Versatile Blogger Nominations

Mrs. D. at "Reading with Mrs. D." has kindly nominated me for a "Versatile Blogger" award - thank you! Now it's my turn to nominate other bloggers for the same and share some good karma!

There are 7 rules to follow when receiving this award.

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their site.

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.

6. When nominating, include a link to their site.

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.

7 random facts about me:

1. My favourite colour is purple.

2. I'm left-handed.

3. I have difficulty in telling left from right quickly.

4. I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

5. I'm in love with Italy, so much so that I'm moving there for 2 years.

6. I cry at soppy things in movies and T.V. programmes, even in comedies. I'm a total sap that way!

7. I aim to finish writing a book or play in my lifetime.

Here are my 15 nominations:

Damien at "Seomra Ranga"

Nigel at "The Inside Lane"

Simon and Rozz at "Anseo.net"

Miss Miner at "Miss Miner's Monkey Business"

Miss Kindergarten

Jacquelien at "Kids' Artists"

Hellie at "Anseo a Mhúinteoir"

Deena at "Miss Jump's Class"

Jennifer at "First Grade Blue Skies"

Debbie at "Debbie's Resource Cupboard ~ Saving You Time"

Donna at "Peace, Love and Learning"

"Yearn to Learn"

Amy Lemons at "Step into Second Grade..."

"Heather's Heart"

Mrs. Tabb at "Just another Day in First Grade"

Goodbye for now!

My busy year as an NQT has recently come to an end. Luckily for me, I'm heading abroad as a TEFL teacher for the summer. Thus, I won't be able to update this blog. I've decided that I won't post again until the new school year at the earliest. I've really enjoyed posting here so I hope that I'll have the motivation to relapse into my blogging addiction again in a few months.

I hope anybody who reads this blog has found it to be useful. Thanks for checking it out and thanks especially to those who have left such lovely comments. 

Have a great summer and I hope to (virtually) meet you again in the new school year!

Emer

Share your class blog with Seas Suas

Seas Suas is a new website created by Simon Lewis and Nigel Lane. It has been designed to collate lots of school and class blogs from Irish primary schools. It then links the blog posts according to categories.


It's very simple to get involved:
1. Go to Add Our School and sign your school/class up (it’s free!).
2. Continue to make blog posts as normal on your school/class blog.
3. Seas Suas will keep an eye on your blog and when one one your posts falls into one of our categories, your post will appear on Seas Suas, linked back to your blog.


It's a great way of giving your class/school a voice and having an Irish audience here it. If you have a school/class blog, check it out for yourself and think about getting involved!

Class Blog Spotlight: St. Mary's Rathmines

I came across this blog from form 4'  at the junior school in St. Mary's College, Rathmines. It's an interesting one as it is shared between this school and another in Spain. 


It's clear that both teachers and classes put lots of work into this group blog. It's great to see lots of PowerPoints made by the children featured on this site. Some of my favourites are the "get well soon" messages to one of the pupils.

There are also PowerPoint presentations that the children made on topics they have covered in class that would be of interest to pupils in Spain. This is a great way for children to use their IT skills and for their teacher to assess their learning in an enjoyable manner.


I love how this blog has a mix of cultures with both classes describing their schools, their interests and their school trips. It's a brilliant way for children to learn about another country and to think more about their own culture.

Report writing self-assessment rubric

I've been terrible for updating this blog lately. Very busy last few weeks! Here's a report writing self-assessment rubric that I used recently. Click here to download.

Project work: Making homework easier

I have found that a great thing to do for homework is to set a weekly research project. I try to keep them quite general so that the children can pick what they choose. It makes for much more interesting reading material when correcting their work. I lay each project out with 4 sections. The children are given the task sheet on Monday and then do one section per night. It also means that you only have to correct this work on Friday, rather than flicking through copybooks daily. I find that the children really engage with these projects too as it's all their own work and on a topic of their choice.


Click here to download the task sheet for studying a country of their choice. 
(Thanks to Phillip Martin @ www.phillipmartin.info for the free clipart)

Big scale art lesson: Mona Lisa

I have wanted to try this out for a long time and was inspired by Denis Moynihan's 4th and 5th class blog (previously featured in the class blog spotlight). I put a picture of the Mona Lisa on the board and drew a grid over it (well, placed a blank table over it in PowerPoint). I assigned each child a number and numbered the squares on the board. They then had to concentrate really carefully to find different tones of colours in their square. I then finished it off with a shop-bought gold border (kindly loaned by another teacher in the school - thanks!)




The photograph below gives an idea of the size of it on the wall. I must say, the sheer size of it, makes it look quite impressive. I love how it's made up of a little piece from everybody. It's a great way to do shared art. I think I might do a similar lesson next week but where children work in groups of 6 to recreate other great works of art.