NJAET Conference

Just found out I will be presenting at the NJAET conference on Tuesday, October 14 at Georgian Court University. Here is a short description:
Presenter: Mrs. Erica Hartman
Position: 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher
Organization/ Business Name: Sparta Middle School
Email: erica.hartman@sparta.org
Workshop Type: Hands_on
Workshop Length: 70 Minutes
Workshop Title: 21 Free Tools to Engage 21st Century Language Arts Students
Workshop Description: Trying to make it all work in a one computer classroom? As teachers we need to be in
the continuous loop that is Web 2.0 technology. The priority is to reach and connect with students. Here are 21
FREE web tools/sites you can use to stay one step ahead of your tech savvy students. They are short, fast, easy,
and free. All you need is one working computer in your classroom.
Hope to see you there! I am a bit nervous because it is my first big presentation by myself!

Teacher for a Day

Edutopia just released it Reader's Survey for 2008. I was so happy to see one of my favorite blogs, The Cool Cat Teacher blog make the list. Not only do they list the best tech tools, blogs, etc., but they also list "Who from the past or present, You'd like to teach your class for a day?"
After thinking very long and hard, I chose my dad. He didn't want me to become a teacher and often asks me what I do all day!? I think he would make a great teacher and would come to like it if he actually tried it. He is just crazy enough that the students would dig him. Who would you pick to teach your class for the day?

Must SEE Video of the Week

I received a email from Barbara Feldman about this video made by Don Crowther.
Like I always tell my students, "It doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
I am going to show this to my 6th graders in homeroom to pump them up for the NJ ASK tomorrow.
They keep asking so many questions about the NJASK such as: "Why do we have to take it?"
"Does it count?"
"What does it mean?"
I tell them this their one chance to show how much they have learned and how much they know. The only person it really matters to is YOU! If, at the end of testing, you feel like you did your personal best, then that is what counts. So I guess it really is about "how you feel at the end of the day."

Best Week Ever

This week we are deep in NJASK prep so I am lucky to have been stimulated by some recent (and old remnants in my reader):
Best Interview with a Principal
Larry Ferlazzo's Best of List
10 Best Videos for Promoting Educational Change
Best Way to Start your Language Arts Class Today
Best Wiki for a Media Specialist

Announcing Our Class Blog

Here is our class blog, Hartman Hoopla. Trying it out for the rest of the year. The content is student created, kind of like in "A Week in Review" format. Each week a student is chosen using the Slot Machine from classtools.net.
Hopefully, we can start out next year in September and invite parents to comment.

American Idol Rejects

3rd Marking period Independent Reading Projects- Students could read any genre they please. Their project was to write a rap/song/poem or to make a collage. Both projects had to include a written reflection. Out of 65 students I got 60 collages and 5 songs. The songs were unbelievable. The students recorded them using Audacity and then we uploaded them into gcast. From gcast we can listen to them or you can upload them into your iTunes. We now have an all-out iTunes war going on. Whose song will be downloaded the most?


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Oh, Crapitalization!

Grading research paper before 3rd Marking Period papers. I've proofread, a buddy has proofread (even made the buddies read the second drafts backwards), Microsoft Word has spell-checked, the 6th grader writer has proofread (a very big assumption), but still sooooooo many mistakes.
So, I hand back the papers, covered in red ink, and a student who sits in the back looks over my comment, grade and proofreading marks and exclaims, "Oh, crapitalization!"
That sums up the day perfectly.