It's Back! Postcard Pals Classroom Postcard Exchange 2016-2017

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So continuing with the theme of my last two posts about making the most of the summer by getting in on some unique learning experiences for students before the next school year starts, I'm going to offer one to you myself! 

Postcard Pals is making its triumphant return after a year hiatus with what I hope will be the best exchange yet. I have coordinated Postcard Pals since 2013, and I'm really happy with the results of both exchanges I've done. (Some of the participants must have been happy, too, because they signed up for another year!)  You can read more about past exchanges here. 

So here's a little description of what has happened in past exchanges:

1. Teachers (public, private, and home school are welcome) sign up, and depending on the number of classes, I divide up classrooms into groups of 20-30 classes. I do this to keep costs low for participating classrooms as opposed to asking them to send 100+ postcards. I also--as best as I can--divide by grade band, usually PK-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. 

Each teacher is then responsible for sending one postcard from his or her class to each of the other classes in his or her group. Postcards include information about the geography, economy, history, and other interesting facts about the state in which the class lives. Signing up commits teachers to sending one postcard to each class on their mailing list. If teachers want to establish a pen pal program beyond the one postcard, they are welcome to do that; however, I don't facilitate that. It would be up to the classes involved to work that out.

2. At the beginning of the year (September, usually), I provide teachers in each group with detailed instructions about what should be included on the postcards along with a mailing list of classrooms in their groups. I give a deadline by which postcards should be sent so that everyone knows by when they should expect to receive their postcards (usually October or November). I ask teachers to indicate that they have sent postcards by updating a Google spreadsheet (very easy to do) with the date that they sent them. I use this spreadsheet to follow up with teachers who have not sent postcards.

3. Let the postcards roll in! I love to receive photos and comments about how the exchange is going, and I encourage participants to stay in touch. Many of the photos I receive show bulletin boards prepared especially for the exchange, which is so fun to see. 

In year one, I had 130 classrooms signed up, and in year two 43. Now, that's a big difference, I know. However, year two actually had a higher success rate of follow through on those who committed to participate so that's a good thing! While this an intermediate blog, I do open this exchange up to K-12 students. I've had all grade levels from across the USA participate--and even a few outside of the country--which is quite exciting. 

For 2016-2017...

Step #1 is determining interest, which is what I'm doing in this post. If you're interested in learning more about this exchange, please complete this Google form. Completing the form in no way locks you into a commitment to join. Once I finalize details, I'll set up another form to officially sign up. Please share this with colleagues and teacher friends! Pin it, tweet it, post it, sky write it with an airplane...just please help me get the word out.

Step #2 is thinking about how to improve Postcard Pals. This year, I'm looking into some different options, including possibly making it a virtual postcard exchange to defray the cost of sending postcards via snail mail. Nothing is set in stone, but it's an idea rattling around in my head. I will also be incorporating feedback from past participants into this and any future exchanges as I know we ran into some issues with people not following through on their commitment to take part.

Click HERE to complete the Google form for more information.

I think that's it for now. Hope to see many of you joining the fun! 

Have you ever done a postcard exchange? Tell us about it in a comment!

5 Unique Learning Opportunities That Your Intermediate Students Will Love

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In my most recent post, I suggested that summer is a great time to research unique learning opportunities in which your students can participate during the next school year, especially if deadlines, fees, and applications are involved. With a little digging, you can find some pretty interesting events, contests, and curriculum extras to engage and challenge your students!

In today's post, I'm sharing five very cool such options for upper elementary and middle school classrooms that I recommend checking out. 

1. Electronic Field Trips (EFT)

The world is so much smaller thanks to technology. Students can now see and experience places, people, and cultures that they might never have encountered otherwise. With electronic field trips, students can "visit" places, sometimes in real-time, without ever leaving the classroom. Ahh...just imagine. No permission slips. No loud bus rides. No constant head counts.

Here are two examples:

Colonial Williamsburg

My classes took part in these EFTs, and they were amazing! My students loved them. Since I last used this resource, it appears that the live broadcasts have been discontinued. Instead, however, they have turned to their HERO multimedia library that includes videos, lesson plans, and other resources about life in Colonial and Revolution-era America that you can access. You can sign up for a free account, but there is a fee involved for school-wide access to the library for the year. The material is high-quality and engaging, and it's a fantastic supplement to social studies curricula. You'll get the most for your fee if you register before the year starts, and that will also give you time to go through and choose material.

National Park Foundation

I have not used these EFTs; however, in browsing through the collection of EFTs available, they seem to be high-quality and varied in social studies and science content and feature diverse US national park locations. These are not real-time videos; however, you can watch them for free in segments whenever you wish. Each EFT includes a video and a corresponding Web site that is rich in resources to use in conjunction with the EFT. The service appears to be free, which is a BONUS!

2. Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) Mock Election 

This is one of those opportunities I found out about just a little to late to incorporate into my classes, but I would have loved to have my students be a part of it. The YLI mock election is "the largest secure, student-only, online mock election in the nation, using electronic ballots tailored to each student's home legislative district." It takes place during the mid-late part of October and includes many resources and options for teachers to conduct an election tailored to their students and their area of residence. You must register for this mock election, and the activity and resources are FREE!  

3. Free Student Book Publishing

We did this activity school-wide for several years, and it was very cool! Every student had the opportunity to write a book and have it hardbound published for FREE. This program, created by Student Treasures, involves each student or class (depending on whether you choose an individual or class book project) receiving a book-writing packet that includes everything they need to create their books (ex. instructions, lined & unlined final pages for writing and illustrations, cover page, dedication page, etc.). Each teacher/school chooses a publishing date, all of which have been established by Student Treasures, so teachers need to plan this project with the submission deadline in mind since all packets must be sent in together before the deadline. Under the guidance and instruction of the teacher, students then write their stories and create colored illustrations for them. In my case, I used this project to practice the writing process--brainstorming, drafting, peer reviewing, revising/editing, planning illustrations, and rewriting, and we spent several months working on the books. I must warn you, though, that executing this program requires a lot of planning so start early! 

I was not the coordinator at our school, but from what I understood then and understand now, the publishing programs are tailored to student age groups (K-6, Middle School, High School, etc.). You simply provide the information to Student Treasures about grade levels and type of book you want students to create, and they determine the program that fits those needs. Again, this worthwhile project is FREE to you, and each student received one FREE hardbound copy of their book. (Parents can order multiple copies of the book using an order form found in the packet.) You can request a free sample packet at Student Treasures' Web site. I can't relay to you how excited students were to receive their books and see their work published. It was amazing!

4. Content-Area Contests

Contests are a great way for students to showcase their talents and, in some case, win prizes for it! I am lumping all of the cool contests I found into one section here because I'm leaving it up to you to decide which of the many out there would fit your needs. There are several different Web pages dedicated to listing contests open to upper elementary and middle school students. I'm including a link to a good resource/repository of contests here. You can find contests for all subjects. I noticed that some have not been updated for next year, and some are defunct so be sure to check for further information at their respective Web sites. Here are a couple of examples that I found:

Cricket magazine is a literary publication for students ages 9-14 and holds contests about a variety of literary topics throughout the year, all of which encourage creativity.

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards involve contests for many art and writing categories in which students enter their pieces based on local program guidelines. These contests are open to public, private, and homeschool students in grades 7-12

5. NASA events and contests

NASA keeps an updated calendar list of opportunities for students in grades K-8 to participate in a variety of science and technology related activities, events, and contests. I noticed the word FREE in many of these descriptions, and there's a nice variety of events that take place at NASA locations and virtually (online). Check back as new events are added! 

What do you think? Have you ever incorporated any of these in your classroom? Other suggestions? Leave a comment!

10 Ways to Make the Most of Your Summer Break

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The sun is shining more hours than I'm awake. Chirping birds have become an alarm clock. Lawnmowers are humming all around all day everyday. The dress code has changed to strictly shorts and flip-flops. Summer break is here! 

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So now what? 

Going from a daily schedule where literally every minute is accounted for, tasks are numbered in the dozens, and sitting down is a luxury afforded only at lunchtime and bathroom breaks (if you're lucky) to one where the world is your oyster everyday can be a difficult adjustment for some. As much as I love breaks and vacations, at some point, I start to feel anxious--even guilty--that I'm not using my time wisely. It took many inner conversations between the workaholic me and the mentally & physically exhausted me to agree that rest, relaxation, and days of doing something other than thinking about school during summer break was actually good for me. 

Some teachers can drop their bags and boxes at the door once school is over and not touch them until August. I can't do that.

Other teachers plan for next year all summer long. I can't do that either.

I've realized that my personality is such that while I do thrive on schedules and planning, having a few days of freedom every now and then not only keeps me balanced but also refreshes me. 

After a lot of trial and error, here are my tips for enjoying a balanced and productive summer: 

1. Allow yourself time to rest (and be a little lazy).

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The first week after school let out, I let myself rest. A lot. I slept in. I napped. I intentionally made few or no plans with anyone or to do anything. My feet were up on my bed, my couch, or my recliner a good deal of the day. My body and brain thanked me for this break. 

So go ahead. Give yourself a permission to be a little lazy, if you can. 

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2. Create a weekly schedule of tasks.

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Okay, okay. Don't hurt yourself. But seriously. Adding some structure to my days helped with the transition from jam-packed days to tumbleweed-blowing-across-the-wide-open-desert-nothing-on-the-books days. While I thrive on schedules at work, I don't stick to rigid schedules of personal and household tasks at home very well. Still, I am happiest when I am accomplishing objectives, and a checklist of chores and tasks allowed me to do that. My summer break schedule contained just a few priorities that I had to get done each week, mostly consisting of laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning out areas of the house that hadn't been touched more than a few times during the school year. After about a month of being out of school and having had a sufficient amount of time to recharge, I started adding 1-2 school tasks per week as well. 

