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Collaborative educational series & shows

aligned to subject area, standards and the global goals.

cutting-edge learning experiences that have been featured in

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Educators around the world love Belouga.

Belouga has truly changed my school and my students. Belouga opened my students' eyes to a world of opportunities and possibilities.

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Primary School Educator, Colombia

To say having Belouga as a part of your school curriculum and professional learning is a smart choice is an understatement.

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Through Belouga, students can take their learning from "what if?" to "what's next?"

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District Tech Integrator, NY, USA

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Belouga | Learn about the world, with the world!

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Belouga is a web based educational platform that connects classrooms around the world. Our mission is to encourage intercultural communication to create a better tomorrow.

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Edmodo- Connect with Students and Teachers

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Edmodo- Connect with Students and Teachers

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Pay less for domain names. Bulk pricing and private domain name registration options. Transfer domain names risk-free.

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Mayville Middle School 3rd Place Winners for 2016-2017

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Global Virtual Classroom: A Free Online Educational Program

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The Global Virtual Classroom is a free online educational program to promote communication, collaboration and understanding among students around the world

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This is used to monitor the written component of explaining and argumentation in science. It monitored throughout the year not just a one and done.

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TED Talk- Invention to outsmart the lions. This young boy from Kenya was passionate about helping his community and protecting the livestock in his village from the lions. Watch the film to find out what he did to help others.

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TED Talk- Invention to outsmart the lions. This young boy from Kenya was passionate about helping his community and protecting the livestock in his village from the lions. Watch the film to find out what he did to help others.

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Richard Turere: My invention that made peace with lions

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In the Masai community where 13-year-old Richard Turere lives, cattle are all-important. But lion attacks were growing more frequent. In this short, inspiring talk, the young inventor shares the solar-powered solution he designed to safely scare the lions away.

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An inspirational spot to read stories or watch films about how others chose to give back. I used this to introduce service learning passion projects to my 8th graders last year. How can you be the change for yourself or others?

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This is a campaign to inspire generous living. It is a collection of stories from around the world where people have done the unexpected without expecting anything in return.

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A group of 8th grade boys designed a full day, school-wide Outdoor Expo. It all started with an interest survey, talking with experts, and led to a well-executed event. Very proud day!

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For the past three years, 5th grade learners have led and organized a thankful reception to show thier appreciation and gratitude for others. They spend time writing notes of gratitude to thier peers and staff in the school community, as well as to family members. Each learner has the honor of inviting family members to attend the event. Very powerful!

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Community Circle - Living document of norms

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Community Circle - Living document of norms

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This is adapted from responsive classroom practices - allow opportunities to discuss problem behaviors/situations as a class with the intention of ending at a solution to try. The norms of the class will change throughout the year - things added/changed/deleted

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Start of the year. Conference with each kids as to what they wanted to share with me. Then they chose things to share with a partner, and thing(s) to share with the whole class

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Projects by Jen - Marble Run 2016/17. Kids were with one person they chose and then paired up to form larger groups.

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Integration of the school prairie just outside of the building - allows for community experts, tangible learning opportunities, and shared responsibilities

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At beginning of the year, learners brainstormed what the community should look like, sound like and feel like. We took the repeated ideas and made the posters to hang in the community. The title of the community was designed by the learners and then every learner signed the poster. At times we score the feelings of our community by giving it a 1,2, or 3. We discuss what changes we need to make or celebrate how the community is being. These expectations are referred back to often during community and in our smaller classrooms and groups.

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Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun - Classmate Connections

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Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun - Classmate Connections

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I promised a follow up post on how I use the book, "Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun". Here is the lesson, I call it Candy and Connections! I have this planned to do on the first day of school.

This book is about a girl who brings spaghetti on a hotdog bun to eat for lunch. She gets teased for it and then a bully continues to tease her about her hair and other things. In the end she has the opportunity to help the bully out of a difficult situation and does. The bully then becomes her friend. Third graders can relate to the problem of getting picked on for being different.

After reading the book, I tell them I'm going to teach them a "juicy" word that describes the character's classmates and the students in our class too. I then present the word: Diverse and then present the noun: Diversity.

I use Marzano's procedure for introducing new vocabulary and then this word is posted on our board. ( I'll post more on this procedure in upcoming days) The word "Diversity" is part of the social studies vocabulary we teach in third grade and it seems appropriate to introduce it with something the students can understand.

