| | Students are often called upon to read "chorally". That is, they read together simultaneously as a group. Repeating this practice assists young readers with reading fluency - the speed, accuracy, and inflection of oral reading. Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song? |
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Create your website with the intention of updating it often. Weebly, the host domain for The Hoggatteer Experience, allows me to choose a blog page as the homepage. By having a blog page as a homepage, I am able to update daily - or as often as I would like. Updating like this makes any additions I make more obvious to visitors and bring them back. Blog It  Let's face it, a static page is just that - static. It's white noise, and it takes a back seat to relevance. To stay relevant - and receive more hits on your site - you absolutely must regularly update. That means adding and changing material often. I adopt this same tactic on my author page and on the church page that I manage. As I said, I add to my blog/homepage daily. If you have a good blog post that appears to be relevant to another page on your website, you can link the post on the page. For example, when I created the Music Appreciation page, there were no lyric videos on the page. As I added the videos in my blog, I created links for the videos on the Music Appreciation page. Now we have almost 50 videos at our disposal, all organized so we can find them. This also kept me from having to create separate pages for each video, thus reducing the number of pages I have to wade through when making improvements. That's important, and it's something I will discuss more in the next post in this series. Now, by thinking ahead in this manner, and setting up pages to be clearinghouses for blog posts, my blog posts don't just disappear into the abyss of blog archives. It allows students and teachers to find "sets" of materials or informational articles that go together. In short, it makes my website useful. And it is so much easier than creating and linking a bunch of pages. Change It Up Now when you make posts to your blog, my suggestion is for you to change it up. If all of your posts read the same, they will be bland. Keep flavor on the page by posting a gallery of pictures on one day, a quick note about an upcoming activity the next, and a pertinent video the next. Do you have more pictures? Put them into a slide show on your next post. Then share an inspirational quote, the instructions for a lesson, or an observation from the administrator's point of view. We tell our students that, when they write, they must change their sentences. Choose strong verbs and descriptive adverbs and adjectives. Write with voice and sentence fluency. Certainly, the same must apply to your website. Make it sound like you. Take your readers along for the conversation. Change the topic. In my website/blog, I try to never put the same type of post on the page twice in a row. For example, this series of posts you are reading does not appear on the blog on succeeding days. Instead, they are being posted with a couple of other types of posts in between. Hopefully, variety means the homepage looks better aesthetically. It may also make readers anticipate upcoming posts more. It's Perpetual  I repeat, from the last site about website creation, if you don't plan to regularly update your website, and especially your homepage (which I cutely called Homeroom), then please, I implore you, do not even start. If you've already started, thinking that once your site is published for all the world to access you won't have to mess with it any further, then please, I beg you, delete the whole thing. Access parents in other ways. Collect lesson sets in other ways. Share ideas in other ways. You don't want to be just another contributor to cyberspace pollution. Just say no! If all you want to say is, "Welcome to Room 404...I will be your child's fourth grade teacher...Here is a list of the supplies your child will need to bring to school...Here are the five rules for our classroom. My husband and I have two children, a dog, two cats, and a gerbil...," then pen a nice note and pin it to the shirts of your students. You, your students, and their parents don't need a cute website to say those things.
That said, a website can be relevant and utilitarian and classy all at the same time. Updating allows your personality to radiate. It allows people to stay, well, up to date. It allows collaboration with a larger cohort, outside of just your school or grade level. A website allows you to escape the four walls of your classroom...so why stay inside the box? A website animates your notes home. It allows you to link secondary information to your information. It feeds your need to be creative. It keeps you on your toes. A website extends your reach in the community. It's something worth having, but only if you keep it moving. Who knows where you can take it.
Paintballs hurt! They leave welts on the body that can last for weeks. Do you know what else can hurt? Take two minutes to watch this video: Now for some questions:
People have recognized our award-winning website as a substantial amount of organization and work. There are links for students, parents, and teachers, links about reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history. There are links that incorporate art and music. I thought I might put together a series of posts to help you navigate this important communication tool. Through the years, I have learned howto organize a site and keep it updated. The following it the first of the series. I hope you find something in here to be helpful. Site Hosting  I chose Weebly to host The Hoggatteer Experience. After using Edublogs for a number of years, and toying with Wikispaces, and after looking at Wordpress and others, I switched to Weebly for its ease of use. If you're considering a website for your class, you have undoubtedly questioned whether you should manage a site that students will have a hand in building, whether your site will be more of a blog, or whether your site will be set up to use in your actual classroom or it will be solely used to communicate with the outside world. With Weebly (and others) you can easily secure a unique domain name, sans the dot-weebly part of the web address. I'm obviously too cheap to spend the extra money. Why Create a Classroom Website?
