Mrs. Willard's Blog

Parents can Help Kids Love Reading

2011-09-28T16:58:00.002-04:00

I read this great article by James Patterson today. Parents, please encourage your children to read!

Big Changes are coming

2010-08-03T11:07:00.001-04:00

Happy Summer!

Keep tuning in to my blog for announcements of big changes coming in September!

Spring Fever

2010-03-29T09:57:00.004-04:00

It's getting to be that time of year, when the weather gets warmer and it becomes harder to concentrate on School work. Here in East Rochester, we've just switched to final group in our Computer Literacy class. In this class, we focus on some of the skills you will need in school and in life when using computers. In the comments field answer the following questions

1. Where do you have access to computers in your life? (Home, school, public library?)

2. What do you hope to learn more about in Computer Literacy?

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T09:14:00.006-05:00

Welcome back after a long holiday break. It's hard for teachers to come back too. Did you make any New Year's Resolutions? I did. I resolved to pay closer attention to the people around me. I want to help my students find the things they are good at, and to help them become better at things they have trouble learning.

Not too long ago I read a book called The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson. Sir Robinson argues that everybody is good at something. He goes on to say that the people that make decisions about education in our country need to allow and encourage students to be creative about their learning. He said the businesses and governments in the future need people who can think about things and come up with creative solutions to problems. I hope I can help my student become more creative in their learning and to learn how to learn.

What do you think are some ways I can do that?

Welcome Back!

2009-09-16T20:19:00.014-04:00

I want to share a few pictures from my summer vacation. I visited several National Parks including Rocky Mountain, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, The Badlands, and Mount Rushmore. Here is my favorite picture from the Grand Tetons.

I also visited several places where my favorite author, Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up. She lived in small towns in Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota over 100 years ago. Many of these towns are still very small farming communities. It made me appreciate how hard her father had to work to support his family on the prairies of the midwest. Here is a

picture from Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

One more exciting thing I did was take a ride in a 1929 Travel Air Biplane over Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Here is a picture of that plane.

Now I'm excited to be back at work and sharing with my students. Things that have inspired me this month include the new library catalog which is so much more colorful than the old one. I was also impressed with the words of President Obama in his speech to children. He challenged the children of America to take responsibility for their education and learn all they can. Here are some of his words and a link to the entire speech.

"But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive
parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you
fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those
teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it
takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your
education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide."

Here's the full text of his remarks

What are you ready to learn this year?

Mid-Winter

2009-02-06T13:00:00.003-05:00

What have I been wrestling with lately? I love to learn about technology. I find it challenging and the prospects of using it are exciting. But it is time-consuming and there is a lot of trial and error involved. In Marc Prensky's book, Don't Bother Me Mom, I'm Learning (St. Paul, MN:Paragon House,2006) he describes "Digital Natives" (kids who have always had computers in their lives) and "Digital Immigrants" (people born before 1980 who have had to adapt to using computers.) I'm a digital immigrant, I still occasionally print out email. But I'm getting better at speaking the language. I really like Prensky's list of Essential 21st Century Skills. I find that I use these skills a lot when I'm learning new things

Some new things I'm learning about at work are Distance Learning via Polycom and Adobe Visual Communicator 3.

News for Teachers

2008-09-25T09:14:00.001-04:00

5-8 Library News!

New Support staff - we welcome Mrs. Burns to the library as the new 5-8 Library Aide.

New Audiobook format - I have 8 playaways now. They are like an MP3 player with an audio book on it, all you need to listen to the book is a pair of headphones. (They run on AAA batteries.) Titles I currently have are: Walk Two Moons; The Watsons go to Birmingham; Surviving the Applewhites; The Giver; Number the Stars; Seedfolks; One-Handed Catch (by Mary Jane Auch); and The Wednesday Wars (2008 Newbery Honor book by Gary Schmidt).

Social Studies Resource I decided to update the Atlases I have in the library, and I picked up 2 books that may be of particular use to you. The Historical Atlas of Empires has maps showing the world from 4000 BC to the 21st century. The Atlas of US History shows the US at various points and illustrates acquisition of land like the Louisiana Purchase, and division of states into Free or Slave states, transportation. "A picture is worth a thousand words."

As always, if I can help you in any way, stop down or give me a call.

New Books!!

2008-09-10T13:05:00.000-04:00

I went shopping at Barnes and Noble last night and got some new books for the library. Here they are in no particular order:

1. The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
2. Go Long by Tiki and Ronde Barber
3. Seekers: The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter (new series by the Warriors series author)
4. Horror Hour by R.L. Stine (a collection of scary short stories)
5. Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi (author of the Spiderwick Chronicles)
6. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (winner of the 2008 Caldecott Medal, but you've never seen a picture book like this before!)
7. The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau (4th book in the City of Ember series)
8. Flight: the Complete History by R.G. Grant (non-fiction for airplane fans)

And more books will be coming soon!

Mrs. Willard

Welcome Back!

2008-09-09T09:24:00.000-04:00

I've been back to school for a week now. It's time to write a brief post about what I did during my summer vacation. In August my family and I visited the Women's Rights National Historic Park http://www.nps.gov/wori/ in nearby Seneca Falls. There we stood in the remains of the Wesleyan Chapel where about 300 men and women held the First Women's Rights Convention in July 1848. My daughters stood beside me as we read the names of the people who signed the Declaration of Sentiments, and I was grateful for the work these women and men did in just a few short days to bring about the first convention dedicated to Women's Rights. I reflected on the rights women hold now; and the opportunities that are more open to women than ever before. It is an historic Presidential Campaign with the successes of Senator Clinton in her campaign and with the first woman Vice-Presidential candidate in Sarah Palin. Whatever politics you support you have to appreciate that women have gained much in the political sphere in this round.