I tell students they will participate in an activity to compare/contrast themselves with another friend in the class. The students then go back to their seats and work on labeling and illustrating the "Classmate Connection" page below. After they are finished, or perhaps later in the day, I will pair them with another student. This is where the candy comes in. I will have a bag on different kinds of candy and students will pick on from the bag without looking. I have prepared the bag so it has two of each kind of candy. For instance, two tootsie rolls, two starbursts, etc. They will find the student who has the matching candy. They will find a quiet spot on the floor to work and will bring their Classmate Connection sheets with them. They cut out all their pictures then will share their responses and check if it is something they have in common or something that makes them different. They will then glue it in the appropriate place on the venn diagram. By third grade, most students have done venn diagrams before, but I always model the procedure for them before they meet and greet their partner. After everyone has a completed Venn Diagram, we lay them out on our desks and take a walking tour of our work. This way everyone can see the responses of the entire class.

Here are pictures that may help illustate the process.
Here is an example of a finished product:

Here is the book I use for this lesson. I would think there may be other books out there that might work too. I also use this book to model the good reader strategy of: "Check for Understanding" and post that to the CAFE board.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Classroom-Connections-A-Back-to-School-Diversity-Lesson

Another PERFECT back to school book to read during the first days of school is this one:

Calvin Can't Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie is a story of a bird who doesn't learn to fly because he is can't stop reading books. It is all he wants to do! His bird friends make fun of him which hurts Calvin's feelings but he keeps reading and learns SO much from books. When it's time to migrate, Calvin's friends figure out a way to bring him along for the trip. On their migration south, they run into a hurricane, good thing they have Calvin! He learned about this type of storm through a book and teaches them about this type of storm and manages to keep them safe.

You MUST seek this book out to read to your third graders. It is the perfect springboard for discussions about how reading helps us to grow and learn and so much more. There are so many lessons taught through this book. Using teamwork, Calvin's friends helped him...they didn't leave him behind. I will talk with my students about how our class is like that team of birds....we will help each other learn this year.Then we will do a STEM lesson! Use this book to also spark talking points on other things like: how different people have different interests and talents and how making fun of people is unfair and can really hurt. I'm so excited to have found another book to add to my first week of school collection!

I created some activities to go along with this one. I'm going to have them work through their first reading response using this Calvin inspired response booklet:

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First Week Lesson: Classmate Connections

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I promised a follow up post on how I use the book, "Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun". Here is the lesson, I call it Candy and Connections! I have this planned to do on the first day of school. This book is about a girl who brings spaghetti on a hotdog bun to eat for lunch.

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Jelly Donut Difference - Spreading Kindness

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Jelly Donut Difference - Spreading Kindness

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Hello! I am SO excited about this new series! I can't wait to share one of my new favorite books with you and share some of the ways you can use it in your classroom! You can check out my previous post on the book Sneaky Spinach here!

As soon as I read Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun the first time, I fell in LOVE with Maria Dismondy! Her books are absolutely amazing and all teach different character lessons in a kid-friendly way! When Maria asked if she could send me her newest book, The Jelly Donut Difference, my heart was so happy! I couldn't wait to read the newest book in her amazing collection and come up with a fun way to use it in my classroom!

This book is so cute! I read it to my own two kids before I read it to my classroom kids and I loved being able to discuss ways to sprinkle kindness at home and at school!

This book is too cute! It is all about Leah and Dexter, two siblings that can't seem to get along! With a little help from a neighbor and some special donuts, the siblings learn what is really important in life and learn to spread kindness and smiles!

How absolutely ADORABLE is Maria Dismondy!?

Maria Dismondy is an inspiring author whose books focus on topics that challenge children. Maria has a background in early education and is commited to teaching the importance of character building, which allows her to touch lives all over the world! She travels as a public speaker to schools, community forums, and national conferences! When she is not busy writing or speaking, she is at home in Michigan with her family!

My class and I had SO much fun with this book and the activities that we did! If you follow my blog or social media accounts, you can see how much I love spreading kindness and positivity!

After we read The Jelly Donut Difference we brainstormed ways that we can {sprinkle kindness} as a class! How sweet are these ideas!?

Then, my students wrote about how they can sprinkle kindness and enjoyed their very own jelly donut! I just got jelly donut munchkins from Dunkin Donuts!

Their little pennants made the cutest banner in our hallway! I really loved reading all the different ways that they could sprinkle kindness!