 You can wander around my site for hours and see that I have attempted to strike a balance. There are times when I feel compelled to offer some carefully worded criticism or opinions, and I certainly put things out there for parents. I post loads of things on the site for students and other teachers to access both in the classroom and at home. I figure the more, the merrier.
In fact, if there is never anything new - if you are strictly going to create a static website - please do the world a favor and stop right now! Don't make a website at all. You're just going to become disenchanted and eventually forget your password. Your digital footprint will forever be whatever you last left for cyberspace to discover, and your first impression on patrons and others will forever be frozen in time. That's not to mention that no one will ever want to return. Check it out for yourself! There are thousands of teacher websites out there that have been set up during a summer professional development session and never touched afterward. Teachers have moved on, changed grades, schools, or states, or left the profession altogether, but the digital evidence never reflects this. They have been married or had children, but their Meet the Teacher page has never been updated. But I digress: let's make updating your site the topic of the next full post in this series. I have some practical tips that have worked for me - after trial and error. I've done complicated things to simplify it all, until I think I have a pretty good handle on things. Please check back for more.
The title is true, but I think we can take it a step further. Not only can the technology never replace love; it can also distract a person from loving. Take one and a half minutes to watch this video: Now for some questions:
On the last day in La Concepcion, Honduras, I ventured out onto a road leading up the mountain and out of the village. After a long, humid trek, I began smelling the worst smell I've ever smelled. A pig farm worse than any you'll find in the United States. And on the other side of the pigs - the dump. Suddenly, flies swarmed everywhere - attracted to the stink - more flies than I could have imagined. Halfway across the dump, three or four vultures, standing three feet tall, regally guarded their carrion treasures, not yielding to their new visitor - me. More importantly, I met people along my path, some actually living in and around the dump and using discarded items in their own "houses". These were people with the toughest lives, barely surviving amidst trash and sludge, flies and stench. Yes, once again, they smiled.  More importantly, I met people along my path, some actually living in and around the dump and using discarded items in their own "houses". These were people with the toughest lives, barely surviving amidst trash and sludge, flies and stench. Yes, once again, they smiled. Up a slight embankment, standing outside a shack made of wood scrap, was a mostly-toothless lady in a greenish dress. So thin was the material, it was quite translucent. At her feet sat her infant boy, covered with flies, not even batting at them. Six feet away was a daughter, a three- or four-year-old little girl with a dirty ribbon in her hair. This girl in the blue dress was hard at work, washing clothes. I watched her for around an hour as she, without rest, picked a piece of clothing from a fly-infested pile and placed it gingerly onto a large sheet of metal. Then, standing, she struggled to lift a paint can filled with rainwater to pour a bit onto the article of clothing. With a cylindrical bar of green-tinted soap, the girl in the blue dress rubbed lather into every pore of the material before standing with the paint can once again to rinse it, at which time she piled the now cleaned article in a new pile, sans flies. She completed the process over and over, lifting and scrubbing and pouring and bending, without complaint. In fact, not only did this tiny girl in the blue dress not complain, but she smiled. She looked back over her right shoulder, and she smiled at me with the brightest smile I've ever encountered. My heart melted, and I tell you this: if I could have put her in my pocket and taken her home, I would have done it. When I recall my trips to Honduras, I immediately rest my thoughts on the girl in the blue dress. I remember how diligently she worked, without a grumble or gripe, but with a genuine smile instead. She remains an inspiration to me still today, and when I face a difficult or time-consuming task that makes me cringe and complain, her smile humbles me. I'm not always able to smile in the face of frustration, and I'm not always patient with the direction that education has taken us in the past couple of years, but I continue to make the effort. That day trip, walking up the mountain and out of the village, past the wood-bearing burros and gnarly old trees, and just beyond the pig farm, inhaling flies and the reeking aromas of the dump, is one of the life-changing moments of my entire life. 
