 1 - Five Common Complaints About Homework 1. A burden on parents What Kohn says in my words - Parents come home from work and are often tired and have to help out their kids. Often times parents are unable to help because they do not understand the directions. What I think - I don't have kids, but I can understand coming home tired. I do feel for the parents of my own students because we are an English-peaking-school in Japan and many of my parents cannot speak English. The ones that can I sympathize with because reading directions in a foreign language to an assignment in a style of teaching that you were not raised in must be tough. This year I have been trying to figure out h...

I am very excited to begin COETAIL. I took the leap into the COETAIL program because my coworker was taking it. But even after that, I was wondering if the program would fit me in a Grade 1-2 combined class filled with students learning English. One other coworker reassured me about the program, and then I saw another Grade 1 teacher sign up and I was convinced. I am interested in learning more about when and how to use technology in the classroom. I am using it now, but I know I can get better. That's what it is all about. Let's begin. (Cross-posted to my COETAIL blog .)

With the Grade 5-6 class down the hall studying Light and Sound , and my Grade 1-2 class studying Light and Color , there was bound to be some collaboration. Mr. Dwyer and I made plans to do a class exchange for a day. But when I saw the self portraits his students did with the iPads, I wanted my students to do the same thing. It seemed like a good peer mentoring opportunity. With the student numbers in our classes, there was one unlucky Grade 5 student who was paired with me. Photography is a hobby of mine, so I have been thinking about the kind of self portrait I want to have for a while. So I showed a portrait in the style I was thinking of and took my budding photographer down the hall to a room with few windows. The school soft boxes just happen to be stored down there. I explained to him that we needed to look around the room for a spot with an uncluttered background. There wasn't really a good place, so I told him if the light is strong enough on the sub...