Mr Hammerlund

I just came across this picture I took earlier in the year. This is a picture from one of my favorite days this year. On this day, some students in the grade 5/6 class organized dance lessons for the other elementary students. The session was run during recess by a fifth grader who brought together those students interested in learning some dance moves. It was amazing to see how interested in dancing the students were - even the more energetic boys enjoyed it without the shenanigans. The dance instructor for the day led the students through some moves, and then at the end she put it all together. It was great to see students taking action. I loved that this student had a passion that she wanted to share with others - and then she did it. What can I do to encourage my students to better follow their passions next year?

Honghe Rige Terrace Micro-Ecology via Visual.ly While planning for my current unit about the ecology of rice fields (ecosystems, food chains, and life cycles) I came across the above infographic on Visual.ly. Thinking it could make an interesting provocation, I printed it onto an A3 piece of paper and put it up in the front of the room on the first day of the unit. Wanting to focus on the rice field in the upper left, I asked my class what they saw. When they started talking about the people, I knew I had to take it further. I started by taking out some See, Think, Wonder sheets I made up, and I covered up most of the picture, so they focused on the terraced rice field. Image 1 Despite seeing the picture beforehand, when I asked what they saw in the small square, I still got interesting responses like fossil and alligator tail. After discussing their responses a little, we wrote them down and moved out. As I zoomed out more, I again asked what they saw. T...

The school I am working at just recently updated the school's AUP. When I saw it, I felt like it was missing something, something besides easy-to-understand language for the elementary students. The school's AUP needed some positive language in it. Too often when looking at other schools' AUPs, the rules and regulations made me feel as if using technology were criminal. I, however, think that technology should be celebrated. Students should know that technology can be exciting and fun. Yes, computer games are OK to play in moderation. When writing mine, I tried to write rules in a positive manner that revolved around our school STARs, or ESLRs expected student learning results. I wanted to focus on the "cans" and "shoulds" rather than the "don'ts". I also wanted to make a document that was all on one page so young students would be able to follow along. I waited too long to try to find someone to collaborate with so I made a post...

I remember the day in the beginning of the year when I sat down with one of my first graders to review writing. She was talking about something I didn't completely understand. When I asked her about it she pointed to the part of her writing she was referring to. But the pointing was not pointing; it was a rude kind of tapping that left me wondering where in the world she could have gotten that from. A few days later I caught myself doing the same tapping. Doh! Fast forward to last week. The mother of one of my students commented on my new haircut and how it looked different since the front of my hair was kind of up. I told her my hair was up because I have a habit of brushing my hair back. Now that it is shorter, it stays up. "So that's where he got that!" she said. "Got what?" I asked. She explained, "He always does that with his hair. I hate that." Doh! I have been amazed at the ability of these younglings to absorb the informat...

Blog post reflecting on your own personal use of the Internet and how you use the connection and power of hyperlinks. In college I was a foreign exchange student at a small university in Japan. I don't remember how often I called home, but I do remember that it wasn't very often. Photo Credit: Endangered in Japan by kimubert via Compfight cc When I did call home, I had to go to a payphone like this on campus, and dial a number to some phone company where I would have to dial another number that would connect my to my parents house. This was all before I had access to the Internet back in the U.S. (I was even sending hand-written letters then.) Fast forward to this morning when I used Skype to call my mom [from Japan] for free. I am so glad I don't have to seek out a payphone. I believe the power of the Internet, combined is how is is flattening the world and giving more people than ever access to information. People can take free college classes. We can r...

This week I had a short discussion with my class about the Internet and what it is. While reading this article about a writer who spent a year not accessing the Internet. In that article, he writes about the conversation he has with his niece. That was just the idea I needed. I gathered my class onto the carpet and drew some pictures of computers on the whiteboard. I explained that when I was younger, [most] of the computers were isolated from each other. Then I drew lines to connect the computers and explained that is basically what the Internet is, computers connected together. Two excited students shouted out. "It looks like a web!" "It looks like a net!" "Good observations," I said. "That is why those words are used when talking about the Internet." My favorite part was when I was trying to explain again for the students who were not understanding what I was saying. I erased one of the lines and said when I disconnect my c...

 All images in this post are screen shots from the infographic I made . During this class I have been much about our online footprints the impact it has on job applicants when looking for a new job. When I was reading the articles, I thought they were interesting, but I kept wondering what the hiring process of international schools looked like. I went to my own headmaster and informally asked him what he does during the hiring process. While we were talking he said that he would be willing to send the survey out to other headmasters. I got responses from 15 headmasters, headmistresses, or principals. See the survey results here on infogr.am . Question 1 Do you perform an Internet/Google search about potential applicants during the hiring process? The responses to question 1 surprised me. I assumed that everyone would "Google" an applicant during the hiring process. After reviewing the results of this first question, I wondered if I should have asked tha...

On the first Monday of every month the whole elementary school gathers together to group, recently showing off student work (which I think is great and I would like to see this continue), and to recognize students who have been outstanding at exhibiting our STARs [ESLRs]. Students who have been "living the STARs" receive an award and are recognized for their excellence. I have watched the older grades now for two years choose their own class nominees while I have sat back and chosen the STARs for my own class. Today I decided it was time to put the ball into their court and let them choose their own STAR recipients. It was a revealing experience. For one, the students were much more serious about it than I had expected. We discussed it for about 45 minutes - a long time for my class to talk about something. The conversation also showed me how superficial their knowledge of the STARS, ESLRs, attitudes the school [and I] want the students to exhibit. ...

This picture is from way back in March. I was being observed, had a cold, and the lesson was about how light moves. It was one of the more interesting class periods of this year. I set up a flashlight and asked the students where they thought the light would go. To my surprise, I had kids going all around the room putting markers on the wall where they thought the light would end up when I hit the switch. I thought that they misunderstood what I asked of them, so I repeated the question. I had them retell me the question in their own words - everything seemed fine. We spent an hour and a half inquiring into how light moves. I expected that part of the lesson to last 5 minutes. But, I went with where they were and had a great time. Thank you Craig  For the picture. Edit: To get started, I had the students draw a picture of how they thought light moved, and what they drew was pretty wild. Just today, two days after I published this post, I came a cross a blog p...

Photo Credit: perspicuus by   woodleywonderworks via Compfight cc Transfer is the ability to apply knowledge to new situations and is at the heart of understanding and learning. If students cannot transfer knowledge or if they donor have an opportunity to do so, they will forget. So avoid forgetfulness 1. Uncover student potential misunderstandings 2. Uncover q's, issues, assumptions, and gray areas lurking underneath the black and white of surface accounts 3. Uncover core ideas at the heart of understanding a subject Big Concepts Wiggins and McTighe also talk about uncovering the big and hidden concepts. This got me thinking about my next unit about ecosystems. I came up with a few: Everything is connected [Almost] everything is a cycle Systems run the world That's what I got off the top of my head. I'll have to revisit them this weekend.

I believe there are three main players when it comes to copyright. There are the consumers, the publishers, and the authors. The burden usually falls on the consumers, and maybe it should, but I think all three have a responsibility to ensure copyrights are not violated. The Consumers The consumers are everyone who uses the Internet and digests information. The consumers are the ones who the copyright burden usually falls on. That is with good reason as the consumers are the ones using other people's materials. I agree that people should give credit back to the authors of content when they use it. I would like to see it go a little further though. Photo Credit: "189/365: Makin' Copiessss" by if winter ends via Compfight cc We should add not only links back to the page where information is found, but also include site names, and a link back to the homepage of the website. When using pictures or art, I also think that the artwork's title should also b...