"Don't tell me the moon is shining;
show me the glint of light on broken glass." (Anton Chekhov)  With the news constantly reporting about the border crisis, the "kids" crossing into the United States illegally from Central America, I have been reminded of the two trips I took to Honduras a few years ago. In 1996, I took the first of those trips to Honduras, and I opened my eyes to the third world, their living conditions, and their attitudes toward life. Living - literally living - in Honduras is a struggle. Twenty-first century (twentieth century at the time) education means something different in Honduras. There are no computer labs, no iPads, and no SMART Boards. In fact, being a modern school in Honduras might mean there is electricity in the school. It might mean there is running water for toilets. Students in the village of La Concepcion were required to wear uniforms. In the picture, the girl in pink on the outside of the fence, looking in, is apparently unable to afford a uniform (simply a blue skirt and a white shirt). She is not allowed inside the schoolyard. While I was there, I was interested in seeing the school. It intrigued me. One day, I walked over to the fence. A boy around eight years of age walked up, and we talked through the fence. Without a translator. I was able to tell him I was el profesor, a teacher, and he begged me to come to meet his teacher. I declined. I didn't want to interrupt the regular schedule, especially without a translator.  But I did observe the school. The girl using a makeshift broom to sweep the dirt playground. The boys who, without a working restroom, used the playground instead, regardless of who was present. The girls who did the same. And the smiles on the kids' faces. I did get to go inside after hours where I snapped a quick picture of the fifth grade classroom. Observe a few things:
 That's about it. There really wasn't anything else to see in the classroom. Now compare that with the 21st Century classrooms in Joplin, Missouri: the cleanly painted walls, the white boards, the technology. Restrooms with running water, hallways with electric lights, and even computer labs are last century's advances. Nowadays, we sport gyms that double as storm-safe shelters, iPad labs, SMART Boards, and a fully-functional internet are at our fingertips. We have had hot lunches, after school programs, and extra-curricular classes for many decades. We have air conditioning, playground equipment, and walking trails. In short, the amenities offered by Joplin Schools far surpasses the amenities that Central America offers. I don't know what that means for the kids who are somehow making across our southern border, and I don't need to comment on their current situation. I just know the conditions from which they may be coming. We take so much for granted. That being said, I can never forget the faces of the Honduran children, and I often wonder if they have even survived in their situation to this date, less than 20 years later. In spite of their living conditions - the sewage and solid trash in the streets, the dirt floors in their houses, and the thin material that counted as their clothes - they still smiled. They weren't scared to speak to me, greeting me with buenos dias, every morning (or simply, bueno), and they weren't afraid to work hard. A single piece of candy lit up their faces. I wonder how those kids would have reacted to an American school. I wonder how far they could take the opportunity. I wonder how much they would appreciate the things we often take for granted - so much more than a piece of hard candy. When we break apart the skills involved in reading comprehension, we are constantly amazed at how many skills there really are. We use the same skills when we watch TV shows, listen to music, and view advertisements. They are everywhere: in magazines, in newspapers, on the radio, at the movie theater, and on television. It is important that we protect ourselves from marketing "tricks", which are intended to "hook" the viewers/readers/ listeners. Perhaps the product is cheaply made. Maybe it isn't as it appears. Is it worth the price? Is it something you need? Let's dive right in to a commercial and hone our reading skills along the way. The commercial below is for B-O-L-O-G-N-A.
For more information about these six reading skills, see Reading Like a Reader.
 I had an interesting experience, Tuesday. I sat on the back deck of my house, with trees gently blowing in the background, and I video-chatted with a couple of people in New York. About a week ago, I was contacted by a casting agent from a major New York television production company. They wanted an expert in a particular area - someone passionate about a particular topic - and they wondered if I would be interested. I thought about it, and finally figured, even if I didn't make in onto the show, I could make some contacts and get an experience I hadn't experienced before.
So we arranged to video-chat on Tuesday. After I showered, shaved, and brushed my teeth - and practiced my smile - I was ready for the call, Tuesday morning. When they were finished asking questions - and I finished rambling through my answers - as interviews generally go, they asked if I had any questions for them. I asked about the timeline for the project. They indicated that they were going to attempt to shoot the episode during the first part of August, but they might actually move it to an earlier date. It would be a single day of work to capture the videos they needed. I'm not giving out details about this little venture until I know something for sure, but thought some might find it interesting to know how I am spending a little bit of my summer vacation. Outside of a bunch of sweaty yard work, spending time with family, both in and out of town, participating in Vacation Bible Schools, church camp, and planning other church activities, and some writing, this has been the most unusual of our summer activities. With a month left in the summer break, we intend to make the most of it: I have a couple of book-signing events in front of me, and we have some other plans. I may need to go back to school just to have a break from all the activities of the summer of 2014 (If you believe that, you don't know me very well.). Hopefully your break is full and meaningful, as well. "When you speak, your words echo across the room.
When you write, your words echo across the ages." (Bud Gardner) |
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