Merry Christmas from the Krosts

Make a photo collage

Christmas Cards for Shut-Ins

 Image taken from onextrapixel.com.

In my efforts to help children to use technology to better serve others, this week each class will be making Christmas cards for members of St. Paul Parish who are shut-ins, unable to attend Mass regularly because of age or illness.  All students, K-8 will make Christmas cards to give love and encouragement to a lonely and isolated member of the St. Paul community.

Are there any people you or your family know that could use some encouragement or holiday cheer?  Perhaps an elderly neighbor or a service man or woman stationed far away from home?  Send them a card!  Drop by and visit!  Call and sing them a Christmas carol!  As Aesop, the Greek fable author who lived in 620-560 BC, wrote, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

Too Much Time Online?

I came across a great article by Mitch Albom this weekend as I was reading the Detroit Free Press--digitally, of course.  It's about how today's youth are spending a lot of time online, which itself isn't a problem.  The problem is that youth aren't using their online time wisely.  Watching endless hours of YouTube videos isn't helping humanity in any way.  I am mindful of this and take it to heart every time I recite our class prayer, which says, "may we use this technology to better serve others, and you (God)."  So how are you using your online time?

Advent Traditions

It's hard to believe that the season of Advent is already here.  It seems that I was caught a bit unprepared and had to rush to uncover the Christmas decoration boxes from the basement in time to light the Advent wreath on Sunday.  Now that my daughters are a bit older, I think it's time to start a few Advent traditions. So each night of Advent this year, we will light the Advent wreath and follow along in this book, The Christmas Countdown: Creating 25 Days of New Advent Traditions for Families.  I purchased the book on Amazon and downloaded it to the Kindle app on my iPad.  It was quick, easy, and inexpensive.  So far, we've had some interesting dinner table discussions from the prompts given in the book.  And I love that we're repeating old traditions, like lighting the Advent wreath and setting up our nativity set, and creating new ones as a family. 

The First Thanksgiving

Since I won't see all 500 students this week, I'd like to wish everyone a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.  And since I'm a fan of American history, here's a link to Scholastic's "The First Thanksgiving" interactive website.  There are vitrual field trips of both Plimoth Plantation and a Wampanoag Homesite, information about the Mayflower voyage, and resources about what the first Thanksgiving Feast might actually have been like. Enjoy it with your family, and enjoy the blessings of this special holiday!

Cyberbullying

 Image taken from ua.edu.

When I decided to become the computer teacher last spring, I knew that I had a responsibility to teach students how to become digital citizens.  The technology that students are growing up with today brings with it a new set of issues that parents did not experience in their youth.  I'm talking specifically about cyberbullying.  Students today cannot get away from bullies like they used to--they are followed home from school by way of cell phones, iPads, Facebook, and Twitter.    I will be beginning a series of lessons for all students in grades one through eight about cyberbullying--what it is, what it isn't, what it does, and how to prevent it.  I am using materials adapted from Common Sense Media.  Below are links to .pdf files of the Smart Board lessons I'm using with the students in class.  
Screen Out the Mean--used for first through third grades.
What's Cyberbullying?--used for fourth and fifth grades.
Cyberbullying--used for sixth through eight grades.

Enjoy the View!

Here's a photo I took a few short weeks ago from my classroom window. I took the photo with my iPhone 4 and edited it using the Instagram app.  If I took a photo from the same vantage point today, the beautiful orange-red tree would be bare.  Amazing how quickly the season passes.  It's a good reminder to stop and enjoy the colors while they last.

Michigan MI Learning

If you own any Apple products you are likely familiar with iTunes.  Did you know that iTunes has a section for teaching and education called iTunesU?  Michigan has it's own K-12 learning portal called Michigan MI Learning.  Some of the materials are teacher-created, but there are many opportunities for submitting student-created work.  Check it out!  You can learn most anything these days with a laptop/iPad/netbook and an WIFI connection!

iPads in the Classroom

I had the pleasure of attending a two-day conference put on by the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) on October 20-21.  The conference was centered around the use of iPads in the classroom, and how this device is changing the face of education.  You can learn more about what was presented at the conference by clicking here.

This technology is being implemented in a 1:1 ratio (one iPad for every student)  in several cities in Michigan and all over the country.  Perhaps you saw the article in the Detroit Free Press about Zeeland's implementation of an iPad for every high school student.  It is an exciting time to be an educator and tech fanatic! 

We must always remember, though, that the learning comes first.  iPads, iPhones, and other technologies in the classroom are only aids to the real goal: the standards and benchmarks set out by each state regarding what every child should know.  Gifted teachers (like the ones here at St. Paul!) know when to bring in technology to enhance learning, and when the learning is better left to traditional practices like paper-and-pencil work, group projects, or one-on-one discussions.

Technology Etiquette

We've all seen it, and maybe our parents have been the guilty party a time or two: texting while driving, checking email while pushing a child on the swings, or checking his/her phone during a family meal.  I came across this article in Parenting Magazine this week, titled, "Are You Demonstrating Proper Technology Etiquette to Your Kids?"   As someone who is guilty of at least one of the above offenses at least once a week, I found this to be a helpful article. It's about prioritizing family time above all else, something for which we all could use a reminder.  And as we all know, children learn what they live.  How do we expect our children to be able to balance life in a digital society if we don't model that behavior for them? 

Common Sense Media

Through the research I've done to create curricula for the K-8 computer classes, I've stumbled upon some really great websites.  One is Common Sense Media.  There are exhaustive archives of lessons to teach children about safety on the Internet, good searching practices, digital citizenship, cyberbullying, and much more.  There are also helpful tools for parents, such as movie, book, and video game reviews and advice on such topics as consumerism and family media management.  Take some time to look it over! 

Class Prayer

Miss Curtin was a beloved teacher at St. Paul.  What many students might remember best about her was the prayer she recited with the children at the beginning of each class.  I wanted to continue the tradition of beginning our computer class with prayer, but composed my own, simple prayer to recite.

Gracious God,
Thank you for this time, this place, and these friends.
Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion of my work today.
May we use this technology to better serve one another, and You.
Amen

What kinds of things would you include if you wrote your own prayer for computer class?  Should we add anything?  Remove anything?  We'll talk about it this week in class.

Class Rules

My job as a Catholic educator is primarily to help my students experience God's love through a deep and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  While we may be working with some of the most advanced educational technology the world has to offer, my focus will be on my students' faith formation and spiritual development. 

I've developed a set of class rules that reflects my mission as an educator.  These are not only my rules, but God's rules.  Each rule is matched with a verse from the Bible.  I hope that the rules in my classroom might mirror the rules that my students' familes have set up in their own homes.  

The rules are as follows:

1. Give thanks for everything.
"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess. 5:18)

2. Use kind words and a pleasant tone.
"Let your words always be full of grace." (Colossians 4:6)

3. Obey those in authority. 
"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (Romans  13:1)

4. Make good choices. 
"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  (Philippians 4:8)

5. Offer to help whenever you can.
"When you are kind to others, you help yourself." (Proverbs 11:17)

6. Tell the truth.
"Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool."  (Proverbs 19:1)

7.  Be forgiving when wronged and ask for forgiveness.
"And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil." (Luke 11:4)

I'm a blogger!

I'm trying something new!  After our teacher in-service meetings this week, I've decided to try using a blog in my class to organize each class I'm teaching in the computer lab this year.  I hope you find it well-organized and easy to use.