Lex Gillette Posted About Us on His Facebook Page!

Couldn't have been more thrilled about reading this and what we mean to Lex.  Our class is so lucky to be connected to him through the Classroom Champions program.  It is expecially cool that Lex is using Google Glass to show us life "through his eyes."  He is a an amazing person and athlete, who happens to be blind.

***Any time, any place, learn!*** ;)

Our +ClassroomChampions Lesson on Perseverance with +LexGillette!

For our December lesson on Perseverance, we started with the challenge video from our mentor athlete, Lex Gillette. Talk about a perfect example of perseverance! Our track Paralympic athlete is blind, but hasn't let that stop him from amazing things: playing piano, writing songs, bike riding, sky diving and more. We are really enjoying getting to know him-and the more we find out, they more amazed we are! I will write more about our live chat with Lex in a separate post, but I wanted to include a few pics. We all had a great time!

 We took notes during the chat for great memories!
   Since Lex life had such true examples of perseverance in his own life, we had many discussions about him, how even though some things are harder, he never gives up. We watched videos of him doing all these amazing things we would never dream someone without sight could do. We generated a chart of great words related to perseverance and decided to make acrostics to share in the hallway to inspire others.

   We are working in journals to talk about times we have each struggled and come up against something difficult, but kept trying and readjusting until we persevered! One of the kids brought up the United States Post Office motto and since none of us could remember it exactly, we looked it up and decided to change it a bit to fit 4th graders who will never give up! SUCH a great idea! Read at the bottom to see our final version.

No bullies, nor distractions, nor fears, nor failures of life will stop these 4th graders from the completion of their dreams and goals! We can do it and you can do it too! 

We were so happy to receive an amazing boxes of surprised from +Classroom Champions! I wish I had recorded all the oohhhs and aaahhss when I pulled all of these gifts from the box. What a great present for us all! Thank you Classroom Champions! We will use and wear our items with pride and be reminded often of how lucky we are to be part of such a great program! Check out our goodies here!

  Proud to be part of #TeamClassChamps and #TeamLex!!! Here is our video for the lesson on perseverance:
 
No bullies, nor distractions, nor fears, nor failures of life will stop these 4th graders from the completion of their dreams and goals! We can do it and you can do it too! 
 ***Any time, any place, learn!*** ;)

Meryl and Charlie posted our End of the Year video on their Facebook Page!

Post by Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

So exited that our montage of Classroom Champions subjects made it all the way to Meryl and Charlie. We are happy they posted it on their Facebook page! I hope they know how much we LOVED having them as our mentors this year. Couldn't have been better!

Don't Be a Nerd!

Or....DO be a Nerd! Dare to do something different, something you love, no matter what others may think.
I love the spirit this student of mine has- it's beautiful.  And she has the precious personality to match.  I love that she gives the things she loves all she's got...and she doesn't really care what anybody else thinks.   Thanks, Jay, for making me smile- every. single. day.  I admire you for being you- and for sharing who you are with all of us.  #YouRock.

 ***Any time, any place, learn!*** ;)

Virtual Field Trips to Antarctica!!

We were thrilled to get acquainted with Scientist Jean Pennycook and connect with her during her students in Camp Royds Antarctica!  The first call took place in mid December, which is the summer and mating season for the penguins.  Ms. Pennycook told us about the Adeline penguins, what they eat, how they interact, and how they are pretty curious about humans.  She took her laptop, hiked to the penguin camp and sat down.  The penguins walked right up. She said they didn't like to be touched, but they would come really close to her.  We could hear them "talking" and watched as moms and dads switched places babysitting the egg, while the other went for food.  We even watch one couple, and the one with the egg did not want to trade places and we all had a chuckle.  He or she must have been pretty comfortable!

Our second call introduced us to the babies.  It had been almost 4 weeks since our last call, so the babies were pretty big, but it was still amazing to see and hear them live.  We watched the parents feeding them in the warmest part of the summer (still below freezing).  And, although it seems harsh, we learned how the parents decide one day to leave the babies to fend for themselves and just don't come back.  The babies then must find their way to the ocean and hunt for food themselves.

Skype is an amazing tool for connecting with folks all over the world.  This year we have connected with places like Canada, Mongolia, Uganda, Australia, and lots of states around the US.  We have learned about wildlife, geography, language, culture, traditions...and learned presentation, communication, collaboration, and tech skills.  Skype is an invaluable tool.  Visit Skype in Education website to get you started discovering the world.  It's just waiting for you.



***Any time, any place, learn!*** ;)

Our Google Hangout with Meryl Davis and Charlie White!

Through our awesome Classroom Champions project, we were able to have a live video chat with our athlete mentors, Meryl and Charlie. They took a break from training to check in with our class and let us get to know them. Needless to say they were amazing and the kids were instantly connected with them! Check it out here: In the first 2 days, it has bee watched in 30 states and 19 countries around the world!!! ***Any time, any place, learn!*** ;)

Check out this awesome site, where kids have made video book trailers for other kids!  Click on a book you think you may want to read, and get hooked seeing what other kids have said about it!
Book Trailers for Readers!

***Any time, any place, learn!*** ;)