Happiness is...

I decided to try something new this year in art. We always assume that students just like working with paint, paper and other art supplies to create images, designs and to express themselves. I come from a graphic design and art background but that doesn't mean I always like using the traditional mediums to be creative. 

This year, our classroom received Chromebooks and many students seemed interested in playing with Google Draw after we had done several activities with it in social and language arts. I took that interest and used an art project I usually do with construction paper (in the past, it has turned out fabulously) and modified it to be used with Google Draw. 

I think the results are outstanding. We worked for 3 45 minute periods. The students learned to overlap, copy and paste, add colour, different line thicknesses and to be creative in a totally different way. I even had a student who accidentally figured out how to add colour to the background but it then disappeared. He spent 45 minutes trying to figure it out and then proceeded to show EVERY student in the class how to do it. Good for him for problem solving. 

I am completely impressed with the amount of work students put into these images. If you feel like it please provide them with some feedback or comments. 

How Do I Learn?

Have you ever asked your students to answer this question?  You might want to give it a try, I think you would be pleasantly surprised by the answer. I know I sure was.  A couple of weeks ago, I asked my grade twos this question (It comes from the Inspiring Education document from the Alberta Government) and I wanted them to video tape each other and post it to their blogs (Yes.. you read that correctly, I have my students video tape themselves all the time). If you are interested in going to take a look here are the videos on How Do I Learn. 

After reviewing the video, I picked those I felt the students needed to hear because of what was said. Here is what the students said: 

We then talked about, what evidence shows your learning? I was blown out of the water by what these little people came up with.  Yes... all my reinforcing of vocabulary has paid off.

You might want to try asking your students, how they learn and have a conversation about it one class.  It think it would make for an interesting discussion.

Grade 2 At A Glance

Parents if you are wondering about what or why things are taught in school, the government of Alberta has put out A Child's Learning: A Parent Resource to help you understand what we are trying to accomplish. This link above takes you to a general page. You are welcome to explore other grades but here is the link to grade 2. It's a pdf file so it might be difficult to view on your phone. 

Here is a visual I use to help me in my planning and thinking about curriculum.

I've linked it to the Alberta Education website if you wanted more information. I hope this helps to clarify or maybe give you more insight into what you're child should be learning in school.