Edie Erickson's DEN Blog

Well, it has been a while since I posted on my DEN blog. I guess now that I’ve been chosen for the DEN Summer Institute, I should probably get a little more on top of this blogging thing! I started my Master’s in Educational Technology this past January and I LOVE it! I’m currently enrolled in my first class and I am getting so much out of it. It has really gotten me interested in the flipped classroom model, which I think would tie in so well with Discovery Education’s streaming videos and science techbook. I’m hoping to try flipping some of my math and science lessons before the summer, so hopefully I can contribute!

So, back the the summer institute…I am SOOOOOOOO excited! I can’t believe I was picked, especially in the FIRST round of announcements! I thought for sure I would have to wait until April 1st (I guess the joke was on me!) I can’t wait to get an updated itinerary so I can start reading up on the topics that will be covered (I’m hoping some techbook stuff). Even without it, I’m already eagerly planning the trip! My husband and I are going to drive out (unless I win free airfare – fingers crossed!), cutting across Canada and making stops in Ottawa and Montreal before arriving in Burlington (and hopefully leaving enough time before the conference to sneak over to Ben and Jerry’s!) While I’m taking part in the BEST PD I’m told I’ll ever get, my husband plans on roughing it along the shores of Lake Champlain. On Friday or Saturday, we’re going to start our trip home by way of Buffalo, with stops at Niagara Falls and possibly Toronto. Then, we’ll cut across to Detroit (hit up Ikea) and make our way home. If it weren’t as cold in Vermont as it is here in the UP right now, I’d be packing already! I seriously don’t know how I’m going to make it until July! Ahhh!

I just did my first official day of techbooking with the kids! We viewed a video whole-class and they were in love! We are just starting conifers and I can already see the excitement building! We’re using our notebooks to keep track of all our information so that those without internet at home still have access to what they need for their homework. I think the notebooks are going to be a great tool to use with the techbook! We glued in a copy of one of the readings and one of the things I love is the title at the top! I love how it is in a separate bar; I had the students fold it in half so just the title was showing before gluing it in. It will be much easier for them to find what they’re looking for that way! It probably seems crazy that I’m so excited about this, but it looks so nice when it is folded! Tomorrow I plan to head outside to look for some conifers if the weather cooperates!

I’m just getting familiar with the new DE Science Techbook, but I’m hoping to chronicle some of my successes and ‘learning experiences’ (non-successes) to hopefully help other teachers hoping to incorporate the techbook into their classrooms. Today I’m going through the admin training since I’ll be our school’s site admin.

I’m officially back into school mode! I’m super excited for the new school year, especially the new science techbook through Discovery Education! I can’t wait to start using it with the kids! I’m making some changes to my classroom this year including the following:

• Adopting Daily 5 structure for reading, writing, and language studies
• New furniture arrangement
• Online testing for social studies and science
• Addition of the DE Science Techbook to the 3rd grade curriculum
• Blog format for website
• And many more!