3. Make time to interact with others.

For some of you, this isn't a problem at all. However, I am a MAJOR introvert. I crave time to myself, and once summer rolled around, if I didn't force myself to go out to see and talk to people, I could have made myself invisible for two months with no problems. I made sure to add some short trips out and about--sometimes alone and sometimes with friends or family. I also tried to catch up with friends whom I didn't get to see much during the school year. I didn't pack my days and weeks full of activities, mind you. Still no matter how much energy I had to exert, it was good for me to have interaction with people outside of e-mail and texting. 

4. Read for pleasure. 

It's ironic that pleasure reading for ourselves sort of falls off the radar during the school year even though we encourage our students to do it. In the summer, I visited the library just about every other week to check out books for no other reason than they looked interesting to me. And for whatever reason, I found that I really enjoyed reading children's and young adult fiction during the summer. Go figure.

5. Travel somewhere new.

Get away for a few days. See new scenery. Have fun. Learn something new. 

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My husband and I are true multi-taskers when we vacation. We like to go to multiple destinations when we're in the neighborhood of a lot of different historical and natural sites. It's not unheard of for us to ride a roller coaster, snorkel, and visit a Civil War battlefield all within the span of a week! As a bonus, I often insert photos and information from our trips into my lessons, which my social studies students really enjoy. 

6. Increase your knowledge.

Once you're ready to dive back into the back-to-school pool, consider reading up on or taking a professional development course about a subject or area that you want to know more about. When I visited the library to get my pleasure reading books, I also picked up books about topics of study that I covered during the year. For example, I taught about American Indians in my social studies classes, and I wanted to know more about the regional groups and tribes that we learned about so I got some books about them. Psst...Want to know a secret? I LOVE to use children's nonfiction to help me understand topics in more detail! Seriously, there are so many outstanding informational books for children and young adults. They're shorter yet still packed with a ton of facts and are written in an easy-to-understand, uncomplicated way. Plus, I can add these books to my list of recommended resources if students want to know more about a topic.

Of course, summer is also a good time to take professional development courses. Traditional classroom courses have the benefit of interaction with the instructor, handouts, and a distraction-less  learning environment. However, I've also enrolled in online and video courses during the summer, and I highly recommend the convenience and independence that comes along with learning this way as well.

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7. Gather ideas.

This makes me sound like a dinosaur, but when I was in the classroom just a few short years ago, Pinterest was a file folder I had labeled "Ideas." It was full of torn out magazine pages, Post-Its with notes scribbled on them, and lists of Web sites. Now, with a click of the mouse, you can search for and add tons of helpful, creative ideas for your curriculum and classroom to your virtual bulletin board folders within a matter of minutes. Combine Pinterest with a SmartPhone, and you can be adding ideas all day long. (Although I recommend exchanging the electronics screen for the sunscreen and getting out to get some Vitamin D!) You'll also actually have the time to create and implement some of these ideas during the summer, too. Also consider networking with other teachers locally and in cyberspace on blogs and other social media. Teachers love to share and exchange ideas (including me!). 

8. Clean out your files and resources.

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Whether it's your Google Drive, your travel drive, or good old-fashioned file folders, do some clean up and purging of obsolete files and resources. It seems like this task was always in the important-but-not-urgent quadrant of my to do list during the school year. Summer is a great time to clean house, pare down, and get organized. Consider selling items you aren't using. Last summer, I had a garage sale with a table full of school and teaching supplies, and by the end of the sale, 90 percent of it was gone. One teacher's trash is another teacher's treasure!

9. Reflect on the year.

We only get better when we know what needs to be improved. One of the last activities I asked my students to do during the school year is to complete surveys about subject areas, themselves, the classroom, and me as their teacher. These surveys provided some invaluable feedback and was a springboard for revamping lessons, procedures, and other elements of classroom life. I also kept a running list of notes that I jotted down throughout the year about specific activities, lessons, assessments, and procedures. When it came time to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and classroom management, I could use these notes to make adjustments.

10. Look for unique opportunities for next year's students.

How many times have you seen some cool lesson or activity just a little too late to use it or be a part of it? Use your time off in the summer to research and sign up for unique learning opportunities that you can incorporate into your class. Look into field trips, contests, or special technology that would appeal to your students. In my case, I found an opportunity to stream real-time virtual field trips to Colonial Williamsburg and special presentations about colonial topics into the classroom as part of a year-long program. Knowing about it before the school year began, I was able to apply for a grant to cover the cost at the beginning of the school year so that I could take advantage of as many trips and presentations as possible.

I've also been on the coordinating end of a learning opportunity for which I advertised for participants during the summer. For several years, I put together a postcard exchange on my blog for classrooms around the US and Canada. I started recruiting and planning in July to have it up and running by September. (By the way, I'm thinking of doing this again so keep an eye out for news about that!) Whatever you are looking into, start checking for deadlines and application opportunities early!

What are some ideas that you have for making the summer productive both personally and professionally? Leave a comment!