We Tweeted!

We had a great first day, and our only homework was to tweet about what we are looking forward to, or are excited about for our year in 4th grade! 22 fantastic tweets came in this morning - Check them out at https://twitter.com/#!/hragrayson. The most recent tweets are displayed on the right sidebar of this page. We will have a daily tweet or two about our learning, but to get started, everyone got to tweet out their excitement about the new year!

Our New Room!

I'm excited about our new space this year - The room is ready to go!

An Exciting New Year in 4th Grade!

Welcome Back! I am getting excited to welcome our 4th graders back to school. There have been some big changes, and I think they will have a significant impact on our learning! Here are just a few of the things you can look forward to hearing about this year:

• An interactive white board in our room! I received a Promethean board this summer, and we will be using this to use virtual manipulatives in math, and utilize interactive lessons in many subjects. We can also project images and videos from the computer onto the large screen!
• Netbooks! I received my netbook recently, and absolutely love it. The keyboard size was easy to adjust to, and they will fit on the desk while still allowing room for a book or paper. We will have a cart of our own in the room, and will be able to use them at our convenience. This is HUGE!
• Skype - This is a video chat program. Using a webcam and our interactive white board, our class will be able to video chat with other classes around the globe! We will be using this for a special Social Studies activity you will be hearing about...
• Edmodo - The students have been having a blast on our class Edmodo page, but we will also be part of a group on Edmodo for a Global Read Aloud. This is a project involving over 200 classes around the world that will all be reading Tuck Everlasting at the same time! Student will have the opportunity to participate in guided student literature discussions in the Edmodo group.
• Blogging - Our netbooks will allow us to create blogs where we will practice our writing and be able to get constructive comments from other students.

Before we get carried away, though, there will be much discussion and learning about the new technology available to us. Our new technology teacher, is working closely with us as we learn about Internet safety and responsibility using a published curriculum. All student activity will be closely monitored and moderated. You will be receiving a letter the first week of school with details and permissions. Rest assured, your student's privacy and safety online are paramount and will be protected at all times.

It's going to be a fantastic year, and this website is intended to help you be part of it! Check back often, or subscribe to receive an email when it is updated. We look forward to sharing our learning with you!