In 1848 people learned of the Women's Rights Convention from ads in the newspaper and word of mouth. The event had to be organized very quickly to take advantage of the popularity of Lucretia Mott who was in town for just a few days. Imagine how such a gathering would take place today. Lucretia would write in her blog about a visit to Seneca Falls to see her Elizabeth Cady Stanton, they would secure a place to have the convention. In order to make it available to a larger audience they would invite the press and television stations, and arrange for video conferencing. People viewing the convention on their computers in Canada or Guatamala could type questions and have a voice even from thousands of miles away.

Web 2.0 or Social networking is another area I explored this summer. With the guidance of the Educational Technology staff at BOCES I learned a lot about how to use technology in education. Words like podcasting, blogs, Wikis, and RSS now mean more to me. Would you like to learn more too? I invite you to post a comment on my blog, and begin a discussion about how you would like to see technology transform educational practice.

My Top Ten List

2008-05-14T13:09:00.000-04:00

I read a lot of books, more than 100 in a year. Here is a list of the 10 books I've liked the most that I have read since this time last year.

10. Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf by Jennifer Holm. This book is written in collage format with everything from notes on scraps of paper to bank statements telling part of the story.

09. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey. Whether you want to learn to work the Seven Habits or your just looking for ways to improve your study habits this book will give your great examples in everyday language. It can help you take responsbility for yourself and your work, and help you understand all your relationships better.

08. Boy 2 Girl by Terrence Blacker. This is a funny story about a boy who starts the school year at a new school dressed as a girl, and for a variety of reasons has trouble switching back to dressing as a boy.

07. Gossamer by Lois Lowry. This is a story about where dreams and nightmares come from from a Newbery-Award winning author.

06. A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. A fascinating story about 13 year old Mia who has a condition called Synesthesia. She sees colors associated with words and numbers. This is a real condition that is dealt with in this fictional work.

05. Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. When Steven's little brother gets sick all kinds of thoughts run through Steven's head. He feels angry, and neglected and worried all at the same time. This is a very Real book about all the good, bad, and ugly thoughts we all have when faced with a family emergency.

04. Rules by Cynthia Lord. When your younger brother has autism you may feel as though all the rules of normal life have been changed. Sometimes you have to change a few yourself.

03. Don't Call Me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer. A book all about the power of words and fears. Ishmael's experiences on the debate team teach him about both. A really funny book because of the way Ishmael narrates it.

02. Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy. The true story of one child who survived in the Lodz ghetto in Poland during World War II. It's told in verse format, and has picture of a young girl on the cover, but this is one for all ages.

01. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. I flipped over this one - absolutely loved it. Told in alternating chapters by Bryce and Juliana, it's the same story from 2 different views, and it's amazing how differently 2 people can see the same events.

Newbery Honor Books

2008-05-09T08:39:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been reading the 2008 Newbery Honor books. The Newbery Award is given every year to "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."
This year the winner of the Newbery Medal is Laura Amy Schlitz, for her book Good Master! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. It is a series of short one-person plays that take place in a medieval village. I haven't read that one yet, but it's on my list.

Runner-ups are called Newbery Honor books. I have read The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt and Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson. I loved The Wednesday Wars. It's the story of a 7th grade boy has to spend Wednesday afternoons alone with a teacher who hates him. She makes him read Shakespeare, and take tests on his reading. Set in the late 1960's during the Vietnam War, it's the sometimes funny, sometimes touching story of a boy coming of age and learning about who he wants to be, despite his father's plans for him.

Spring Break Reading

2008-04-14T19:56:00.001-04:00

I just finished reading Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle. It really captured the confusion of living during the times of prohibition. It follows Ruben and his friend Jeddy, who stumble upon a dead body washed up on the shore one day. Later when they go back to show the body to law enforcement, the body is gone. Then Ruben is offered work unloading the boats that are carrying liquor to their Rhode Island shores, work he has to hide from Jeddy who is the son of the Police Chief. Slowly Ruben learns that everyone in town has their secrets, and he's not sure who he can trust, or who his friends are.

I also read Eleven by Lauren Myracle. It is the story of Winnie, a girl who is eleven years old. It's a difficult time for her going from 5th to 6th grade. Her old friends are changing, and she wants to stay part of a popular crowd, but she doesn't always like how it makes her feel inside.

March Madness

2008-04-09T09:37:00.000-04:00

I spent the last part of March and early April reading about basketball payers. Travel Team written by Mike Lupica is the story of Danny Walker, a short kid who is cut from the 7th grade travel basketball team for political reasons. He's one of the best players in town, but measuring only 4' 7", he's just not big enough. Danny's father, a short guy himself, takes matters into his own hands and organizes a travel team that has great game. Filled with vivid descriptions of the game, this story is one for anyone who has ever cheered for the underdog.

Michael Winerip has written 2 books about Adam Canfield, basketball player and co-editor of the school newspaper. Adam is at his best when he's researching some scandal that impacts his small town. In Adam Canfield of the Slash he exposes the school principal when she is misusing funds donated to the school. In Adam Canfield, Watch Your Back! Adam is researching bullies at his school, after he is mugged for his snow shoveling money.

Mrs. Willard's blog

2008-04-01T13:57:00.000-04:00

Hello all Readers!

So often I have students and teachers stop to ask me if I have any good books. Of course I do, but I often forget what I read last week when I'm put on the spot. Here is a good place for me to highlight books I like and those that left me cold. Keep checking back to see what I'm reading and if you read it and like it too, you can tell me.

Mrs Willard