Seriously, such a CUTE book and so much fun sprinkling kindness! Do you want to WIN your very own copy of this book and my Kindness Counts unit to use in your classroom? Make sure to enter the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want to save these ideas for later, make sure to pin the image below!

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{Book Looks}: The Jelly Donut Difference Book Review

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Hello! I am SO excited about this new series! I can't wait to share one of my new favorite books with you and share some of the ways you can use it in your classroom! You can check out my previous post on the book Sneaky Spinach here!

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Once or twice a month I invite family

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CALLING ALL READERS! I would like to invite any parents/guardians, grandparents, other family members, or community members to our class by being a “Mystery Reader” this year in our classroom. Students LOVE having visitors in our classroom to share in our learning by reading a favorite story a…

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Inviting Community Members into the School

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Inviting Community Members into the School

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Each month, we invite a community member to come into the school to talk about how they need to be Responsible, Respectful and Safe in their career. Some guests have been a police officer, firefighter, librarian, pilot, coach, news anchor, etc.

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Top 10 Books to Build a Classroom Culture

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Top 10 Books to Build a Classroom Culture

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I have a small poster of two sheep in my classroom. One sheep is white and the other is black, and the quote below them reads, "Choose your socks by their color and your friends by their character. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense. Choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable." (Author Unknown) The sheep reside just above our pencil sharpener right at eye level for my middle schoolers. I hope that my students will recognize the poster for what it is - a symbol that our classroom culture is one of caring, respect, and acceptance.

As teachers, establishing a classroom culture is important, and to create this culture, we decorate our rooms with posters that convey caring, positive messages and buy extra pencils and notebooks so that students will know that we have their backs. These things are important, but I can't help feeling that we're just scratching the surface. We need to go deeper and connect this very important idea of classroom culture to the essential learning we do in the classroom. Since much of that learning involves literature, what better way to develop a welcoming, caring culture than through books!

Here then are ten books that will help my students and I nurture a classroom where trust and acceptance are key. Where learning and caring go hand in hand. Where every single student matters.

This wonderful story follows the efforts of a frustrated protagonist as he seeks a quiet spot to read where his friends won't spoil his books. Our subsequent discussion of boundaries and respect and what that looks like in our classroom will help start our year off on the right path. As a bonus, it's a book about the love of reading!

"Everyone is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking that it's stupid." Through the protagonist in this book, my students will begin to see that everyone's thinking is important and should be respected because we can all learn from one another. A definite culture-building book and one of the first we'll share!

10-year-old Ada has a twisted foot and is physically and emotionally abused by her mother because of it. She and her brother eventually escape this horrendous situation. Through Ada, my students and I will explore the importance of perseverance and trust in one another as we grow our classroom community.

Even though it was published many years ago, this book's message of not making assumptions about people based on first impressions can still spark great conversations. This is especially important at the beginning of the year as students choose partners, groups, and even friends.

Raymie Nightingale has a goal - to make her dad come home, and she is very focused on it. Navigating this situation with her are two important but very unlikely friends. I want my students to find the Raymie in themselves - to set goals and unabashedly work toward them and to accept unlikely friends along the way.

"We may be plenty fragile. But we're also the only ones who can decide to change." There are so many great quotes in this amazing book, and this is one of the best to help students understand that we should all expect and encourage each other to change. (I also love the message that being the 'weird kid' is okay because every classroom needs to celebrate the 'weird kids'.)

Roz the robot is an outsider to the community but is gradually accepted. She is an alien in a foreign environment much like my 6 th graders are as they begin middle school. Perseverance and being yourself and the warm feeling of friendship all work to overcome those feelings for Roz in this book. Our discussions about Roz's challenges will help foster those same traits in my students and build them into our classroom culture.

Jeremy, an African American child, looks in the mirror one day and sees a "real handsome dude." But then his family, neighbors, and community help him see his other roles - brother, artist, dancer, writer, runner, etc. Just like Jeremy, my students need to see themselves in a broader way - as contributors to our classroom community, school community, and the world.

Middle schoolers are funny people and need to have messages delivered in humorous ways sometimes. Scieszka shows us that our long-held beliefs about people aren't always accurate. This message is especially important because my students tend to hang onto old impressions of each other and need to open their minds in order to build our classroom community.
Cindy Christiansen is a lifelong nerd who celebrates the uniqueness of each of her students and nurtures their fusion into one community of learners. She teaches 6th and 8th grade English/Language Arts at Larson Middle School in Troy, Michigan, in a classroom filled with books, enthusiasm, trust, and caring. Where every single student matters.

