Gary's Blog

Madonna Sticky and Sweet Tour

2008-07-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

WooHoo ...Can't wait!! Matt and I are attending several dates of Madonna's Sticky and sweet Tour in America. We have 2nd row in one of the locations! It will be a blast..
Madonna will be singing La Isla Bonita once again in this latest concert.

My Experience at the Confession Tour 2006

2008-06-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Wild about Safari Montage!

2008-01-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

While walking through the exhibit hall at the FETC. I came across many interesting companies that were promoting their products. One that I found very exciting was called Safari Montage.
http://www.safarimontage.com/ This program was a great way to narrow searches and monitor educational videos for classroom use. The program alos comes with 1000's of videos already built into their library from trusted sites.

FETC 2008 Up's & Down's

2008-01-26T06:33:00.000-08:00

I recently attended the FETC in Orlando and had a great time. I must admit there were several workshops that made me ask myself "Why am I here?" Some presenters were actually quire hypocrital and were telling us to use technology into the classroom to hold the kids' attention. A few of the presenters just lectured and passed out papers that were discussing curriculum and not much at all relating to technology????

One workshop I attended on "Using Photoshop in the Classroom" was very interesting. I learned a great deal at that one and she gave us great ideas to integrate this technology onto my class. One specific idea I loved was to use layers and actually put the student into a far off place and then have them write a story about their "trip."

The other great part of the conference was the Exhibit Hall. WOW I can't believe all the great technology out there! All I can say is thank God I left my credit cards home...... However I am going back to my school with many requests for my principal to keep our school on top of the technology field.

BrainPop in the Classroom

2008-01-26T06:14:00.000-08:00

I use BrainPop in the classroom with my students on a weekly basis. If you are unfamiliar with BrainPop it is a great way to "hook" the kids into any lesson. There are 2 characters Tim and Moby and they introduce a variety of concepts in a 2-3 minute introduction video that teaches the concept. The kids love Moby because he is a robot with a great sense of humor.

When I recently attended the FETC in Orlando I got to actually meet Moby. It was great to see him teaching in person.

Great Local Field Trip

2007-11-28T03:22:00.000-08:00

Took my students to Publix of all places for a field trip last week. To my surprise it was an excellent real-life field trip for the kids and they loved it! They broke the field trip up into 2 parts. Part 1 a tour and part 2 a shopping experience.
The tour began in the bakery where the students learned how bread/cookies were made and baked. Then onto the produce department where we learned about freshness and watched them core and peel a pineapple with an amazing machine. Next was dairy where we went behind the milk and eggs to see how they were shelved. The meat department was aso fun where they learned about tenderizing/cutting and were asked trivia questions. Winners received Slim Jim's.
Part 2 the shopping experience consisted of 3 groups; cashiers, baggers, and shoppers. The shoppers were given a budget (from donations we collected) to purchase nonperishable food items for needy people for Thanksgiving. The cashiers and baggers were sent in to a room to watch a video and learn how to cashier/bag. Then when shoppers were ready the students rang them out and bagged all the groceries before we sent them off to the church organization.

Space Field Trip

2007-10-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Google Earth now has an option to turn any location into a night sky view. No matter where you are in the world you can now look up at the night sky and see the many constellations and planetary movements. It makes a great interactive lesson with your class.

Madonna in the Classroom

2007-10-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

Madonna's childrens books are great in the classroom. I was having many conflicts in the classroom with bullying and respect. After reading Madonna's books to the class the students and I began a discussion about bullying and repsect and many of the conflicts have been resolved.

Saving Time and Trees!

2007-09-08T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have created a web-site for my classroom for both student and parents to access. This web-site is a major means of communication for the parents and students to reach me. Also I will send all notices/bulletins through the email/web-site. Talk about saving trees over a long period of time!!! My goal is to get the other teachers on my team and at school to do the same over time.

Computers, Computers, Computers

2007-09-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

I take my students to the computer lab twice a week at my school. I have the students go on SuccessMaker which is a program designed to help each student with individualizes math/reading skills through a tutorial program. The computer programs help enhance the classroom instruction on a more individualized level where I can not always work one on one with my students.