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Top Ten Books to Build a Classroom Culture by Cindy Christiansen

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I have a small poster of two sheep in my classroom. One sheep is white and the other is black, and the quote below them reads, "Choose your socks by their color and your friends by their character. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense.

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Start the conversation about service; who? what? how? when? where? and WHY?

Personal, School, Community, County, State, Country, World?

Projects generated: food pantries, homeless shelters, war veterans, animal shelters, cancer research, supplies for community park and recreation departments, small engine work, technology lessons for elderly, clothing drives, family movie nights.

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Google + Community: Connected Classrooms Workshop

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Google + Community: Connected Classrooms Workshop

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I needed to find a different way to transition from one class to the next. As one class left, the next class was waiting at the door. I started posting start of class "bell ringers" for the kids to do at their tables while I got one class out and the next class set up. The bellringers have morphed from conversation starters, journal prompts, reflections...to LEGO challenges, playdo sculpting, and more!

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The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to make a truly global connection with milllions of students having participated.

What is it?

The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. While there are commonly used such as Skype, Twitter, Padlet, or Flipgrid, you choose the tools that will make the most sense for you. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year.

When is it?

Once a year, starting in early October and running through mid-November. Due to the time commitment, this is only a once a year project, however, two fantastic spin-off projects run at other times; the New Zealand Read Aloud and the French version of GRA, Ecouter Lire le Monde.

I have questions as a Participant

Please see " For Participants" to have all of your questions answered.

I have questions as an Author

Please see "For Authors" to have all of your questions answered.

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To see the blog with the latest news and ideas, go here. To join our Facebook Community, go here - this is how you sign up The project was created in 2010 with a simple goal in mind; one book to connect the world. From its humble beginnings, the GRA has grown to make a...

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February 4, 2015, was the first annual Global School Play Day for students in schools around the world. In year one, over 65,000 students participated! Over 177,000 students took part in 2016. In 2017, over 283,000 kids celebrated Global School Play Day. In 2018, over 385,000 students from 58 nations participated. In 2019, just the 5th year of the event, 535,690 from 72 nations played. In 2020, 563,283 students from 75 Nations. Can we reach 1,000,000 students in 2022? We think so!

In his TEDx lecture, Peter Gray clearly argues the case that today's kids do not grow up playing and this has negatively impacted them in many ways. It's time we return the gift of play to this generation.

First, please register your class/school to tell the world that you will be participating in GSPD 2022. If you do not teach, but would like to register your vote of support, please use this

COVID-19 Information - GLOBAL SCHOOL PLAY DAY IS ON!

COVID Safety - We are not doctors, scientists, or have a deep understanding of the transmission of COVID. If you choose to participate we encourage you to assure your students' safety first (As we know teachers do). We do however have some child-generated ideas. We would encourage you, since the day is about having children be self-directed, to have a play brainstorming session with your students where you lay out the safety guidelines. They, of course, will have amazing ideas!

1. EDUCATE - Teach your students, parents, colleagues, and administration about the benefits and necessity of play. Perhaps you could share Peter Gray's TEDx video with them on the decline of play in our culture.

2. GET SOCIAL - Invite your colleagues to participate in Global School Play Day 2022 (February 2). Light the fire so others will catch the vision of returning the gift of unstructured play to this generation by talking about it on social media and in the teachers' lounge. Write your own blog post encouraging your readers to join in on GSPD. Connect with the GSPD community by hashtagging your social media posts with #GSPD2022.

3. CALL FOR TOYS - Tell your class to bring anything they wish to play with to school on February 2, 2022 (Or as close to that date as you can). The only restrictions we ask: they must bring toys and these toys may NOT require batteries or electricity. No devices. Give them some ideas, since today's kids rarely play and often own very few toys: board games, dolls, Legos, blocks, trucks, cars, racetracks, playing cards, empty cardboard boxes, markers, jigsaw puzzles, blankets (for forts), social games (charades, Pictionary, etc.) The only exception to the electronics rule would be a board game that has an electronic timer, an electronics play kit, or similar. How about taking your students out in the dirt or snow to dig, explore and get messy? You may want to show your students photos of past GSPD events to open their eyes to unfamiliar types of unstructured play.

4. PLAY! NO SCREENS - NO STRUCTURE - ALL DAY LONG

on Global School Play Day, allow your students to spread their toys out around the room or take the kids outside and just PLAY!

Don't organize anything for your students.

Don't tell them how to play with the toys/games.

Don't interfere with your students unless you see something that could get you fired or would physically hurt a child (this does not include something that may be physically uncomfortable for a child.)

Don't Leave Them Unsupervised as the day is unstructured by adults, but not unsupervised.

Other than taking a few pictures/videos, try to be invisible and let the kids play. This is a day of unstructured play, not playful teacher-led lessons. You will be amazed at what your kids come up with!

After the event, be sure to share your pictures, ideas, and reactions on social media (with parent consent) and hashtag them #GSPD2022. Perhaps you could add a post to your blog sharing about the experience. Ask your students to reflect on GSPD as well! Be sure to talk to your students and if possible, their parents, about the necessity of daily unstructured play. Your students will most surely ask if they can have play days more often. A great answer is, "Of course! Every day can be "play day" with your friends in your neighborhood after school. Keep playing as you did at school today, but just do it after school."

What if... you can't run your Global School Play Day on the first Wednesday in Febraury? Do it on another day! The important thing is your kids and colleagues need to be free from thinking that play is a waste of time and begin to see the value in it.

What if... you don't want to play ALL day? That's fine. Make it the hour of play. Again, the point of Global School Play Day is to raise awareness and start discussions. We do encourage you though to take the plunge and dedicate a whole day to unstructured play. You will cause others to ask why you would give up a whole day "just for playing."

What if... you want to do #GSPD2022 with your work, high school or college class? Go for it! Big kids need to play, too! Each year we have many participants from all levels of school!

What if... you want to jump in and play with your kids? Can adults play, too? That's up to you, but the concept of GSPD is to get kids playing freely without adult intervention or structure. If you get down on the floor with your kids, be sure to let them just play. Resist the temptation to organize, discipline, and teach.

What if...you want to have your students use iPads or computers? Well, no one is going to tell you what to do, but this is NOT the concept of Global School Play Day. GSPD is a day to get away from staring at screens and instead of interacting with peers. [Note: the organizers of GSPD are NOT opposed to technology use for children.]

Global School Play Day is for public schools, private schools, and homeschool families! Let's spread the word about the benefits of unstructured play. Together we can reverse the downward trend in childhood play that many nations have experienced since the 1950's.

Global School Play Day current leadership team: Scott Bedley, Tim Bedley, Eric Saibel, Bethany Chaffin

Global School Play Day Disclaimer. Please Read Carefully.

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February 4, 2015, was the first annual Global School Play Day for students in schools around the world. In year one, over 65,000 students participated! Over 177,000 students took part in 2016. In 2017, over 283,000 kids celebrated Global School Play Day. In 2018, over 385,000 students from 58 nations participated.

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GGSLOT777: Situs Judi Slot Gacor Gampang Menang dan Situs Slot88 Terbaik 2024

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GGSLOT777 adalah sebuah situs judi slot gacor gampang menang sekaligus juga situs slot88 yang resmi dan terpercaya di Indonesia tahun 2024.

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Identify the problem (this was for Earth systems and human impact). Brainstorm the solutions - chose one to elaborate on for the project proposal.

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Pre-planned script for a phone call to the local recycling center. Learners made the call; call was on speaker so the teacher could help as needed.

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Learners completed this request form with their rationale and action plan. Then they conference with the teacher for logistics prior to having the project approved/started.

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Encouraging Teachers In Celebrate Creative Ideas With Their Students.

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Collaborative Projects - Marble Run Challenge

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Collaborative Projects - Marble Run Challenge

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Marble Run is a collaborative project through "Projects by Jen"

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Watched the video of Peter Reynold's book "The Dot." We then focused on life lessons from the story and how to apply them to our homeroom/year. The canvas is in our homeroom and we refer to it as needed (mostly for a reflection tool).

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Monday Morning Meeting - this is based on Responsive Classroom's morning meeting. It's a time to celebrate, be excited for each other, and to give large group announcements. All of 6th grade, every Monday - 10 minutes or less.

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Celebrations for MMM…Snaps! Badgers won! Royce is BACK!!!  :)	 The Milwaukee Bucks are off to a great start!  This week we celebrate the following birthdays…  Patrick- Sat Oct 28th   ***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS!!!***  Red Ribbon Week this week Mon - PJ “Put drugs to rest” Tues - Sock/Hat “Sock it...